Food For Thought – University Food

Ubc_card_1 I don’t know about you, but when I went to university xx years ago, the food in my residence left a lot to be desired.  Of course, I didn’t really know that then, and out from underneath my mother’s fine home-cooking and limited beer supply, I managed to put on the pounds quite quickly.  I could have french fries with every meal, and much of the protein was fried, like the little chicken wings we called ‘budgie wings’.  Swiss steak was ‘mystery meat’, and veal parmigianas were ‘hockey pucks’.  The third Thursday of every month was wing steak night…as it was when my sister lived in the same residence 8 years before me!

All is not the same these days.  Take some time to browse through the UBC Food Services Website.  You’ll see some of the amazing menus they’ve come up with for the two residences at the university.  The dining hall at Place Vanier Residence is well-appointed, (no ketchup stains on the ceiling) and the best-kept secret, although management doesn’t want to keep it a secret, is that the public can eat there as well.  To hear my mini-documentary about UBC Food Services in streaming RealAudio, click here.

Dorm_room_diet_1 If you are a freshman or a parent of a student and you’re concerned about eating getting out of hand, I did come across a great book called The Dorm Room Diet by a junior at Princeton University in New Jersey named Daphne Oz, and it’s designed to give some help to students leaving home for the first time and confronted with the choices and stresses of first-year university life.  (by clicking on the title you will go to amazon.ca, where you can save 24% off the cover price!)

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Pacific Palate – UBC Food Services

Ubc_cardThis week Pacific Palate takes a look behind the scenes at UBC Food Services, the division responsible for feeding thousands of people every day on campus. 

Dorm_room_diet If you are a freshman or a parent of a student and you’re concerned about eating getting out of hand, I did come across a great book called The Dorm Room Diet by a junior at Princeton University in New Jersey named Daphne Oz, and it’s designed to give some help to students leaving home for the first time and confronted with the choices and stresses of first-year university life.  (by clicking on the title you will go to amazon.ca, where you can save 24% off the cover price!)

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More Sardines For Sale!

The following is a press release I received today from the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association.  Apparently you like sardines, you really like them!

FRESH BC SARDINE SALES in STEVESTON • Friday, September 8th and Saturday, September 9th, 2006

more BC sardines coming to meet a growing demand generated by BC Sardine Fest!

Richmond, BC:  In response to the great interest and demand generated for BC sardines at the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association’s second annual BC Sardine Fest held on Saturday, September 2nd, 2006 between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm at the Steveston Harbour Authority Fisherman’s Park (in front of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site 12138 Fourth Avenue), fresh BC sardines are on their way to the Steveston Fishermen’s Wharf for sale this Friday, September 8th (3 pm to 7 pm) and Saturday, September 9th (7 am to 7 pm) or until supplies last!

Sardine fisherman, Glenn Budden of the Ocean Venture says from his boat, “We sold out of 8,500 pounds of fresh BC sardines at BC Sardine Fest and we will be making our way back to the sales dock in Steveston this weekend with more beautiful fish – about 145 grams each – to meet that growing demand.  We’ll have free BC sardine recipe booklets available too featuring unique recipes created by our local chefs who participated at our event both this year and last year.  It’s just great to see the enthusiastic interest in BC sardines!”

Over 1,500 people attended BC Sardine Fest this year showing such enthusiastic interest in BC sardines as they: attended the cooking demonstrations presented by Karen Barnaby (Executive Chef of The Fish House in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC and award-winning cookbook author), Stephen Wong (local journalist, food and beverage consultant and cookbook author) and Kosta Zogaris (award winning fishmonger and owner of Lonsdale Quay’s Salmon Shop and Screaming Mimi’s, North Vancouver, BC); sampled the fresh and smoked sardine products; and, bought approximately 8,500 pounds of fresh sardines and 400 pounds of smoked sardine creations provided by Classic Smokehouse of Vancouver, BC.

Don Pepper, Executive Director of the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association adds,  “It was especially wonderful to have the full support of the professional chefs, seafood experts, seafood suppliers, the Steveston Harbour Authority, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie who all actively contributed to make this event even bigger and better than last year.  It’s simply great to see the growing interest and demand for BC sardines.  It’s positive news for the 50 commercial sardine licence holders and the new BC sardine industry overall.  We’re already planning for BC Sardine Fest 2007!”

For more information regarding this weekend’s fresh BC sardine sales, please contact Glenn Budden directly at 604-328-7830.

