OKANAGAN FLAVOURS
Food writer pens tasty guide
Albertans are famously attached to the Okanagan, but as this popular year-around destination becomes ever more dense, it’s easy to lose track of its charms.
Now, a new guide to the best eating in the region has been published, profiling the top chefs and food producers, and craft beer and cider-makers from the northern reaches of the Okanagan to its southern tip.
Written by Edmonton’s own Jennifer Cockrall-King, Food Artisans of the Okanagan highlights 125 culinary craftspeople who not only farm, ranch, and raise, but bake and butcher, creating products from chocolate to cheese. The book is being launched, with yummy snacks, at Audreys (10702 Jasper Avenue) on Wednesday, April 13 at 7 p.m.
Cockrall-King is well-situated to write the guide, having lived in the area — Naramata — six months a year for more than a decade. The author of Food in the City, and the proprietor of the Okanagan Food and Wine Writers Workshop, she has seen the area grow and deepen its culinary culture, one that makes it the most searched Canadian destination online. In 2015, the Okanagan was named among the top 10 international wine destinations by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
I asked Cockrall-King to describe the people and experiences that make the Okanagan such a draw for lovers of food and drink.
Q Forty years ago, the big attraction in Kelowna was Ogopogo. What’s led to this change?
A The first layer (of growth) was the fruit industry, and then the big jump forward was the wine industry, which took about 25 years to mature. The wine attracted the chefs and the chefs enabled the growers to raise the specialty fruits and vegetables.
Now the tourists are coming in droves and every year it gets busier. All these layers have finally come together — a critical mass of scenic beauty, outdoor activities, and the food and wine scene, along with the craft beer, cider and distillery business.
Q With 125 food artisans in the book, how did you pick them?
A The personal bar I set was this: the Okanagan is vast, and when someone picks up my book and jumps in their car, they will drive from 30 minutes to two hours. Will it be worth the trip when they get there? I wanted to be able to stand behind each entry in the book as a bona fide destination, with something exceptional and interesting about the product and the producer.
Q Your book covers North, Central and South Okanagan, as well as the Simalkameen. Where does one get the best bang for the food buck?
A Kelowna is the biggest city, obviously. So you’re going to get more of a critical mass of good producers, and if you’re there for the wine and beer. But Penticton is close behind, with a laid-back vibe and a high proportion of good wineries on the Naramata Bench. Penticton is a gateway south to Oliver and Osoyoos and Okanagan Falls. There is a sense of discovery in those places because it’s less developed.
Q What’s the latest in the Okanagan food and drink scene?
A It’s the boom in craft distilleries, and beer and cider. A big change in the tax structure means that now, if producers use 100 per cent B.C. products as their base, they don’t have to pay the marketing tax that used to exist. It’s having a huge impact on the agricultural sector because all of a sudden there is a demand for these B.C. products.
Q What’s your idea of a perfect food day in Kelowna?
A I would start my day at Okanagan Grocery Artisan Breads with a handmade croissant, or two or three. And then I would go to Sandrine French Bakery and Chocolate and buy some of her plum and beer jam. Over to Arlo’s Honey Farm for Okanagan honey, and then I’d get a latte from Bean Scene Coffee Works. For lunch, I’d have the house-made charcuterie platter at Jason Leizert’s Salted Brick with a glass of Bella sparkling wine. After my walk on the Kettle Valley Railway trestle, I would hop in my car and drive south and have dinner on the bluffs overlooking Skaha lake at God’s Mountain on a night when Joy Road Catering was there.
Q Is there one producer in the book that represents exactly what you love about Okanagan food producers and artisans?
A It’s Brandi and Yuri Zebroff in the Similkameen at Honest Food Farm. They grow a huge variety of organic food and they work their fingers to the bone. They believe deeply in good quality, healthy food at a good price and I can’t say enough about them.