Horizons: The Cookbook

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Horizons Restaurant gets its name for its panoramic view. Perched on a
ridge in the Burnaby Mountain Park, it offers diners a breathtaking
180-degree view that includes Burrard Inlet, the North Shore Mountains,
Stanley Park, and the Vancouver skyline. But the view takes second place
to Horizons’ cuisine. Award-winning chef John Garrett has carved out a
name for himself by developing a West Coast Asian-Mediterranean fusion
cuisine that takes full advantage of British Columbia’s abundant
seafood, wild mushrooms, and fresh fruit.

Garrett is also unusually good at describing food preparation
techniques. Where many chefs would simply say “chop lemon grass,”
Garrett understands that this may be a new ingredient for most readers
and so he writes, “Prepare the lemon grass by removing the outer
leaves. Cut off and discard the top 4 inches (10 cm) and bottom 1 inch
(2.5 cm) of an inner stalk. With a very sharp knife, mince the remaining
stalk.” The result is a cookbook that encourages readers to try new
ingredients and techniques.

The recipes are divided into seven sections: “Appetizers,”
“Soups,” “Salads,” “Pastas and Side Dishes,” “Fish and
Seafood,” “Meat and Poultry,” and “Desserts.” Selections
include Warm Dungeness Crab Cakes, Pear and Chorizo Quesadilla,
Butternut Squash and Apple Bisque, Black Bean and Smoked Jalapeсo Soup,
Scallop and Jicama Salad, Warm Duck and Spinach Salad, Maple Mashed
Sweet Potatoes, Charred Tomato Risotto, Spaetzle, Prawns in Coconut
Chili Sauce, Alder-Grilled Sockeye Salmon, Maple Soy Marinated Ahi Tuna,
Cider Cured Pork Tenderloin, Cappuccino Cheesecake, Old Fashioned Berry
Crumble, and Chocolate Paté. A section called “Basics,” at the end
of the book, teaches readers how to make essential soup stocks,
seasoning salts, and flavored oils. Sixteen gorgeous color photographs
accompany the recipes. The book is aimed at intermediate cooks and
above, but the instructions are so thorough that even advanced beginners
should be able to get great results from most recipes.