Vancouver Cooks

Joan Lovisek, Ph.D., is a consulting anthropologist and ethnohistorian
in British Columbia.

How do you capture the flavour of a city? The premise for this
collection of recipes is that the way to capture the food of a city is
through the top chefs of best restaurants. More than 100 recipes from
over 50 of Vancouver’s (and Vancouver Island’s) award-winning chefs
are presented along with serving and wine tips. The restaurants range
from Vancouver Island’s Sooke Harbour House to the Fish House in
Stanley Park.

Seafood is represented in many of the recipes, but finding some of the
ingredients—such as kobu, a dried kelp, or sablefish—may not be easy
for all cooks. There are exotic-sounding recipes like Marinated Lamb
Popsicles with Fenugreek Cream Curry and the more familiar Veal Goulash
Over Hungarian Spaetzle with Lecso. There are also comfort foods like
Bread and Butter Pudding and some interesting Asian twists to old
standbys, like Black Thai Rice Pudding. Classic shortbread gets dolled
up with organic lavender, summer berries, and black pepper—a
combination traditionalists might find a trifle avant-garde. Each recipe
is tastefully photographed and all the recipes were apparently tested by
Joan Cross, a self-taught cook.

Vancouver Cooks is recommended for those who want to sample some fine
dishes by top chefs and for visitors who want to take home something of
their culinary memories of the city and island.