Restaurants incorporating indigenous ingredients

[Memo]

Surprise hit me the other evening at Cafe Brio. It arrived in the seasonal berry medly (with mascarpone) at the end of the meal. There was a great selection of fresh berries - straw, blue, marion, black, and rasp. But the surprise came with the inclusion of the indigenous little huckleberry. (It perfectly complemented with other berries in color, texture and flavor.)

A memory-wave hit me - I was a child walking through forest paths looking for the tiny little salmon-colored huckleberries, growing on blueberry-like shrubs out of decaying tree stumps.

I'm interested in other restaurants who might be using/incorporating indigenous produce into their menus. Sooke Harbour House, I realise, has long been playing with this.

I'm not referring to game or wild salmon - strictly plant products.

Memo

[bigdaddy]

There are strawberries, raspberries and blackberries that are native to BC. We are certainly availing ourselves of the amazing wild blackberries that at at their peak right now. On a hot day the trials through the woods smell like fresh blackberry pie. Bears all over the province are having a feast !

[seanw]

Hi Memo,

Sounds really nice, what else did you eat?

As far as indigenous plants go, i believe C & probably Tojo are using seaweeds, which are collected off the west coast of V. Island & probably elsewhere. A recent article in EAT or Cityfood covered some wild foods that can be collected locally(i 'm not sure if any restaurants were linked to the feature). Wild Food by Roger Phillips is another good reference although unfortunately not all is applicable.

[barolo]

I had cattail at Raincity Grill a couple of years ago. Liliget Feast House on Davie probably features indigenous plant foods, but when I look at the menu: Menu Liliget Feast House I don't see much specified.

[SBonner]

Are pine mushrooms consided indigenous? or any locally grown mushroom?

Cheers,

Stephen

[chef jeff]

Are pine mushrooms consided indigenous? or any locally grown mushroom?

Cheers,

Stephen

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That's about as indiginous as it gets. Pines, Chanterelles, Morels, Lobsters, Chicken of the Woods, Shaggy Mane, Boletus, etc. all grow in abundance in BC, and most grow right down the coast into California

[shelora]

I'm curious about those mushrooms. Is there solid evidence of their indigenous-ness? I know some forms of boletus and chanterelles grow in Europe, couldn't their spores travel to our shores quite easily?

[chef jeff]

I'm curious about those mushrooms. Is there solid evidence of their indigenous-ness? I know some forms of boletus and chanterelles grow in Europe, couldn't their spores travel to our shores quite easily?

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That's a good point, but if it's natural for seeds and spores to be carried by birds and animals, then I think it is the same if a spore from a chanterelle came over on Captain George Vancouver's Boots. As long as it thrived here and has become part of the forest without endangering other species, then it seems pretty indiganous to me.

Besides, when you walk through our rain forests, doesn't it feel like mushrooms were pretty much invented there.

[barolo]

I'm curious about those mushrooms. Is there solid evidence of their indigenous-ness? I know some forms of boletus and chanterelles grow in Europe, couldn't their spores travel to our shores quite easily?

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That's a good point, but if it's natural for seeds and spores to be carried by birds and animals, then I think it is the same if a spore from a chanterelle came over on Captain George Vancouver's Boots. As long as it thrived here and has become part of the forest without endangering other species, then it seems pretty indiganous to me.

Besides, when you walk through our rain forests, doesn't it feel like mushrooms were pretty much invented there.

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Well I can't speak for every mushroom out there now, but I know that mushrooms were a part of indigenous peoples diets in this region.