Miscellaneous Page 6

Portland blends history and modern architecture, upscale and pop-up restaurants ­– and an abundance of intriguing sights and sites.

WestCoast  Homes and Designs, April 2014

 Soon after arriving in Portland I went native. Decked out in vintage I lunched on everything pork,  from sandwiches to doughnuts, and drank beer before noon. Whatever next, a tattoo? (Just about  every Portlander has one, the stranger the better.) Buy a “Keep Portland Weird” bumper sticker?  Besides weird, Portlanders are Personable and Passionate. And it does Pour a lot – both rain and  beer.

 Pop-Up Restaurants

 Start your dining experience at a pop-up resto. Rub shoulders with chefs and foodies and get the  latest scoop on the local food scene. Chef Jaret Foster of Foster’s Craft Cooking introduced the kimchi maker and brewer to a few dozen diners who tucked into his Korean-themed pop-up dinner. Two other companies hold pop-ups regularly: Holdfast serves nine experimental courses and Coquine offers traditional European fare. Check their websites for events: fosterscraftcooking.com, holdfastdining.com, coquinepdx.com/pop-ups   

 

Pig-Out

Tuck into pork belly Cubano at one of six Bunk locations and Lardo’s pork meatball sandwich banh mi with a side of piggy “dirty fries” complete with crispy pork. Love the “Pig Out” sign. At The Old Salt Marketplace – a deli/butchery, bar and supper house – the owners created a menu “where farmers can afford dinner.” No entree is over $20. Pork is the ticket, from sinfully fatty pork rinds appie to roasted pork loin entrée. And you can’t leave Portland without a Bacon Maple Bar from Voodoo Doughnut, near the “Keep Portland Weird” sign.

 

 

Pubs

Once named Beertown USA, Portlanders are passionate about their beer. The city is home to almost 60 breweries and that doesn’t even count bottle shops offering local and imported brews where you can BYOF, generally from a nearby food truck. Sidle up to the bar at Deschutes Brewery and start with a tasting tray. Bridgeport Brewing Company, Oregon’s oldest craft brewery, serves up good pub-style nosh. And if you’ve brought the dog, Lucky Labrador Beer Hall has outdoor seating.  Like the food here, beer packs lots of flavour. All hale Beervana!

Pinot Noir

Olympic Provisions Deli knows which Pinot Noir goes best with which pork product. Take a city wine tour with PDX Urban Wineries. Better yet, drive less than one hour to the source—WillametteValley. Tour Montinore Estate where owner Rudy Marchesi’s homemade pork salumi is hanging amongst 400 barrels of Pinot Noir. At Ponzi Vineyards enjoy a tasting  and killer views from the family’s stunning new building. Ponzi was one of the first Oregon wineries to produce estate-grown Pinot Noir. 

