by Lindsey Lewis
 Eat In
Michael Kraus cares about your health, the planet’s—and helping you stay well-nourished right through that snoozy lunch meeting. The founder of Viva Fine Foods & Bakery has launched an environmentally and socially conscious company, One Planet Catering, that delivers wooden-boxed lunches straight to your office. All ingredients are local, organic, and unprocessed whenever possible. Plus, each delivery includes a quick fact about one of the ingredients. (Did you know the Incas considered quinoa a sacred food?) The company also has a zero-waste policy and donates five per cent of its total revenues to environmental and social causes. oneplanetcatering.com
 Eat Out
New from the team behind SIP Resto-Lounge, the neighbouring Refinery shares SIP’s upscale style—but has decidedly earthier undertones. Crafted with sustainable building materials and outfitted with LED lights and energy-efficient equipment, the Refinery meets some of the highest standards in environmental design. Plus, staff can store their bikes in the on-site locker, and they receive a public transit subsidy. Chat with them about their MADD-approved ride home while sipping wine and diving into patés, cheeses, sharing platters, and Ocean Wise sustainable seafood dishes. 1115 Granville St., therefineryvancouver.com
 Check Out
When it comes to sauces, vegans nearly always have to make their own from scratch. But soon you’ll see animal-friendly eaters herding to Whole Foods Market now that it’s carrying Dragünara Organic Sauces. These multi-taskers are great as part of a marinade, dressing, or dipping sauce, or as the only topping on the main dish. They contain no preservatives and no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners, trans fats or hydrogenated oils. All ingredients are organic, and, tops on the list of vegan eaters, the condiments contain absolutely no egg, meat, fish, or dairy. wholefoodsmarket.com, dragunara.com
Lindsey Lewis lives online at zoomwords.blogspot.com and joyyoga.ca . She’s big on fast, health-friendly food and taking snack breaks on the bus (don’t tell TransLink).
Why is it so hard to just say ‘No’?
by Meghan Rathwell
I’m a recovering raisin addict. The trouble started three years ago when I removed sugar from my life and used raisins as a temporary replacement. Two years later the sweet taste and squishy texture still captivated me. It was a joke among my chocolate-loving friends that I considered innocent little raisins my vice. But anything that overwhelms your thoughts and senses can be your ruin—even sticky, rotten, shrivelled grapes.
A food craving is an obsessive desire for a particular food—usually one that fulfills a distinct need. Comfort, a quick buzz, or a reward after a challenging day are all reason enough to make a pit stop at the bakery or 7-Eleven on the way home. While food cravings come in many guises, comfort foods, which are rich in fat or carbohydrates, often prevail. Fish and vegetables rarely make the comfort-food cut.
The origin of food cravings is debatable, though some experts agree that both physiological and psychological underpinnings are at work. Physiological explanations for our insatiable urges include allergies, hormonal changes, and pregnancy. A physical craving can also result from a deficiency or imbalance in the diet or body.
For instance, people whose diets restrict carbohydrates, which provide immediate energy and are necessary fuel for the brain, often crave sugar or fat. Energy for the body is much like it is for our society—a precious resource. It’s no wonder we crave it.
Although a sweet tooth can be fulfilled by eating complex carbohydrates-—especially the naturally sweet root vegetables like beets and yams—the tendency is to go for chocolate, candy, or baked goods. When cravings are satisfied with such “empty” foods, the imbalance in the body increases, cravings grow stronger, and we continue to succumb.
The cycle is self-defeating, as we often misinterpret our desires as simply a deficiency in willpower. But if cravings are a message of imbalance, they will repeat themselves until even those of us with an iron will heed their call.
The psychological aspect of food cravings is often driven by our desires. Food fulfills us because it pleases all our senses; we make this connection in childhood if food was used to show love, offer solace, or reward good behaviour. A food substituted for a positive emotion can strengthen our cravings. To satisfy our deeper hungers, we transfer an emotional need onto something we can keep in the cupboard.
Can our cravings take control of us? Can a rainy midnight expedition for an orange Slurpee actually be an addiction? Charles Eisenstein, author of Yoga of Eating, votes “yes.” He claims that because cravings (and the fulfillment of cravings) distract and entertain us, they can be considered addictive.
