by Claudia Kwan
FoodConnect Vancouver
claudia@foodconnect.com

I did more than catch Dungeness crab in a hands-on culinary adventure to Salt Spring Island off the coast of BC recently. I also took a day to drive around to all of the different artisan establishments. Much like the trip I took to Ile D'Orleans, each stop was marked by a great conversation with people who love what they do every day, and by me buying something to take home and savour.

Heather is simply known as 'The Bread Lady' for the creative concoctions she makes up at the Salt Spring Island Bread Company. Each day she gets up and dreams up new variations on bread, that most basic of foodstuffs, inspired by the panoramic vista visible from her home. It's just steps away from the wood-fired brick stove of the bakery space.

On the day we visit, she's testing out bread baked with the dregs left over from the pressing of red grapes in winemaking--adds antioxidants, doncha know. It gives the bread an unusual purplish tinge but is otherwise unremarkable.

The true star of the day is a whole wheat bread incorporating figs, nuts, and huge hunks of mildly sweetened but still fiery ginger. The texture contrast makes for a great mouthfeel in and of itself, but the combination of spice and sweetness shows even the most humble thing can be elevated to art when done right.

I bring one of the irregularly round loaves home and put it in the freezer. When I bring it out two weeks later to have with some Camembert it tastes just as good, and brings back all the memories of when I first discovered it. That's my kind of souvenir.