BC sardines are a highly nutritious and delicious fin fish that migrate through the cool coastal waters of

British Columbia

.  With an iridescent, silvery body and fine, soft textured pink flesh, the flavour is described as relatively stronger and heavier than most white fish species providing great versatility in creating sardine dishes.  They are also recognized as a nutritional powerhouse rich in calcium, protein, iron, potassium, phosphorus and omega-3 fatty acids.  The unique story is an amazing natural “boom and bust” cycle that can be traced back 2,000 years  – explaining why BC’s large-scale sardine fisheries of the early 1900s came to an end in the 1950s and then started again in the early 1990s when sardines again re-appeared on the BC coast.  Today, the conservative fishery is committed to sustainability and provides fresh sardines primarily between May and November while frozen, salted and smoked product is available year round.

The Canadian Pacific Sardine Association is a non-profit, legally constituted organization representing sardine permit holders in the management and marketing of this BC sardine fishery.  The association is committed to working with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to maintain the fishery’s sustainability; working with all permit holders and industry members to ensure consistent delivery of a premium, quality product, and; promoting BC sardines in both export and domestic markets.

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So Much On My Plate – Well-Rounded Ingredients

Tablegrapes This week on So Much On My Plate, well-rounded ingredients, including table grapes, cherry tomatoes and beets! 

I used BC Coronation Grapes to make two versions of Grape Foccacia.  These grapes are practically seedless, a sweet inside with a slightly sour skin that makes for a perfect balance.  Click here to go to the British Columbia Grape Growers Association website recipe homepage, where you can find the recipe for the focaccia.  I also did a savoury version where I used olive oil, coarse salt and chopped rosemary along with the grapes.

BEETS:  Look at your local farmers’ markets for white and Chioggia beets.  The Chioggias have beautiful stripes inside them and along with the white beets, make a stunning salad platter.  Wrap them in foil and roast them whole at 400F in your oven or on indirect heat on your barbecue.  When you can pierce them easily with a skewer, remove from heat, let cool, then peel and slice.  Arrange in one layer on a plate and drizzle with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and toasted cumin seeds for an extra punch.

CHERRY TOMATO SOUP:  I take a couple of pounds of cherry tomatoes and put them in a large roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and and pepper, and then nestle in some peeled whole cloves of garlic and a few branches of fresh rosemary and thyme.  Cover with foil and roast at 400F until the tomatoes have burst their skins and have broken down.  Remove the branches of herbs and pour the whole mess into your food processor.  Puree and then pass everything through a sieve to remove the seeds and skins.  Add a little chicken stock if it seems to thick.  Serve hot, at room temperature or even chilled!

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Food For Thought – Sardines

Img_2230 Nothing like fresh BC Sardines on the grill!  To listen to today’s Food For Thought item in streaming RealAudio, click here  .

For more photos, recipes and info on where to buy fresh sardines in BC’s Lower Mainland, see this previous post.

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Pacific Palate – Sardines

                                         Tuesday, September 5th:Sale_sign Pacific Palate returns to the airwaves of the Early Edition this week with a report from the BC Sardine Festival in Steveston.  The sardine population in BC started picking up again around 10 years ago, fitting right in with a cycle of about 30 years that scientists have discovered.  To read much more about BC Sardines and the current fishery, visit the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association website.

Img_2234

Fisherman Glenn Budden of the MV Ocean Venture was on hand to answer questions from the crowd watching cooking demonstrations, and he also sold about 8500 pounds of fresh sardines!  People were lined up for hours to get quite a good deal:  10 sardines for $5…and these jumbo sardines weighed about half a pound each.  To view a PDF file of retailers and restaurants offering BC Sardines, click here. (you’ll need Adobe Reader to view it)   Three chefs did cooking demonstrations with fresh BC Sardines, including cookbook author and consultant Stephen Wong, Karen Barnaby from the Fish House in Stanley Park, and Kosta Zogaris of The Salmon Shop and Screaming Mimi’s at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. 

Img_2238 I’ve already tried two of their recipes, Karen’s Pan-Fried BC Sardines with Maple Balsamic Glaze, and Stephen’s Grilled BC Sardines with Spicy Tomato Black Bean Sauce.  Both recipes worked well, and I surprised myself by being able to clean and fillet the sardines for Karen’s recipe without making too much of a mess of the fish!

Img_2249 Stephen says you have to be careful when grilling sardines because they have a high fat content. (which makes for good Omega-3 fatty acid levels), but I didn’t have access to a barbecue for this edition of ‘Test Kitchen’, so I just used the broiler in the oven with good results.

If you want to try some of these recipes you will find them opening as a Word document when you click on the links:

Grilled BC Sardines with Spicy Tomato Black Bean Sauce

Pan-Fried BC Sardines with Maple Balsamic Glaze

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