April Recipe Roundup

Here are some tasty things I tried cooking in April as well as some other food-related revelations!

It might be more appropriate to call this month's edition a 'local thrills' post for items I discovered and tried in the lower mainland of BC this past month!


Paneer + Veg Snacks at Fruiticana

Above: our haul from Goodway's and Fruiticana in Uptown New West

I recently read the cookbook Ultimate Veg by Jamie Oliver and was inspired to try some recipes. A lot of his recipes while accessible and easy* to make were heavily inspired by culturally appropriated from South Asian and East Asian cuisines (as all other chefs and food bloggers seem to do, hell, if I'm cooking these items I am also guilty).

*Actually very easy. Both my ex-wife and myself each took a crack at a couple recipes to great success.

Needing things like cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, tamarind paste, etc, we headed up to Galloway's in Uptown (now Goodway's) and Fruiticana also in Uptown New West, and neither disappointed. We found almost everything we needed. The two exceptions we couldn't find were rose harissa and silverskin pickled onions.

This bag of frozen paneer cubes was $6 at Fruiticana!


Fruiticana in particular was a revelation. Their frozen section was loaded with tasty veg snacks and appetizers, and I was most thrilled to find a bag of frozen paneer cubes for 6$! Way cheaper than Safeway or even City Market.


Food Mystery Solved: Caper Berries


Back in December when we were spending Christmas with my inlaws in Calgary, something unusual happened to me - I was presented something to eat that I could not identify. It was these things that appeared to be a cross between an olive and a pickle in a salad. I tried not to obviously study them so as not to offend our host, but I was so perplexed I quietly hid these curiosities and did not eat them.

Later, my dear sister-in-law told me they were in fact big capers! I'm used to small capers, but these ones were not what I was used to. A little investigation showed that these are better known as caper berries, similarly salty and briny.

Above: Caper berries are available at Gastronomia Italia in New West!


Recently in New West we have seen the opening of Gastronomia Italia which has all sorts of delights including house-made tiramisu, tons of interesting pastas, fresh ravioli, sandwiches, pizzas, etc. And what did I spot while browsing? A jar of caper berries!


Belgian Waffles, Chocolate Fondue in Surrey/White Rock!

Above: Me enjoying the chocolate fondue at Leon's Cafe!


This one excited me because it was one of those discoveries that only could have happened for us while traveling on foot. We had some business in the border of Surrey and White Rock and in doing so, discovered Leon's Cafe. We walked in and it smelled instantly of vanilla, chocolate, and home baking.

We tried the waffles (delicious) and chocolate fondue (pictured above, also delicious) and were very pleased. It looks like Leon's will have a presence at the White Rock farmer's market this spring/summer as well so if you can't make it to the cafe itself you can def try the farmer's market for these very tasty treats!




Read this next

March Recipe Roundup

February Recipe Roundup

January Recipe Roundup





 

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