Hazelnuts When people who are trying to “eat local” or use various versions of regional diets ask “What to do about nuts?”, the most popular recommendation was hazelnuts up to a few years ago. Commercial Production Hazelnuts have been farmed in various parts of BC since at least the 1930s[i]. Commercial cultivation in the Pacific […]
Author Archive | M. Gale Smith
The Nanaimo Bar
The Nanaimo Bar Who would have thought that Nanaimo Bars could be so controversial? We have always claimed Nanaimo Bars as a quintessential BC food mainly because of the name and the outstanding branding done by the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. This famous recipe has been shrouded in mystery as no one has […]
What’s Making Food History – March 3, 2021
‘Buttergate’ debunked: No evidence butter is harder due to palm supplements for cows (theconversation.com) Stephen LeBlanc, Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Guelph professor, says “Based on the available evidence, it is improbable that feeding palm-based supplements has had appreciable effects on the properties of butter”
BestOVall Canning Company – Beans and All
BestOVall Canning Company – Beans and All The idea for this blog began with an intriguing label for BestOVall Canning Company, a BC canning company, and ends with a delicious homemade version of Pork and Beans. Food packages and container labels are highly perishable and many don’t survive. Yet each one has a story and […]
Buy Local – Buy BC
Buy Local – “Buy BC”, “Buy Canadian” In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are reminded by our provincial government to support local restaurants, farmers, and food producers, arguing that Buy BC is important for the economic and social well being of individuals and the country.[i] Additionally, the federal government, worried about consumers becoming […]
Food History Inquiry Pandemic Projects
Food History Inquiry Pandemic Projects The potential for using the study of food is often overlooked in education. Yet food is necessary to human survival and can be linked to just about every human activity or industry and almost all school subjects through food history inquiry pandemic projects. Online study has grown by necessity and […]
Halloween Tricks and Treats
Halloween Tricks and Treats There is a lot of discussion these days about whether or not Halloween will be celebrated in 2020. Worries about children missing out on the fun and candy makers fussing over lost profit makes one wonder about how this holiday evolved. Most accounts agree that what has become known as […]
Edith Adams
Edith Adams Edith Adams was a fictional name given to the food editor of women’s pages of the Vancouver Sun newspaper. “She” was responsible for the cooking/recipe/homemaking department from 1924 to 1999. You might wonder about the name “Edith Adams”. It was created by a male circulation manager because of the typographical advantage of having […]
Hogan’s Alley-Vie’s Chicken and Steak House
Hogan’s Alley- Vie’s Chicken and Steak House In January 2014 in honour of Black History month Canada Post issued a commemorative stamp celebrating Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood. [i] If you live in Vancouver, you may be familiar with the initiative to restore Hogan’s Alley, the unofficial name for Park Lane. The alley ran […]
Salal Jelly
Salal Jelly How to make salal jelly continues a BCFHN blog from May of 2018 on the topic of salal, https://www.bcfoodhistory.ca/salal/. I was inspired by a patch of salal under a stand of cedar trees close to where I live on Vancouver Island and intended to follow up with a post on salal jelly when […]