Eisenstein has me pegged. I knew the best raisin haunts in the city and ensured at least one raisin location would be on my route home. I salivated at the thought of them. I couldn’t walk into a grocery store without buying a bag, which I would then eat in its entirety. I gave myself stomachaches and cavities. I suffered from shame when I couldn’t go a day without them.
A year ago, I reached a point where the pain was greater than the pleasure. I went cold turkey and quit. My habitual bulk-bin raids were over.
Awareness proved to be my greatest ally in raisin recovery. When I truly listened to my body, I knew my cravings were affecting my health and well-being. Aware of my thoughts, I discovered my mind didn’t just desire dried grapes; it was seduced by their immediate gratification. I promised myself to take 10 breaths whenever I thought about raisins. This helped me move from reaction (must get raisins!) to response (what else can I do to put myself at ease?).
Today, I am free of raisins even though my diet is not raisin-free. When we eat from a place of conscious choice, whether it’s caramel fudge or rice cakes, we strengthen our ability to determine what we authentically need. Occasional indulgence is perfectly natural and fun—as long as you know a sticky situation when you see one.
Meghan Rathwell is a holistic nutritionist, educator, and writer who’s getting along much better with her dentist these days. Find her at nourishingartscollective.com .
Books to help stave the crave
- Feeding the Hungry Heart and When Food is Love by Geneen Roth. Insightful and inspiring info from someone who has plumbed the depths of cravings and despair.
- Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein. Helps readers distinguish their superficial cravings from authentic appetites so they can begin nourishing themselves with food.
by Trish Kelly
 Eat Out
February is the Unsung Heroes Festival at Blue Water Cafe. Started five years ago by Chef Frank Pabst, the festival functions as a delicious education in the lesser known delicacies of the local meroir (the special flavour characteristics bestowed upon seafood by geography). The menu runs all month and features the restaurant’s award-winning Sea Urchin Mousse, which won Chef Frank top honours at the 2008 Gold Medal Plates and an opportunity to compete in the Canadian Culinary Challenge,also this month. bluewatercafe.net
 Eat In
If you’re looking for that perfect ethical breakfast-in-bed for your sweetheart, check out the recipe section of the BC SPCA website. The SPCA administers a third-party certification program that identifies farmers committed to providing a cruelty-free life for their animals. Recipes feature ingredients from certified farms such as Little Qualicum Cheeseworks and Rabbit River Farms. If dinner is your preferred method of wooing, you’ll also find SPCA-approved B.C. poultry, pork, and beef suppliers. Look for the “SPCA Certified” label at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. spca.bc.ca
 Check Out
Though they haven’t yet achieved the notoriety of Lesley Stowe’s Raincoast Crisps, Terri Storey’s Ükko Crackers have taken their first step toward snack-aisle domination. Each of the three varieties focuses on a different landscape. Ocean features smoked sea salt and seaweed, Forest contains pine nuts, maple syrup, and spruce oil, while Field is flecked with hemp seeds and poppy seeds. What’s more, Ükko Conscious Foods is set up as a triple-bottom-line company, so each step, from ingredient sourcing to packaging, considers the well-being of the environment. ukkocracker.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in East Vancouver. She likes free-ranging fauna, culinary champions, and French suffixes that sex up natural environs.
Street food to venture out for, a corner store to die fore, and more.
by Trish Kelly
 Eat In
The Flying Tiger in Kitsilano is the kind of restaurant crush that can actually motivate you to doff the fuzzy slippers and venture outside in January. The cozy, sophisticated room and warm service seem reason enough to make the trip, but here’s the clincher: Chef Tina Fineza’s Asian street food menu features Ocean Wise sustainable seafood, free-range meats, and organic produce. The varied selections include Vietnamese “Nuoc Cham” Sablefish with ginger wontons, and the Mumbai Chaat Masala that comes with darling little fried breads. With the coming Lunar New Year Jan. 26 and weeks of Dine Out Vancouver starting Jan. 16, the next thing you know it will be February… then spring is just around the corner.