Whistler for Non-Skiers     Yoga pants, swimsuit, cocktail dress — check. I’m packed and ready for a weekend in Whistler. What about skis, poles and parkas? Don’t need ‘em. Skiing just isn’t my thing, thanks to my first ski experience with a boyfriend who seemed to forget I was there at the top of the chair lift and went schussing down the hill, leaving me to fend for myself. It took hours for me to make it down the hill, mostly on my butt, and I vowed “never again.”   But that hasn’t stopped me from returning to Whistler. I’ve learned the resort town has lots to offer for non-skiers, in fact we're spoiled for choice.  We checked into Nita Lake Lodge just in time for a session at Loka Yoga, which is in the building. If you can swing it, take a class with Tina James, the owner. Her unique style is infused with humour and play, and truly exhilarating--what better way to begin a few days of indulgence?   After a hearty snack at Fix, and to be sure that all the city’s traffic and tension was gone, we booked massage treatments at the Lodge's Spa, which also offers naturopathic services.  I opted for the "kundalini" treatment that includes a foot scrub and facial.  No wonder Nita Lake Lodge was awarded one of the top 10 organic spas--and the only one in Canada-- by Organic Spa Magazine.   We swanned upstairs to our well-appointed suite, complete with gas fireplace and balcony overlooking the lake. One thing I love about resorts is that you don't need the car.  Nita Lake Lodge complimentary shuttle delivers you to the Village and will pick-up within minutes (or the trail is a pleasant one-hour stroll).  It was tempting not to leave the building, but Bar Oso, newly opened by the Araxi team, beckoned. Bar Oso lives up to the high standards of Araxi. Go early because the word is already out -- by 7pm the place was packed, mostly by locals, ordering Spanish-style small plates.  The housemade charcuterie is exceptional, and you must try the lamb albondigas, a recipe handed down to chef Jorge Santos from his grandmother. And the chick pea puree--need that recipe.   Back to the lodge's Aura Restaurant for dinner. We followed the freshest oysters with venison chops and sour cherry jus and sturgeon with elk chorizo. We couldn't decide who made the better choice so chef Dean split our entrees, and both dishes paired with wines by the glass. We chose well.   We had planned on snowshoeing around Nita Lake (the lodge also offers complimentary snowshoe loans) but opted for more indulgence at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. So exhilarating to breathe mountain air and view the slope action while wallowing in the outdoor hot tubs. And underwater music is piped into the lap pool. There's so much to do without leaving the building. With morning yoga classes, afternoon art crawl and shopping at Mountain Galleries (downstairs from the lobby), who even has time to ski?   Speaking of art, almost across the street is the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, built with cedar and glass. Definitely worth a visit. And the Audain Art Museum is slated to open early 2016. More than 200 significant art works, from 19th century First Nations masks to modern works by Jeff Wall, will be housed in a 56,000 square-foot tree house.   The yoga pants came in handy on the drive home--we needed the elasticized waist after an epic brunch at the Fairmont. And don't forget to stop at Fix for a loaf of bread. Whistler has it all!     Bring the Kids BabysittingWhistler comes to your location and takes the children out and about for fun activities. Evenings the sitter will stay in your room and bring a craft kit. Owner Rebecca Craig advises that you book ahead over the holidays, although they can usually accommodate last minute bookings. "We have been offering this service for 14 years and it's the first choice for child care from the Fairmont Chateau Lake and Nita Lake Lodge, to name a few," says Craig.   Bring the Dog If your pooch does has to be left alone for any length of time, Alpine Dogs offer in-room sitting and adventure hikes. They prefer that you book at least one day ahead but can usually accommodate same-day bookings. And evenings you can stay out until the wee hours. Whistler is one big doggy play land.   If You Go Nita Lake Lodge: nitalakelodge.com Fairmont Chateau Whistler: fairmont.com/whistler Bar Orso:  baroso.ca Art Gallery: mountaingalleries.com   Baby Sit: BabysittingWhistler.com Dog Sit: alpinedogs.ca   The writer was a guest of Nita Lake Lodge and Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

I met a family at New Brighton Park hauling in Laminaria, an edible seaweed called Kombu  in Japan and dashima in Korea. Through a bit of sign language I figured out it was on their grocery list but I couldn't get my point across that it might not be a good idea to eat seaweed washed up next to the freighters in the Burrard Inlet. 

The first time I ate kombu (sounds tastier than  Laminariaceae) was about ten years ago at Sooke Harbour House--so ahead of their time. Diane Bernard AKA the Seaweed Lady took me on a seaweed harvesting tour and Chef Edward Tuson served a few seaweed courses that night (I later wrote about Bernard for Western Living Magazine).

Anyway, I wanted to tell this family that the Kombu washed up on this shore might look like lasagna sheets but the basic rule when harvesting any edibles, be they wild mushrooms or marine plants, is to err on the side of caution.

  Ulva lactuca, or sea lettuce, is the most recognizable by its brilliant green colour, almost transulcent, and most accessible of the seaweeds. You see it washed up on shore and just about anywhere in the high-tide zone. I vaguely remember its crisp, grassy taste, vaguely reminiscent of peas in chef Tuson's tri-colour seaweed salad.  

Closer to home I've foraged Ulva for my compost. Seaweed absorbs pollutants such as lead and mercury just as readily as nutrients,  so avoid picking near marinas, residential areas and parking lots located close to shore. And avoid anywhere in and around Vancouver and even worse, Victoria. 

 

I predict that Fermented Foods and Korean Cuisine (think Kimchee) will be big in 2013. Fermenting at home--beyond sauerkraut. 

Kids, Eat your vegetables, er, I mean dessert.  Vegetable Desserts will be popular. Sure, carrot cake and pumpkin pie are nothing new, but how about parsnip pie, beet parfait and chocolate beet cake with candied beets? If you don't believe me, check out Johhny Iuzzini's beet dessert.

My food trend picks from 2012 could apply to 2013.

 Pulled Pork and BBQ

 Pulled pork has gone from a Southern regional specialty to the BBQ favourite north of the Mason-Dixon Line. And for good reason. The juicy, succulent, tangy, sweet, smoky concoction is the ultimate comfort food, satisfying every food craving in one bite. From the pulled pork sliders with Okanagan peach barbecue sauce on mini-brioche buns at  Hawksworth to the featured item on Subway menus across Canada, we are bonkers for pulled pork.

 Indoor chefs are taking their talents into the backyard and finding that pulled pork is not only a crowd-pleaser, it’s easy to cook: because there is fat in the butt, it self-bastes. As a chef once told me, “Fat is Love.”

