First Bites November 2022 - Plant Power
SMOKEY GOODNESS
The Japanese name for plum blossom is the name Miki Talebi picked for her company, oomé. “My mother is Japanese, and I wanted to give a nod to that side of my identity as well,” says Talebi, whose idea for smoked tofu also honours her father, who loved smoking meat.
“It symbolizes spring and a ward against evil. I think it also reflects the beauty that can bloom from hard times and from loss and endurance,” Talebi says.
Talebi came up with the idea for oomé’s line of smoked tofu during a difficult time of her life, while her father was in hospital after an accident and she and her sister were spending time with him there and finding ways to do meal prep for their families. Her father sadly passed away in 2020 and Talebi used her dad’s smoker to develop the first product.
oomé launched officially in May 2022 with three flavours: Just Smoke, Maple Soy and Greek. To make her products, Talebi marinates the tofu for a full day before smoking it with maple wood chips for a couple of hours. She vacuum-packs the final product and then subjects it to high pressure pasteurization before packing into oomé’s distinctive, colourful boxes.
“Sure tofu is good for you, but it can be bland and sometimes people don’t know what to do with it,” Talebi explains. Her product saves people a preparation step and “it gives inspiration for the direction you want to take the meal in.”
Asked what she loves most about her business, Talebi says it’s the community she’s found. “I have been so surprised and uplifted by how supportive the community has been. Everyone is so willing to share information and help.”
oomé | thisisoome.com | @thisisoome
Find it at: Fork Plant Based Market (Kelowna), Flourist Bakery, Legends Haul, Vegan Supply, Farm to Table Market, United Strangers Coffee (North Vancouver)
THE SWEET LIFE
Lucia Bojanovska of Folk.Lore Naturals says she started her company to “help people have a sweet life.” She noticed a lot of her friends had food intolerances and were unable to enjoy sweet treats. Working with an old family recipe, she worked for two years to perfect her Vegan hUNey, an alternative sweetener with the characteristics of honey that is made from apples from B.C. orchards.
“We do not add any additional sugar, nor preservatives. Just pure apples,” says Bojanovska.
Operating from a commissary in Whistler, Bojanovska launched her line of hUNeys in April 2022. Along with the the original Raw hUNey, which can be used just as regular honey would be, Folk. Lore’s list of products includes Cocoa hUNey, recommended for baking, and Ginger Tumeric hUNey, which Bojanovska says is “perfect for salad dressings.” Folk.Lore’s jars of roasted walnuts or roasted pecans in hUNey make a sweet addition to a charcuterie board or a delicious topping for overnight oats or muesli.
In the future, Folk.Lore would like to contribute to the reduction of food waste by using waste apples from stores and orchards in its production.
Folk.Lore Naturals
folklorenaturals.com | @folk.lorenaturals
Find it at: Nesters, PlantX Market (Squamish), Fresh St. Markets, Pomme Natural Markets (Port Coquitlam) and online
FERMENTED CONVENIENCE
Carol Cheuk, owner of Sveet, was looking for healthy and convenient foods to feed her family. “My kids don’t eat veggies,” Cheuk explains, “and I was so busy I found myself eating convenient snacks that weren’t always the best.” Along with her husband, she was interested in Japanese food and started experimenting with koji (Aspergillus oryzae), a type of fungus that is also used to ferment soybeans and in the making of soy sauce. Along the way, they discovered amazake, a traditional Japanese rice-milk drink that they froze to make smoothies, adding various fruits and vegetables.
The couple experimented with other grains and discovered they could make a delicious fermented oat milk. First, Cheuk and her husband inoculate rice with koji to create a starter and leave it for two days.
Then they use the rice koji to ferment the oat milk for eight hours at a constant temperature. The result is creamy and thick and contains probiotics and enzymes that aid digestion with a sweet, slightly malty taste.
The product is available in original, matcha, cold brew coffee and very strawberry. Sveet also offers amazake frozen in bars in the shape of old-fashioned Freezies, which can be used as a smoothie base.
Cheuk likes meeting with people and talking to customers at the farmers’ market as it allows her to get feedback. “It feels rewarding to see returning customers.”
Sveet Eats Ltd. | sveet.ca | @sveet.ca
