Common Table

That’s another way I follow his example. If you in BC you are eligible for a COVID booster. I got mine today. Let me know if you need a ride to the pharmacy.

Uncle Jay survived a mild case of polio as a child, during the Depression. Post-polio syndrome has significantly disabled him for the last 10+ years of his life. He’s always the first in line for any vaccine.

It reminds me that generations before me have weathered tough times and survived. I asked my 100 year old Great Uncle Jay recently how our family managed through the Great Depression. He said neighbours and family helped each other, and they never wasted anything. Mutual aid and no waste.

I got mine today. Let me know if you need a ride to the pharmacy.

Uncle Jay survived a mild case of polio as a child, during the Depression. Post-polio syndrome has significantly disabled him for the last 20+ years of his life. He’s always the first in line for any vaccine. That’s another way I follow his example. If you in BC you are eligible for a COVID booster.

Cardinal basil leaves arranged in a circle on an antique plate with gold and floral designs. Each basil leaf is topped with: Duck prosciutto Sour cherry Chèvre frais Red currant Peas Saba Johnny Jump Up Viola Scallion macerated in sour cherry, lemon juice, and makrut lime leaf.

Small Bites and the Long View
15 Jul ‘22
I’ve always loved creating small worlds of taste & beauty where flavours harmonize in little bites. Lots of things feel big & intractable right now. These were not.
The plate is a family heirloom.

Vinegar pickles, so sharp & sweet are fine, I guess, but a salt brined dill pickle is the right kind of sour, that doesn’t needed to be sugar coated.

When we lose things, they can be recovered, reconstructed.

You cannot buy the taste of homemade canned peaches. A year without them would be a stark reminder of loss at every special occasion. I made salt brined dill pickles this week. They taste like a family history my Mom never taught me.

There is a tremendous clarity about what is irreplaceable when you have to decide what to pack as a 55,000 hectare forest fire rages a mere 15 km from your home. The peaches that Jim & W just canned are in the evacuation trailer. They taste like my childhood & my children’s childhood.

A Medalta crock filled with cucumbers, dill, and sour Cherry leaves.

Sour cherry leaves and horseradish leaves arranged in piles on a tea towel.

Medalta crock with a linen cloth covering the top. Jars or dill pickles with fermentation lids are lined up beside the crock.

Preservation
9 Aug ‘21
I spent the last week in acts of attempted preservation: cucumbers, family heirlooms, my sanity. It’s been a wild, exhausting ride.

Mutual aid & no waste.

U. Jay survived a mild case of polio as a child, during the Great Depression. Post-polio syndrome has significantly disabled him for the last 10+ years of his life. He’s always the first in line for any vaccine. That’s another way I follow his example.

Myanmar earthquake death toll map from DVB News showing that 2,928 people have died so far.

For other ways you can support the people of Myanmar, please see linktr.ee/meemalee and thank you 💔🙏🏽🇲🇲

#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #MyanmarEarthquake #Myanmar #Burma

*Emiko Davies’
I would like an edit function here, please.

Hoto noodle soup with kabocha squash, carrots, mushrooms, daikon, Napa cabbage, spring onions, and fried tofu in a starchy kombu dashi and miso broth.

A black earthenware pot of kasuzuke with a piece of carrot held up with chopsticks above the pot. The lid sits upturned to the left and shadows from blinds splay geometric shapes on the table.

Mise en place for hoba miso. A magnolia (hoba) leaf soaks in a casserole dish full of water. Torn shitake and chanterelle mushrooms sit on top of a paper bag. A terracotta dish holds a paste of red miso, sake and sugar. A Japanese grater full of ginger. A wooden cutting board with six chopped spring onions.

Assembled hoba miso cooking on a cast iron grill on a bbq. The miso paste is spread on the soaked oblong dried magnolia leaf, the spring onions are spread over the miso paste, and the mushrooms are heaped on top.

Testing recipes for Emiko Davie’s forthcoming cookbook The Japanese Pantry.

Hoto noodle soup
Carrot kasuzuke
Hoba miso

Blood moon surrounded by magnolia buds & branches.

Cup with ice, blood orange drink, a magnolia petal floating on top with a spring of rosemary.

Magnolias & a blood moon. Teen made a blood orange & magnolia drink to celebrate the occasion.

I did not know that!

On overhead shot of a half loaf of light deli rye on an antique wooden cutting board, below a single slice from the same loaf, face up

On overhead shot of a half loaf of dark deli rye on an antique wooden cutting board, below a single slice from the same loaf, face up

“Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk's flight
On the empty sky."

—The Creation of Éa, Ursula K. Le Guin

*add a little bit of orange zest for garnish, and extra bitterness

If you are in Vancouver, you can find the Seville oranges at Persia Foods on Commercial Drive.

Close up of a plate with three sour oranges.

A hand holding a spoon in a bowl of fish soup.

It’s sour (bitter / Seville) orange season. This is caldillo de perro, a simple and delicious soup from Andalucía.

Fish, olive oil, onion, garlic, water, sour orange juice, salt, bread crumbs.

A table flooded with light and long shadows. On the table are 11 spice containers, a cutting board, pairing knife, measuring spoon, jalapeno pepper, and a tube of harissa paste.

The Teen makes exceptionally good improvisational soup.

Maggie Boyd anchovy snacking plate in the background.

A blue plate with a fennel, orange, white anchovy, olive, fennel frond salad arranged somewhat symmetrically. There is a terracotta plate wirh two anchovies, pieces of cheese and a strawberry painted on it in the background.

Fennel, anchovy, orange, olive, pistachio, sherry vinegar, evoo, sea salt.

Lion Dance troupe walking down the sidewalk on Pender St in Vancouver, BC

Scene from the weekend before the Chinese New Year parade. Pender St. Vancouver, BC

Coconut buns, sesame balls, peanut cookies, moon cake and char siu bao in bakery boxes.

Chinese New Year treats from New Town Bakery.

A colour drawing of New Town Bakery.

New Town Bakery, drawn by my daughter.

Brocollini on a dark blue plate drizzled with chilli oil. A pair of chopsticks rests on the side of the plate. The chilli oil lid and a few drops of chilli oil are on the table to the left of the plate.

Broccolini with Zero Ducks Holy Duck Chilli Oil.

Half of a whole grain savoury bun with roasted vegetables sits on on an antique plate decorated with flowers in the centre and gold floral designs on the rim.

Tommy’s Whole Grain Savoury Bun

Ingredients for yusheng salad assembled on four dark blue plates. Smoked salmon Smoked tofu Cucumber Carrot Daikon Watermelon radish Rosa del Veneto radicchio Pomelo Sumo mandarin Scallion Cilantro Peanuts Sesame seeds Crispy wonton Plum sauce Seville orange & lime juice Sesame oil Ginger-crispy & pickled Chinese five spice Pepper

Yusheng for Chinese New Year

Smoked salmon
Smoked tofu
Cucumber
Carrot
Daikon
Watermelon radish
Rosa del Veneto radicchio
Pomelo
Sumo mandarin
Scallion
Cilantro
Peanuts
Sesame seeds
Crispy wonton
Plum sauce
Seville orange & lime juice
Sesame oil
Ginger-crispy & pickled
Chinese five spice
Pepper