2958 W. Fourth Ave., theflyingtiger.ca
 Eat Out
If “stop coveting Strathcona’s great corner stores” is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, then avoid strolling by the Wilder Snail Neighbourhood Grocery at the corner of Keefer and Hawks. The former convenience store, whose biggest draws were fuzzy peaches and Kraft Dinner, has been transformed into a destination for both locals and envious neighbourhoodlums from all over Vancouver. Focaccia sandwiches imported from La Grotta del Formaggio on Commercial Drive, organic yogurt in the cooler, and fair-trade organic espresso at the bar are a just a few more reasons why you’ll wish you were a resident of one of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods. In the coming months, new owner Boyd Thomson plans to add homemade desserts and soups, plus a ride-thru window for cyclists. 799 Keefer St., 604-216-0640
 Check Out
Though you may have been blaming the January chill for your brain freeze this afternoon, according to scientists, the root cause of most fatigue throughout the day is dehydration due to falling blood pressure. So instead of dragging yourself to the coffeemaker, grab some H2O. Tap water will do the trick, but for those who want the convenience of a bottle, Icelandic Glacial is a great option. Sourced at Ölfus Spring in Iceland, it is extremely pure and comes from a self-replenishing source, which means unlike a finite source such as an artesian well on a tropical island, Icelandic won’t ever dry up the local community’s water supply. Also cool is the company’s carbon-neutral status. Use your well-hydrated noggin to recycle the bottle, and get on with your day.
icelandicglacial.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in East Vancouver. She likes coffee on the corner, public displays of restaurant affection, and carbon-neutral second winds. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s contributor fee to a local food-focused organization. This month’s recipient is Potluck Café (potluckcatering.com), a Downtown Eastside social enterprise that offers free meals to area residents and operates a professional catering service.
Cool gelato, hot cookbooks, and cozy winter market.
by Trish Kelly
 Eat In
If you’ve ever pondered what makes a restaurant great, West: The Cookbook holds some enticing clues. Sure, chef Warren Geraghty gets his name on the cover, but this book is testament to the team effort that has earned West, at 2881 Granville St., international recognition. The restaurant’s wine director, Owen Knowlton, offers wine pairings; pastry chef Rhonda Viani takes care of dessert; and food writer Jim Tobler tells the story of West and the regional ingredients that make up the heart and soul of its menu. With 100 colour photos, you might expect more instructional, step-by-step images for home chefs; but in truth, the book is so gorgeous, you might never dare to actually take it into the kitchen. westrestaurant.com
 Eat Out
With this year’s farmers’ market season extended into late October, we hardly had time to miss our favourite stalls before the Winter Market began Nov. 8. But who’s complaining? It’s a win/win situation: we get fresh, local food, and a handful of farmers and producers—such as potato-growing rock stars Helmer’s Organic Farm and gustatory godsend Crêperie La Bohème—get to make a living year-round. At the market, you’ll also find local cheese makers, apple growers, and sourdough wizards, all in the comfort of the cozy WISE Hall at Adanac and Victoria. The Winter Market runs every second Saturday (Dec. 6 and 20), from 10 am to 2 pm, till the end of April. Bring a trunkful of reusable bags, and pack them with stocking stuffers and hostess gifts that bridge elegance and practicality in a way Costco fruitcake never could. eatlocal.org
 Check Out
Marck and Lauren Shipley, owners of Salt Spring Gelato, are guaranteed a spot on Santa’s “nice” list. What seasonal gift-giver could find fault with their organic, handmade sorbettos and gelatos? The couple, who met in Hawaii, moved to the Silicon Valley, and later retreated to the Gulf Islands to raise their children, use ingredients sourced within 100 miles of Salt Spring Island, including cheese from Moonstruck and chocolate from Salt Spring Island Chocolate Company. Because ensuring a spot on Mother Nature’s nice list is also important, the company is carbon-neutral. Meanwhile, the proprietors’ already-good karma is enhanced by the creation of two special flavours, Fruit Tree Apple Pie gelato and Fruit Tree Pear sorbetto, whose proceeds partially support Victoria’s Fruit Tree Project. Get yours at Whole Foods, Donald’s Market, or Stong’s. saltspringgelato.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in East Vancouver. She likes high-achieving artisans, philanthropic farmers, and any excuse to eat gelato. At her request, SharedVISION donates Trish’s contributor fee to a local food-focused organization. This month’s recipient is Operation Cookies for Kids, a B.C. Children’s Hospital fundraiser headed up by Lee Murphy of Vista D’oro Farms (vistadoro.com ) offering boxed cookies from Vancouver’s top chefs.
