stovetop

Jamie, yes it was probably more of a omission then a disclaimer, and I agree that Edmonton does have a cultural food presence on the Cascadian fabric. The Fuller family is one of many high quality Alberta restaurateurs, they are plentiful in the province and for Edmonton the proof is in the pudding, cause of the many long term restaurants that dot the city landscape, all trying to accommodate their customers and make a living, for me a restaurateur has to fulfill this mandate to survive, I do not care how great a chef is and the food, but if she or he can not survive as a business then how viable or great are they??? A new idea that I would like to interject is the aspect of local food and its influence on Canadian and local cuisine what ever its interpretation is. The whole development of local agriculture is great what is missing is companies like sysco that show no interest of supporting local farmers but opting out for their main distribution system and missing out on all that great product, it is a shame; but this leaves the bal in our court to support and do the homework required to source out all this great product and the consumer to care about what their actions have on the affect of local agriculture and that their decisions do have a great affect on the success of this local enterprise. Like I said before food is king/queen and this is what makes Canadian food or regional food, it is the back bone of this new drive to make regional food a cornerstone of our culture, by thinking globally but eating locally, we need a new moniker cause like a few have said fusion is just confusion, so true when it is in the wrong hands the interpretation can be messed up. steve

Oh Jamie; what the chuck (Edmonton), has no local Cuisine, in my opinion it has some of the best local cuisine around, it does not get the press, but has some great foodies, and the Edmonton journal has one of the best food sections consistently for about 15 years, there are a small handful of quality restaurants that have outlasted many in the country, it is still a very viable restaurant city where chef and restaurateur can make a comfortable living and do not have to give all their money to a gov. You have taste of Edmonton, one of the first restaurant fest in Canada, predates Van by a few years, you also have the Heritage days a three day Cultural fest where the food is brilliant, so in a word I believe you should not leave Edmonton out on your list, there is also some amazing food grown around Edmonton, it is a city that is on the cusp of any food trend sailing across Canada, many times it beats Van to the punch, also Seafood is as abundant as in Vancouver and sometimes it is Fresher, Alberta has the big Prarie seafood giant Billingsgate Fish Co. and it has been around since 1907, it has a huge buying power, as big as many local wholesalers in van. The Ukrainian-Polish-German food Cultures are very big in Edmonton, sausage is king in Edmonton, Bread; Bee Bell Bakery has been around for ever. Korean food; Bull Go Gi been around for ever, can go head to head with any Korean rest in Canada. I could go on Edmonton has always been under the radar; it just quietly goes about its business year after year. Remember Calgary is not Edmonton, Edmonton voted liberal and NDP, the only spots in the Province, they used to call it Redmonton steve

There is definitely a culinary region here on the coast that goes beyond the 49, BC and Washington State share more then just a border, they share cultural history and have some of the same Icons, such as John McLaughlin (sp) (HBC). They also are very big trading partners and have very similar political ideals so why not food , Beans you never made any offense to me, without dialogue we will never be able to define what it is we are (food) here in BC or Canada. steve

I would rather define the Cuisine within then have it Basterdized by someone else steve

Point taken; Coop I wonder about that all the time?? Yes, but the American and Canadian press are trying to define Vans regional Cuisine all the time, go back in this section, I saw you around on a few post, they were having a hard time trying to define what it is that they were eating. The Media always needs square pegs to fit in squares holes; look at music, music is music?? No, there is now thousands of sub categories, Marketers and Psychologist need this specialization so the can sell advertising. But like you said what the hell does this have to do with food steve

