Edible News + Notes: June 15, 2021
Summer Drinks
Wine Growers British Columbia, a nonprofit that represents our province’s wineries, has recently released ten topographic maps of B.C.’s wine regions. The maps show you the primary different geographical indications (GIs) of the province (the formal designation that tells you which region produced the fruit in any particular bottle of wine).
June is Pride month, and six Comox Valley and Campbell River breweries have put their skills together to collaborate with a special beer to celebrate by creating the Love Wins Juicy Session IPA. Behind the light, tropical beer that encourages everyone to take part in craft beer community is Ace Brewing and Gladstone Brewing (Courtenay), Land and Sea Brewing and New Tradition Brewing (Comox); Cumberland Brewing (Cumberland); and Beachfire Brewing(Campbell River). Proceeds also go to Diversity In Brewing, a grassroots initiative supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ2s+ students providing an annual scholarship to Kwantlen Polytechnic Universities brewing program.
And if you’re just looking for a lighter summer option, it’s worth checking out Vancouver Island Brewing’s new hard sparkling water, aptly named Island Life. Made with vodka, real fruit juice and a hint of a botanical or herbal character, Island Life has just 110 calories and 2g of sugar per can. Their flavour options (Lemon and Ginger, Raspberry and Honey, and Peach and Blood Orange) practically beg to be enjoyed on a sunny afternoon.
New Businesses
Ghost Ramen just opened up at 1609 Store Street in Victoria. They make their ramen from scratch and create dishes that are almost too beautiful to eat—they’re Instagram-worthy offerings for sure!
The Bikery in Victoria just opened their storefront doors, and we feel sorry for all their Victoria Public Market neighbours—smelling the incredible pretzels, bagels, challah, pita, and other baked goods must make their mouths water all day long! They are Victoria’s only kosher bakery, and they also do all their deliveries via bicycle.
Brud House is opening its doors in Nanaimo this month. The new coffee shop features high ceilings, beautiful décor and, of course, that blissful caffeinated drink that gets our days going each morning—coffee.
From left to right: Ghost Ramen; The Bikery; Brud House
Pop Up Fish Shop is a new venture on Hornby Island that offers wild, sustainable, frozen-at-sea B.C. seafood. Find them popping up near the Ringside market Wednesdays all June from 1 to 5pm.
Windbell Cafe is a new business that recently opened up in Sidney. They offer a variety of products to suit your mood—from coffee to bubble tea to milkshakes, and from baked goods to homemade grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches.
Of course, with warmer weather comes barbeque season! But barbeques can suffer from grease build up and corrosion that can cause flare-ups and shorten its lifespan. A new business in the Comox Valley called The BBQ Cleaning Co. can help you with that—they come right to your house to give your barbeque a new lease on life by cleaning it up both aesthetically and functionally.
Wondering what to grow in your garden this year? Foragers Galley has officially launched their grow-at-home mushroom kits. The different kits, which offer various kinds of mushrooms, are prepared on their farm in Central Saanich and can be mailed across Canada.
Ice Cream!
Summer time = ice cream time! Kid Sister Ice Cream has moved locations, so you can now visit them at 230 Cook Street in Victoria. Pop by for scratch-made ice cream and popsicles to help beat the oncoming summer heat.
Parachute Ice Cream just opened their new Langford location at 735 Goldstream Ave. Open from 12:30 to 8pm, they offer delicious cold treats where they make everything themselves—from the ice cream, to the ingredients in the ice cream like brownies, rhubarb compote and fresh hand-chopped mint.
If you’re nostalgic for the days of ice cream trucks parading around your neighbourhood as a kid, we’ve got good news for you! The Ice Cream Truck is a bright pink, cold treat, blast-from-the-past experience, serving up all your favourite Vancouver Island ice cream treats and more. To make sure you don’t miss out on them in your region, you can head to their website to check their live location or even sign up to receive text alerts when they’re in your neighbourhood!
If you’re in Cumberland, you can’t miss stopping by the adorable blue trailer location of Love’s Ice Cream. This is real, quality ice cream in delightful flavours that are served in homemade waffle cones—the whole family will love this stop! They even offer delicious dairy-free options.
Food and Learning
The Food and Sovereignty Symposium, which will be hosted virtually by VIU and the journal Gender & History on June 17-20, will take a look at how histories of food and sovereignty have intersected with gender over time. Keynote speaker Ozoz Sokoh, a food explorer, culinary anthropologist and food historian from Nigeria, will discuss food in the context of culture, history and heritage.
Does your child have a knack for cooking and love experimenting in the kitchen? The Field to Fork Challenge provides the opportunity for B.C. kids grade 4 to 12 to submit recipes and cooking videos for the opportunity to cash prizes (totalling $6,400). This is the second year this challenge has been put on by the 4-H British Columbia, BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation and the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.