Spot treats, free eats, and cured meats.
by Trish Kelly
 Eat In
If your shopping list takes you to Yaletown or Kits this month, make sure you duck into one of the handful of cafés carrying certified organic Spot teas, made by local ladies Alisa Kami and Laura Game. Need to recharge your holiday season giddy-up? Grab a cup of Go, their black Assam tea with enough caffeine to get you back out there, or Flirt, an organic green sencha tea finished with a touch of mango. If you’re already vibrating more than your BlackBerry, you might consider the mellowing effects of True, a caffeine-free rooibos tea. You’ll find Spot at the darling Coo Coo Coffee on Davie across from Choices
Market or on the Westside at Café Hermosa, 4 W. Seventh Ave. spottea.com
Check Out
It’s entertaining season, and busy dinner party hosts know how invaluable a stop at Urban Fare can be. Super good news for hosts and hostesses (and for those of us who just enjoy free snacks), Urban Fare is again putting on its threeday sampling extravaganza, the Gourmet Food Show. More than 20 vendors, including local favourites Rocky Mountain Flatbreads and Lesley Stowe Fine Foods, will be on hand with sampling stations peppered throughout the store. This year you have a choice of two Urban Fare locations: the still-shiny Coal Harbour store at the foot of Bute Street, and the newly minted Shangri-La location at Alberni and Thurlow. The event runs at both supermarkets Nov. 22 in the evening and Nov. 23 from noon to 5 pm. urbanfare.com
 Eat Out
You can bet chef Robert Belcham won’t be starting his shopping early this year. Not only does he have the wellreceived Fuel restaurant to take care of, he’s also opening a second restaurant the first week of this month. Called Campagnolo, the eatery is situated on the last frontier of Vancouver’s condo-fication: lower Main Street. The new space promises affordable, casual Italian dining with a commitment to local and sustainable ingredients. Robert and chef de cuisine Alvin Pillay have created a simple and authentic menu of salumi (cured meats), pizza, pasta, risotto, and seasonally inspired main courses, with a wine list focused entirely on Italian and B.C. selections. Nestled among several major traffic arteries, Campagnolo may not become your neighbourhood haunt, but we’re anticipating another culinary victory for Robert. 1022 Main St., campagnolorestaurant.ca
FRESH Greens by Trish Kelly
Trish Kelly lives and eats in East Vancouver. She loves a steaming cup of Envy, discovering paradise in a grocery store, and finding new ways to say gentrification.” Each month she donates her contributor fee to a local food-based non-profit. This month’s recipient is Fresh Choice Kitchens (communitykitchens.ca), a community program that creates opportunities for people to cook together.
The art of preserving is passed down from mother to son.
by Don Genova
Only a buck: for helping his mom with the preserving,
Don got to keep the proceeds from pumpkin sales.
I always have a hard time figuring out my favourite season of the year. I’ve narrowed it down to spring and fall: spring for the asparagus, the wild morels, the early strawberries; fall for the apples, the pumpkins, and the chanterelles. I think I have more vibrant memories from the fall because our house was always so busy. My father would start tearing out the remaining tomato vines and cornstalks, getting ready to plow our large field and work in the pungent manure he picked up at a nearby farm.
But my fondest memories are of my mother canning the last of the tomatoes, making applesauce, and preserving pears in a not-too-sweet syrup. Our pear tree always produced, but if the apple trees were having an off year we would journey to the area’s apple orchards to pick our own for eating and gather bags of windfalls for Mom’s thick and chunky applesauce that went so well with her baked pork chops.
As she grew older and I grew stronger, I helped more with the canning. I remember carrying heavy pots of steaming hot tomato juice downstairs to her canning kitchen, using my oomph to put crown caps on the bottles of juice, and sticking my body halfway into the freezer to rearrange the boxes of vegetables, putting the new ones at the bottom and rotating last year’s to the top.