Why is it that the USA can have regional cuisine but that regional cuisine is as American as apple pie, but here in Canada, we can not have a regional cuisine and still be Canadian; are we having an identity problem? Why are we part of the Pacific Northwest and not Canadian, is it more Western alienation that we are feeling; the East is more drawn to Europe and the Eastern US , it’s major trading partner, but here on the Pacific Coast, we are more drawn to the Far East (Asia Pacific) and the Western US, a major trading partner. In the West; the 49th parallel is a new border, the Hudson bay Company existed out of the Columbia river , this province is Called British Colombia, yes we are having an Identity Crises, but I think it extends more from the British Identity more then any thing else, Vancouver has cultures from everywhere, I do not know about you, but I am a Canadian thus I am cooking Canadian Food, I am not French (France), Swiss, or German, I have lived and cooked in four distinct regions in Canada and have seen one common factor there is always one Cultural influence which to me has been the more interesting influence, that is French Canadian, we are a two language Country and the sooner we except this the better, the problem is Quebec does not except French outside of Quebec and the rest of us do not except French outside of Quebec , that is why we get along so well. Quebec is very Provincial and they protect their Provincial roots, But they are still Part of Canada and are not the only Province with French roots. Vancouver has a huge Asiatic Population; Cantonese is probably spoken more as a first language then French Canadian, The Asian Influence has been here as long as the British, probably, even longer; Vancouver Cuisine is hugely influenced by Asian Food, but when and how many generations does this food become Canadian, 100 years?? This Cuisine has totally merged itself together, Kids from all cultures cooking each others food, after while the lines are not clear when one ends and one begins, Fusion. That word that some critics love to slam, when fusion is done well it is amazing This next generation of Canadian food is amazing it brings in everything from everywhere and merges it nicely together, no Escofier!!! There are restaurants popping up everywhere selling high end quality food for excellent prices, this is the new generation of Vancouver, Old standouts are dropping like flies, it is not the eighties any more in Vancouver but many old restaurants have not moved with the times, the new generation is a huge buying power in Van and the go out, but not to old French and Italian restaurants but funky Café’s that serve booze, they are more bar like but serve excellent food .

I made mexi pizza again, pesto, chicken, bacon and fresh tomato. steve

RIP---> Le GREC He moved to 4th from Commercial, cause he owned the building, the move killed his bus, it was just not the same, to bad. steve

Chef, you felt that this should be a new topic so I started one. This is a topic dear to my heart. I am as Canadian as you get, and Vancouver to me is as Canadian as you get, it is not ethnic food but Canadian food. We all live together and share food, so it is not hard to be influenced by what's around you, Vancouver has some great raw foods that make great chefs, not the other way around, I am as good as what I cook with, this is my style of food, 20 years in the food business and I have learned so much, but i have so far to go, I will never in my life time learn everything, but I will die trying. steve

Chef Fowke are we as Canadian Chefs finally getting something we can call Canadian Cuisine, for me I notice varied differences in style depending where you go in Canada, Vancouver definitely has regional styles but are we just becoming an ethnic cuisine style or are the kids backgrounds that come from all over really becoming Canadian, they are born here so that makes them Canadian thus Canadian cuisine?? When we Canadians are trained by Canadian Born chefs working with Canadian products does not that make Canadian Cuisine??? We have so much world influence in Vancouver, but yesterday I was digging back in the postings and it is strange to read all those critical posting by all the Critics, they come to Vancouver and approach the scene with rose colored glasses, like are we New York, Montreal, Seattle, LA; No we are not, we are Vancouver, the public here has very different needs and are not into the what is hot and what is not scene, we in the restaurant business in Vancouver have a very big cost factor so we must survive, to do so we have to meet the needs of the market, not the whims of the trendy, to do so will inedible be your demise because the trendy change. Something similar is peoples hardness in trying to analyze Hawaiian food, god what the hell is someone trying to use New York as a base to criticize something, remember people NEW York is almost bigger then all of Canada, you can have the most finite of concepts and you will find a market, 1% of 13 million is 130,000 that is almost bigger then Van proper, you can not serve small Markets in Vancouver, you have to accommodate the locals, I am sure in Hawaii it is the same, but they have a huge tourist market so I am sure they have to accommodate them. Hawaii is Hawaii not New York, if you want something to be like New York then stay home and eat their, or open your mind and try something different, then learn and build a base of knowledge then the critics can adjust their parameters then can be critical, otherwise in my opinion you as the critic are not objective?? (Subjective)??

