Fresh-from-the-ocean products coming our way
Here in the Okanagan we are spoiled with access to world-class local ingredients thanks to our local farmers. One thing we don’t have here is local seafood. Our beautiful province provides us a bounty from the sea and those living near the coast can enjoy boat-to-table cuisine. I have a great tip on a B.C. fisherman who is going to bring fresh seafood to your Okanagan door.
My last trip to Vancouver took us to Trout Lake Farmer’s Market – one of my favourite markets in the province. We stopped to chat with local fisherman Fraser MacDonald, who has launched his brand called GoodFish Seafood. MacDonald is exactly the kind of fisherman we need to support, as he is passionate about our local waters and his company is all about providing traceable, healthy, sustainably harvested seafood from the Canadian North Pacific and bringing it directly to the consumer.
As of this weekend, you will be able to order MacDonald’s freshfrom-the-ocean products and canned goods, like the delicious tuna fish from his website: goodfish.co. Starting in late September they will be offering monthly delivery on Saturdays to the Okanagan with stops in Kelowna, Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos.
“In mid-2023, we will be shipping orders directly to our customer’s door, which we are
really excited about and are just working out all the logistics involved currently,” said MacDonald. “We will be selling mostly frozen products that we fish, albacore tuna loins, lingcod portions, halibut portions, octopus tentacles and rock fish portions. We’ll also have candied and smoked albacore and sockeye.
We’ll have canned albacore and canned sockeye from the Skeena River that our guys are up catching by hand right now with dip nets in the rivers with fishers from the Lake Babine First Nation.” Yay!
I made a super easy and delicious tinned tuna pasta recipe (included in this week’s column) and we also made some grilled octopus with the tentacles we
purchased from the market. ————— Continuing with our shop at Trout Lake Farmers’ Market, I loved seeing Steve Venables from Forbidden Fruit Winery. For many years Steve and his family have taken their amazing fruit wines, wines and ciders – all made with the certified organic fruit from their Cawston farm – to the Vancouver markets. Venables was one of the pioneer organic farmers in our industry and he and his family are an absolute treat to visit. Go visit them in Cawston and check their website calendar for market days. We picked up a bottle of their award-winning Flaunt Sparkling Plum wine. This is seriously amazing wine and perfect on a sunny afternoon sharing a cheese and charcuterie board with friends.
This sparkling wine is rich in plum bubbles, with refreshing notes of cranberry, strawberry and tropical fruit. They also offer pear, cherry, apple, and peach wines, alongside their array of grape wine.
If you don’t think you are a fan of fruit wines – be prepared for an epiphany.
————— My husband, Jay, and I have a weekly “pantry pasta” night where we take turns creating a pasta dish with what is in the cupboard. We had our GoodFish tuna on hand and made this nowfavourite version of summer pasta featuring fresh local tomatoes, zucchini, and tuna. If you want to take the flavour up another notch, add the anchovies. For those not familiar with cooking with anchovies, worry not because when you add them during the sauté portion of your sauce, they will basically melt away and just leave a lovely depth and mild flavour.
As with all ingredients, buy the best quality.
————— Subscribe to my new YouTube channel: Delicious Life with Jennifer Schell Lirag! Here I will be sharing recipe demos and wine pairing advice with tips on how to shop local and how to live your most delicious life. Join my husband Jay and I (and sometimes our kids) as we travel around our amazing food and wine world.
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Jennifer Schell Lirag is an international award winning cookbook author, putting the spotlight on BC’s food, farm and drink
community for over 15 years. Born & raised on a farm in East Kelowna, she has written four cookbooks: The Butcher, The
Baker, The Wine & Cheese Maker series and most recently Taste Canada shortlist winner The BC Wine Lover’s Cookbook. Follow her on social media at @jenniferschell8 and visit
jenniferschell.com