Méli-Mélo - September 2023
La Taqueria Taco Kit
Recently I was hit by a wave of nostalgia for those Old El Paso tacos that were synonymous with my childhood. I fondly remember carefully layering the overcooked ground beef with orange cheddar, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and salsa from a packet. I decided to give them another go and hoped they were as tasty as I remember — or even improved. I was very, very wrong. The tortilla was stale, the spice mix was salty and that “salsa” was tomato sauce. It left me wondering if it ever had been good.
Fortunately there’s a new taco kit on the market. La Taqueria has released a line of pinche taco kits in four flavours: tinga de pollo, carnitas, rajas con crema, and barbacoa de res. Each kit comes frozen with enough fixings for 12 tacos, including refried beans and two salsas. Add some fresh ingredients like lime, onion and cilantro, and dinner is served in 10 minutes. Definitely a step up — or 20 — from those old taco kits.
La Taqueria | tacokit.shop | @pinchetacokit
Feast In Fields for Funds
If feasting on delicious locally sourced chef-prepared food with a picturesque farm as a backdrop sounds like a dream to you, as it does to me, then check out Feast of Fields. The folks at FarmFolk CityFolk put on this harvest dinner annually to raise funds for their many farm-forward initiatives. This year the Metro Vancou- ver dinner will be hosted on September 10 at Stable Harvest Farm in Langley (5848 216 St., Langley) and on September 17 at Priest Creek Family Estate Winery in Kelowna (2555 Saucier Rd., Kelowna).
Billed as a “three-hour wandering gourmet harvest festival,” the event invites guests to explore and traverse a field, wine glass in hand, sampling food from local top chefs, bakers, food artisans, vintners, brewers and distillers. Sounds like a great way to spend the day to me.
Feast of Fields | farmfolkcityfolk.ca | @farmfolkcityfolk
UBC Apple Fest
Ever tried a Stayman Winesap or a Newtown Pippin or an Oaken Pin? You’ll have a chance to at the 32nd annual Apple Fest bobbing up October 14 and 15 at UBC Botanical Garden. This is a great family-friendly event that celebrates apple harvest season, while giving festival-goers the op- portunity to expand their palate beyond Galas and Granny Smiths. Festival-goers can expect fair food, including apple pie (is it even an apple festival without apple pie?), live en- tertainment and many apple-centric activities like watching the cider pressing technique, demonstrations on grafting and learning how to identify different apple varieties. Personally, I’m in it for the massive display of nearly 200 apple varieties still grown in B.C.
UBC Apple Fest | botanicalgarden.ubc.ca | @ubcgarden
Add This to Your Bar Cart
Looking for a new addition to your vodka collection? Give Raincity Distillery’s Black Tusk Smoked Vodka a shot. This Squamish-based distillery has been garnering attention lately with its Black Tusk Smoked Vodka. It took home silver at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2023 and bronze in 2022. It also snagged a platinum medal at the SIP Awards in June.
Head distiller and co-owner Alex Mumm wanted to develop a vodka that emulated the experience of a smoke gun and cloche (think burning wood in a bar and then capturing the smoke in a glass dome) cocktail but without the fuss.
“We wanted to give people a way to create premium cocktails without spending hundreds of dollars on fancy bartending equipment,” Mumm says.
After over 100 failed attempts, Mumm and his business partner, Johnny Xu, landed on using cedar to infuse the vodka because of its distinctly local flavour.
“We tried burning cedar and infusing its smoke with water and alcohol vapour in dozens of different ways. We tested different contraptions and made many customized still modifications. In the end, the process that worked best was the most elegant and simplest one that we'd tried,” Mumm says.
Sweet, savoury and smokey, Black Tusk Smoked Vodka is great on ice, in a martini, a Moscow mule or really any cocktail you want to shake up.
Raincity Distillery | raincitydistillery.ca | @raincitydistillery
Pick Your Pumpkin
Nothing says fall has arrived quite like throwing on a pair of gum boots, grabbing a pumpkin spice latte and heading to a pumpkin patch. Fortunately there are several pumpking patches in Metro Vancouver to explore and they’ve really turned pumpkin picking into an all-day event. A few of my favourites are Aldor Acres Farm in Langley (the hayride is a must), Taves Family Farms Applebarn in Abbotsford (go for the pumpkins and stay for the cider) and the Laity Pumpkin Patch in Maple Ridge (don’t miss the fairy tale forest). If you’re not one to traipse around a field, then check out Pumpkins after Dark in Burnaby. With over 6,000 hand-carved jack-o’-lantern lit up on display, it’s sure to get you into the Halloween spirit.
Taste of Abby Back for Its Second Year - Words by Sydney Marchard
Indulge your taste buds this fall season at Tourism Abbotsford’s Taste of Abby, a one-of-a-kind experience for every foodie and drink lover.
This two-week fall food festival provides an opportunity to savour unique culinary experiences at the peak of harvest season while creating meaningful connections with farmers and immersing yourself in Abbotsford’s quickly developing culinary scene. Partnering with more than 20 restaurant, event and media partners, Taste of Abby celebrates the many innovative and delicious local eateries, wineries and breweries that Abbotsford has to offer.
Events will be held every day throughout Abbotsford from September 15 to 24, 2023, each striving to showcase limited-edition creations, seasonal farm-to-table tasting menus and diverse vendors throughout the Fraser Valley. With happenings organized daily, Taste of Abby encourages you to learn how its food is grown and take advantage of the opportunities to taste creative dishes crafted by local culinary experts.
Craig Nichols, executive director of Tourism Abbotsford, explains that “Food should be accessible to everyone,” and notes that there will be a variety of ticketed and free events for the whole family to enjoy over the two weeks. Key events include a night market, a guided circle farm tour, grape stomping, art and wine walks and more.
Event and location details can be found at tourismabbotsford.ca.