I had a chef friend and fellow worker who used to swear it was a hangover cure( pickle juice), it must have worked for him because he did it all the time, It was a resort after all so what else do chefs do but work and drink. steve

Chef Fowke are we as Canadian Chefs finally getting something we can call Canadian Cuisine, for me I notice varied differences in style depending where you go in Canada, Vancouver definitely has regional styles but are we just becoming an ethnic cuisine style or are the kids backgrounds that come from all over really becoming Canadian, they are born here so that makes them Canadian thus Canadian cuisine?? When we Canadians are trained by Canadian Born chefs working with Canadian products does not that make Canadian Cuisine??? We have so much world influence in Vancouver, but yesterday I was digging back in the postings and it is strange to read all those critical posting by all the Critics, they come to Vancouver and approach the scene with rose colored glasses, like are we New York, Montreal, Seattle, LA; No we are not, we are Vancouver, the public here has very different needs and are not into the what is hot and what is not scene, we in the restaurant business in Vancouver have a very big cost factor so we must survive, to do so we have to meet the needs of the market, not the whims of the trendy, to do so will inedible be your demise because the trendy change. Something similar is peoples hardness in trying to analyze Hawaiian food, god what the hell is someone trying to use New York as a base to criticize something, remember people NEW York is almost bigger then all of Canada, you can have the most finite of concepts and you will find a market, 1% of 13 million is 130,000 that is almost bigger then Van proper, you can not serve small Markets in Vancouver, you have to accommodate the locals, I am sure in Hawaii it is the same, but they have a huge tourist market so I am sure they have to accommodate them. Hawaii is Hawaii not New York, if you want something to be like New York then stay home and eat their, or open your mind and try something different, then learn and build a base of knowledge then the critics can adjust their parameters then can be critical, otherwise in my opinion you as the critic are not objective?? (Subjective)??

More Toronto http://www.fatcat.ca/ http://www.leselect.com/ http://www.libertygroup.com/index1.html http://www.canoerestaurant.com/intro_f.htm http://www.spoonrestaurant.com/home.html http://www.oisioyster.com/ http://www.marcels.com/ West coast http://www.shelterrestaurant.com/welcome.htm http://www.thetemple.ca/ http://www.lecole.ca/ http://www.canoebrewpub.com/\ http://www.paprika-bistro.com/index.php?file=menu http://www.taucalearesort.com/restaurant.htm http://www.hastingshouse.com/ http://www.asnugharbourinn.com/600/index.asp http://www.eaglenook.com/ http://www.nimmobay.com/ http://www.poetscove.com/ http://www.allseasonscafe.com/ http://www.frenchlaundry.com/

Wow Tanabutler very quick analysis, you did them all, I will try and have more of an eye and pick through what I have and see what your critical eye will think, I will be more critical myself and find only ones based on your critical eye, hopefully the ones I have found will meet your requirements. I have so many so if you want I can send you more?? steve PS what is the copyright for music on web sites, in Canada if you play music in your restaurant you have to Pay Socan money, a web site is a public space so you would think the same legal principle would apply??

http://www.gks.com/coyowl/ http://www.sunworksfarm.com/why_organic.html http://www.eatwild.com/products/canada.html http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/news-NG.asp?id=48758 http://www.centralalbertameats.com/content.../products.shtml http://www.tkranch.com/ http://www.albertabuffalo.com/ here are some links steve

Chef Fowke do you lean more to French then Itilian style foods?? steve

Toronto Web Sites Oliver bonacini By Mark Bodega Centro Allens Dufflet Jamie Kennedy Acqua A la carte Catering Vancouver websites "C" Havana West Auberge Quattro Toptable raincity Whistler Web pages Rimrock Valdisere Apres Araxi Umberto Bearfoot Edmonton web sites La Boheme Hardware grill Un heardof Jacks grill centurygrill Normands the Creperie