To reward me, Mom would let me keep the money from the sales of the pumpkins my dad grew on our property. I would load up the little trailer attached to our Ford garden tractor and drive it to the bottom of our driveway. I would sit on the tractor seat and hope the cars would stop. They did. Fifty cents for a small pumpkin, a dollar for a large one.
In the genes: Don’s mom taught him
everything he knows about canning.
My mom would have laughed if she had seen me trying to can this year. Our kitchen was under renovation all summer. The canning kitchen consisted of a feeble electric hot plate on a table under the deck. A large propane burner sat nearby to seal my preserves in a hot water bath. Washing and brining and cutting and packing were done in the laundry room. It wasn’t easy, but I guess I really inherited my mom’s preserving genes. We grew our own garlic, dill, and cucumbers this year, so I have a few dozen jars of dills, some pickled silverskin onions, preserved figs from our tree, and assorted fruit sauces and compotes from when I couldn’t resist the deals on blueberries and cherries at the nearby country market.
When I call my mom, I try to tell her about my canning triumphs. It’s hard to talk to her on the phone now as her hearing has deteriorated, and a stroke 11 years ago left her unable to do any more of her own canning. What I really want is to take her a jar of pickles or jam the next time I visit her in Toronto. But I can’t. Liquids of that volume are no longer allowed in a carry-on bag. And I used to be a baggage handler in another life, so I know the perils of packing a jar of pickles in a suitcase!
For many years I kept a jar of my mom’s tomato juice made in her last season of canning on a shelf in my pantry. I planned to open it and drink a toast to her upon her passing. But a few months ago, as I was shifting items in the pantry, I nudged the bottle off the shelf. It smashed into a million shards of glass and drops of bright red juice. I felt sick. I phoned my sister to see if my mom was OK (call it an Italian superstition). She was fine. Now I have to try to imitate her recipe so I can get another bottle on the shelf.
I have no kids of my own, but I love passing down my mother’s knowledge and techniques to a new generation of people eager to learn what to them, ironically, is a new way of eating. And whenever I hear the pop of a jar sealing as it cools, I am suddenly transported back to that underground canning kitchen where my wise and capable mother is putting up homegrown food for another year.
This is Don Genova’s last column with SharedVISION. Keep up with his culinary adventures at dongenova.com.
by Trish Kelly
 Eat In
Wheelhouse Seafoods doesn’t exactly qualify for spring chicken status (husband and wife team Catherine Jones and Trevor Yamamoto opened their doors at 2605 E. Hastings more than seven years ago). However, its commitment to providing fresh, local, and sustainable meats and seafood has been a passion since day one. In the summertime, the store revolves around fruits de mer, but in the fall, tasty land animals take centre stage. Heaps of research and face-to-face meetings with ranchers have resulted in a butcher’s case of free-range bison, free-run ducks, grass-fed beef, and, at this time of year, non-medicated turkeys. Call to reserve your ethical protein of choice for Thanksgiving dinner. 604-215-5562
 Eat Out
If you don’t feel like cooking those sustainable meats or mussels yourself, Subeez Café (891 Homer St.) will do it for you. Executive chef Leigh Power, who helped open the eatery and stayed on board till 2002, has returned to Subeez with a local and sustainable agenda. It isn’t the first time that Leigh’s had a vision of infusing this casual and super-hip restaurant with organic and local items, but he admits that the recent renos to the menu prove it’s getting easier to do the right thing. Subeez has signed up for the Ocean Wise program and is sourcing its beef from a medication-free Albertan ranch. For more options, check out their menu online. subeez.com
 Check Out
With sophisticated flavours like lavender, kumquat, rhubarb, and lemongrass, DRY Soda’s offerings wouldn’t seem out of place in a high-end wine shop. These subtle and refined “culinary sodas” are lightly sweetened with pure cane sugar and housed in elegant, minimalist bottles. They might be a tad hard to spot on the shelf, but will look oh-so-classy on your dinner table (or in some Hollywood socialite’s manicured hand.) They’ve been available in the Seattle area for three years, and have finally made it across the border to land at Capers Whole Foods. DRY sodas are great on their own to serve to teetotalling guests, but for those who prefer a tipple, check out the tantalizing cocktail recipes on the company’s website. drysoda.com
Trish Kelly lives and eats in East Vancouver. She loves
empathetic carnivores, genre-bending beverages,
and hipsters who do their sustainable homework.
