Up in Ontario

Scoring the Good Stuff in Vancouver

This post is a continuation of My Education in Cooking. Now, the locals establishment to furnish the foodstuff of the affair.

Produce: Fruit and Veg
Vancouver is blessed with some excellent growing conditions and original, inspired farmers. From May to October on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm a farmer's market springs up in the parking lot of the Trout Lake Community Centre. Discovering it opened up a whole new world of food and freshness to me, such as the ritual indulgence in sink peaches and attempts to create basil pesto.

In the winter and spring a produce shop on West Broadway called Young Brothers (right beside the Hollywood Theatre, if you're looking) fills our fridge on a weekly basis. I don't know where they find all their produce but there are mountains of everything in that store and it's incredibly cheap and the service is rushed and rude unless you expect it to be rude, in which case its hospitable.

Meats
I source meats at the excellent Market Meats on West 4th, though I avoid their prepared, marinated meats simply because I like to do it myself. The sausages they sell are made on the premises and I can recommend from first-hand experience.

The other thing I really like about them is that they're willing to work with customers. They'll talk to you about what you want to achieve and then recommend how to get there. If you have an idea of what you'd like to do they'll order in hard-to-find items or set them aside when they pass by. Just go in when they're not so busy to make sure you get good service and not the high school kids working for the weekend.

Fish
Not a lot of fish comes into our house since the Duck is allegic to the stuff and neither of us is interested in killing her. But, I must confess, every now and then, if she's out of town especially, a fillet or steak might sneak in for some special, very sanitary treatment. So all of that to say that I'm not a great source for fish information. I love the stuff but don't have much experience buying it. Catching it, yes; buying it, no.

What I do have to recommend though are the many locations throughout Vancouver where you can walk out on a dock and buy the fish straight off the boats where it was caught. Granville Island features Fisherman's Wharf, a name that promises more than the location delivers, but where Joe Public can find excellent local seafood (salmon, halibut, prawns, ling cod, etc.) fresh, when in season, or frozen in the shoulder seasons.

Lastly, Vancouver is also blessed with many other food enthusiasts. In particular, Barb and Roland Tanglao's VanEats website provides exhaustive information on the Vancouver food scene.