West Side the Best Side, I heard a rumor that Broadway and Macdonald area has a big accent of Greek Culture and will find some great Greek delis, bakeries, Greek food stores, the Greek Culture has a huge Influence and brings a great presence to the West Side, Broadway has a few Greek restaurants that have been consistent for years, summertime eating and drinking is on the minds of many locals who hang out at Athenes or other Greek Restaurants on beautiful Kitsilano evenings, and always close enough to the water to have a long walk after a good feast. There is always Minerva's a great Greek deli and store, you love olives this is the place, Broadway bakery is very good, this whole little area is full of gems, walk around and explore. steve

Hi all; I do not know about egullet policy of puling old post out of the dust, but I felt that this post did not really fulfill its quest, with all that has happened in the last year in Canada with the beef scare and the flu epidemic with chicken in the lower mainland in BC, I felt that I needed to bring on further discussions to specifically the Canadian beef industry and all the logistic companies involved. Firstly I would like to say Canada does not even have free trade within its own borders, protectionism runs rampant in this huge nation with its small population mostly situated near our American cousins, especially the Golden Triangle, Ottawa-Toronto, and Montreal. Secondly the West, specifically Alberta and BC and the Industries relationship with the US producers, from what I can gather from this Canadian beef crises, the relationships which where relatively hidden from us the consumers, a crack in the armor of the big producers showed the huge flows in the whole system. Canada specifically Alberta is one of the biggest growers but does not necessarily process their own product, the US ban has really showed the huge weakness in the current system of production and logistics, the main victim here has become as usual the lonely farmer, the got caught holding the bag for the producers, Cargill come up with huge profits on the backs of the consumer and especially once again the farmer. WHY? Well from what I could gather is they control the flow of beef and these companies are multilateral meaning there really is no border for them. Canadian beef is grown in Canada but can be process in the US then shipped back to Canada, I do not know the numbers but judging by the crises in the Western Beef Industry it must be very significant. these companies had the gull to except money from the Alberta government to assist in the Blow of the mad cow Scare, this assistance went to their bottom lines; I was really happy with King Klein’s straight up approach with the Producers, lets see your books he insisted empirically, wow it took a court of law to force them to reveal their bottom lines, prove it he insisted, well when the dust settled, this inquiry showed that these multinational companies profited off the mad cow scare, really of the backs of Ranchers, talk about biting the hand that feeds you. the BC system seems to not focus on Canadian beef but what is the cheapest, that is the whole logistic system, the wholesalers, the have no alliances to Canada, they buy Aussie Beef and push it with wild abandonment, with no regard to the Canadian economy, I have never understood this mind set being a chef and restaurateur for my whole life I am set aback by this lack of Canadianism, we would sell our Grandmother to save 50 cents a pound, come on where is your nationalism. I am going to give a example of the huge trade problems within Canada, but it is related to chicken, sorry it is not beef but it is really related and I know more about the specifics and I feel it is really related to the same crises the beef industry has had, also it is really related to my closing statement of this essay and that has to do with free trade within Canada and its effects and its relationship to NAFTA, GATT and the WTO, we sell our selves short, cut of our nose to spite our face. British Colombia's Chicken Marketing Boards run on a quota system, you purchase quotas that enable you to produce a amount of chicken for each quota, in BC most producers are federally inspected, the first thing I noticed this year when the Lower Mainland had its crises was there are no federally inspected plants on Vancouver Island, all the quotas where sold off to the lower mainland. This in my opinion is the reason the whole system collapsed, if there was at least one federal producer on the island this would have kept the system going, and the system could have had chicks to help the mainland producers out when the flu ran its course, but no, the system bit of its own hand for their own shortsightedness, why is my question is their no federal producers on the island?; and why is the control of production only in the hands of the few, also farmers with quotas before the flu epidemic are not producing to capacity, they keep the price high by having low volume, that is why the call the supply management system, which in my opinion is got to go, we need to get free trade in our own Country, before we loose it all to world trade, the WTO now supercedes all trade agreements we have with you the United States. The WTO is trying very hard to abolish all our supply management systems, which now play the game for their own benefit, not the whole benefit of the farmer, grower, rancher or consumer, these big companies are profiting on the backs of Canada’s old socialist system, The Supply management system, it is out dated and hides under wolfs who dress in sheep’s clothing, the federal government must relinquish power and get our Agriculture industry back in business and enable farmers to compete on the world stage; we are no longer a provincial society, we are a global village competing against each other, this is the Multinational , not the farmers. Cargill, Monsanto and Adm have no country to call home, the only have share holders, who live all over the world, let us bring the power back to the farmer and the consumer. Quebec and Ontario hold all the cards, the are the biggest producers and have all the national quotas, changing the rules of the game to meat( pun) ( was a spelling error but kept it in cause I thought it was funny) their own needs, but all the other players are still playing the game by the old rules, let us open up this great country to our selves and develop the infrastructure that will enable us to compete in this global market place, because if we do not we will get slaughtered like a lamb going to market. Quebec and Ontario are trading quotas like the stock market but why can not other Provinces do this, Quebec produces more cheese then almost all the other Provinces put together, this results because of old trading problems the two provinces had in the past, the marketing boards were put in place to accommodate their needs not the whole interests of the whole Country, bring the power back to the Western Provinces not Ottawa, The queen does not have the interest of us at heart, they do not need Westerners to win the election, also what do a bunch of bureaucrats in Ottawa know about framers needs in the west or even the Consumer, the restaurant industry pays through the nose for all these commodities, why should, butter, cheese, milk, beef and eggs be the price they are, because they are subsidized , oh no I said it; that is the WTO argument right now and they are winning in international trade court. We all have to work so why is it that you, mostly the big three benefit from our old socialist system, that is so out of date and is not fare to the whole Canadian Market, there is so many spinners in the Government keeping us fearful of the catastrophe that will occur when we relinquish the power, as the band REM said “ it is the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine” I would feel great if we could make a living running a restaurant, we pay so much taxes and do all the work for the Government, I for one do not want to subsidize agriculture any more; if you can not run your farm and make a living get out, but it is not the farmers fault it is the big three, they control all the commodities in the world but keeping the Supply management system will not keep the wolves at bay it is only keeping them hidden, soon all farms will be owned by them, I feel we will have a chance to compete when we can get top dollar for the product, a real supply and demand system, think globally and buy locally this is where the future is, not with the supply management system.