Increasingly, people are buying smokers for slow-cooking pork over 18-20 hours, which is traditional BBQ in states like Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and the Carolinas. The pulled pork motto is “Low and Slow”.  But not everybody wants to invest that kind of time or energy in a dish that’s guaranteed to get gobbled down in a hurry because it’s so delicious. "For me, barbecue is not just a pastime, it's a lifestyle," says competitive barbecuer Ron ("Rockin' Ronnie") Shewchuk, whose pulled pork is now offered on high-end food market shelves in BC.

Gluten-Free is Glam  

Until recently, gluten-free diners (those who are wheat intolerant or celiac) had few options when it came to dining out. But increasingly, restaurants are devoting entire menus to gluten-free items (e.g., Fairmont hotels across Canada offer Baked Tofu with Bean Noodles or Cornish Crab Cake and Marinated Cucumber & Grapefruit Salad).  From pasta to pizza to macarons, gluten-free has gone glam.

 Macarons are the eye-catching French sandwich cookies that are now the rage in North America. The chewy treats, often found in unlikely dessert colours such as blue, green, and red, are made with almond flour, egg whites, sugars and food colouring. Flavoured buttercream provides the sandwich filling. “We are blown away by the popularity of the macarons at Thierry Patisserie,” says publicist Shelley McArthur, “and they are definitely the most popular item.” Vancouver pastry chef Thierry Busset sells 1,000-1,500 of the Parisian temptations per day at Thierry Patisserie. Hmm -- there aren’t that many gluten-intolerant customers in Vancouver, which is proof positive that gluten-free foods are attracting people sans dietary restrictions.

  Foraging Wild Things

 We know about the holy trinity: local, regional and organic. Now, with purse strings tightening across Canada, concerns about GMOs, a heightened interest in 0-mile diets and growing produce in the backyard, home cooks and chefs alike are foraging wild foods.

 Think ramps (wild leeks), fiddleheads, and “weeds” such as dandelion and stinging nettles, purslane and even the lowly chickweed. They’re all popping up on high-end restaurant menus across Canada. Not only do they taste great, they’re unusual, interesting and make for great conversation. And they’re growing in your backyard.

 While devoted foodies have long been foraging for kelp, wood sorrel, salal berries, grand fir leaves and of course, wild mushrooms, chefs from Victoria to Halifax are now introducing them to their restaurant patrons. This year, Vancouver Island’s Sooke Harbour House hosted a wildly (pardon the pun) popular Foraged Food Festival.

Gourmet Sauvage, based in Sainte-Adèle, Québec offers a mind-boggling array of wild products—my kitchen shelf is stocked with their jellied cedar, pickled cattails, and milkweed pod ketchup. Forage—one of my fave restos in Vancouver, recently opened to rave reviews.

 You can’t get any greener than harvesting foods that grow wild in your own ‘hood.

 Canning -- Summer in a Can, local and year-round produce.

 As the trend towards seasonal/local food settles in for the long haul, chefs are increasingly canning and preserving ingredients so they have a greater diversity of products year-round. Chef James Walt of Whistler’s Araxi has been doing this for many years with PembertonValley summer produce. He uses the house-canned versions in the winter to supplement the root crops that are typically all that’s available fresh. Chef Quang Dang also cans and preserves ingredients for use at the restaurant.

 “Right now on my shelves I have pickled green strawberries, picked before ripe and great with sardines,” says Dang. “I found coronation grapes on a bush behind the restaurant and pickled them.” Dang recently got together with friends and held a canning party. “They want to learn about canning and I’m a willing teacher,” he said. 

 Little fishes. Sardines and mackerel feature on just about any sustainable seafood menu. 

After cooking for a living and running a busy film catering company for a few decades I figured I knew every tip and trick in the book-- until I took my first cooking class. I’m not talking about cooking classes where “culinebrities” lecture and demo a few recipes from their latest cookbook. Or where chefs intimidate and impress with recipes you’ll never replicate, let alone spell, like they do on some Food Network shows. I am referring to the hands-on cooking schools, where you don an apron, roll up your sleeves and do the work.

Well, not quite all the work. There are kitchen fairies. At every cooking class I attended, the ingredients were measured and laid out at your cooking station beforehand, and your hands never entered the dishpit. Regardless, it’s so rewarding when your next dinner guests are impressed by your culinary prowess. Learning in a hands-on class sticks to you like flour to melted butter.

 Of course you need a certain amount of charisma to keep a group of people engaged for several hours and at the same time safe around sharp instruments and boiling cauldrons, and the following chefs have it---without any screaming and yelling or kitchen nightmares.  

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