Each month, Trish requests that her contributor fee
be donated to a food based non-profit. This month’s
recipient is UBC Farm (landfood.ubc.ca/ubcfarm ), the
only working farm in Vancouver.
One foodie's journey from neophyte to dynamite.
by Meghan Rathwell
I arrived with a plastic bag containing deli salads from Safeway. The social graces of my friends were admirable—but at potlucks people speak with their plates, and by the end of the evening the truth was plain to see. Amid the disarray of the empty platters and serving dishes, my two Styrofoam containers of potato and three-bean salad sat accusingly full.
Potlucks celebrate the occasion of eating. Not just eating, but eating together. Featuring a spread of old favourites, new foods, and good company, a potluck contains the ingredients for dinner party paradise. No need for matching dishes or enough chairs. Sitting on the floor with a plate balanced on your lap is a perfectly acceptable eating arrangement. Nobody eats what they don’t like or worries about using the wrong utensil. (This is a relief for me. Having grown up eating at a relaxed dinner table, I prefer to eat in non-stressful situations. Multiple forks, meals that come in courses, and minding my elbows still make me antsy.) Free from traditional table manners, potlucks allow people to eat at their own rhythm, as they would in their own homes.
With eating and seating out of the way, there is only one aspect left to discuss: the contribution. Accepting an invitation to a potluck implies a commitment to create a shared meal. The practised potluckee (definition: one who attends a potluck) shops, prepares, and plans ahead. But there is no one way to organize. After my first potluck I didn’t aspire to excellence; I simply wanted to advance from the deli salad stage.
I decided to try pizza. Having never made pizza, I may have made a hasty decision. Distracted by the toppings—the array of colours, textures, and flavours—my consideration of the crust was secondary. Without a rolling pin or a proper pan, I jammed a thick layer of dough into a dish. When baked, dough is meant to turn into its higher self—crust. Mine remained mostly dough, with occasional crusty patches. I decided to go ahead and add the toppings. Surely the dough would crisp when the pizza went back in the oven to melt the cheese…
Everyone loves pizza, don’t they? Knowing that made it all the more painful to watch my fellow potluckees try valiantly to eat my version. The dough expanded like a sponge, and the cheese affixed it to every corner and crevice of the mouth (I’d added extra to compensate for the inferior crust). I feared someone would suffocate while trying to swallow. It was reason to bow out of potlucks for good, but my determination to participate in the world’s greatest dinner parties didn’t let up.
Midway through university, I met a group of friends who raised the potluck bar. The calibre of their potlucks approached fine art: fresh dates came stuffed with goat cheese, and the mango salsa was homemade. I began to study potluck success stories. I noted that flavour, presentation, and freshness all do well at potlucks. Anything that comes from someone’s garden is immensely enjoyed. Finally, decadence in the form of chocolate always wins.
I don’t remember exactly how I discovered what would become my specialty, but it wasn’t without trial and error. I tried my hand at mains and produced a mildly successful spinach-like casserole. Desserts, which tend to require following a recipe, were and still aren’t my strong point (recall the pizza dough). And despite my love of soups, they can be a hard sell at potlucks as people usually focus on filling a plate.
I hit potluck gold when I discovered dips and dressings. Playful, sophisticated, and made of everything from herbs and oils to beans and seeds, dips and dressings represent the perfect accompaniment to all things yummy. Plus, they’re forgiving. Dips and dressings can easily be adjusted to taste. You can keep adding more lemon, extra parsley, or dashes of wine until the very last minute! If you’re still shy, keep in mind that a fresh pie, a sophisticated cheese plate, or a bottle of something sparkly will always suffice as an offering.
Regardless of what you bring to the table, potlucks celebrate the virtue of sharing. They are a tasty reminder of the value in breaking bread with our communities. After 11 years of potluck flops and fortune, I’ve learned two important things: the real “luck” is not in the dish but in the company you share it with, and three-bean salad is really quite easy to make.
Meghan Rathwell is a holistic nutritionist, educator, and writer who is pleased to be over her potluck stage fright. Find her at nourishingartscollective.com.
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