Thank you Laksa for the wonderful food stovetop steve

It is one of the most syndicated shows around along with Degrasi /high, Canadian shows are doing well these days in syndication. steve

Remember it is Italian not French, the French just have to puree everything; what I will do is put some more veg at the end so it is not fully disintegrated. steve

Love the character! steve

It has been simmering on the stove for a while. steve

The Okanogan will get its due, many great chefs are converging on the valley, sick of the city scenes, they are collecting a slue of great chefs from all over Canada, nice place to live and each venue is a stage for the chefs to show what they can do, also show their wine and food combining skills, we need to sell our own wares and get off our buts and not wait for someone else to promote and sell what we have in BC. Wake up BC government, stop the Olympic rhetoric and move forward on Tourism, it is not how much you are going to make on your Condo premier but what the long term benefits of Tourism will do for the GPP, we are # 1, wake up and smell the cappuccino. Small business is BC biggest growth industries not resource based industries, it is the mandate of the BC government to keep tourism down at # 3 but in reality we are # 1. Transportation and cruise industry is part of tourism not separate entities; the restaurant industry, the wine industry, the beer industry, the agriculture industry and the many companies that support and move people and products all belong to TIAC. (The tourism industry of Canada) If you include Transportation in your stats, you will see we are #1. Premier wake up!!! Spend money now on promoting these places on Van Island and the Okanogan, did you know that West Edmonton mall has a bigger promotional budget then you do. Remember that it is not about you and how much money you and your Cronies will make on real state in Whistler, it is about the Chefs, cooks, waiters, sommeliers, wine makers, beer makers, bus people, door people, engineers, dishwashers, owners, wholesalers, pilots, bus drivers, taxi drivers, Captains, all cruise people, all wholesale industry people and all the logistic people out there we are the largest employer in the province, wake up!! That is it for my rant. Thank you and good bye Chef Steve AKA the Rajun Cajun