CARAMBA! RESTAURANT

Pan con Tomate

Locals know it as a Whistler institution. For more than 20 years, Caramba has been serving up a family-friendly, pan-European menu, which takes in everything from wood-fired pizzas and heaped plates of tasty al dente pasta to juicy duck confit and crisp patatas bravas. “We like to keep things simple and casual,” says James Paré, Caramba chef and co-owner. “With simple, you can’t hide behind anything. It has to be good.” As a child, Paré remembers summers spent in the Okanagan on his grandparents’ cherry orchard. “My grandma canned everything: peaches, plums, apricots, pears — you name it. She used to make a rhubarb-strawberry jam that she just called a ‘stew,’ which she served with ice cream, and it was just so good!” Those simple flavours carry through to Caramba’s kitchen, and when Chef James wants to capture a taste of summer in the heart of winter, it’s pan con tomate that he turns to. “We get beautiful tomatoes from Lillooet. I’ll can these, and they are so delicious in January or February. We make a natural sourdough loaf as our table bread from a blend of our two sourdough starters ‘Cindy’ and ‘Tina.’ I use sliced dayold bread with salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil, pop it in the Panini press, and it comes to life. Then I give the crisp toasted bread a quick stroke of Russian garlic, a rub with that perfect juicy canned tomato, and I finish it with olive oil. You take one bite and it wakes up your palate, taking you straight back to summer. It’s the opposite of comfort food. This is hopeful food — summer is coming!” 604-938-1879 | carambarestaurant.com