Edward Koh: When he’s not re-feuling planes he’s making wine, gardening, cooking up a storm, or telling crazy stories. Let’s face it, Edward is a man of many talents.

Justin Davey: A master of mixing music, he’s got a lot to learn when it comes to mixing ingredients.

Dennis Wan: Gets creative with the dish he brings to the table and likes to think out of the box.

Angela Wan: Food obsessed designer, a grocery store tourist and loves to have dinner parties.

These lines were part of our intro script for the Food Network’s Family Cook-off show that aired last night. Families went head-to-head  battling a ticking clock to prepare homestyle dishes before chef judges Anthony Sedlak and Trish Magwood, hosted by the lovely and gorgeous Kim D’eon with a live audience to cheer us on. The film set was erected at Leg in Boot Square in False Creek with scenic marina, sailboats and glassy high-rise backdrop, very Vancouver.

Anthony Sedlak, Trish Magwood & host Kim D'eon

Talk about having stage fright! Somebody give me a sedative or couple shots of tequila or something! Edward, or Steady Eddie as Anthony Sedlak deemed him, might have been a little nervous too, did he really burn the first round of garlic bread or was it to test the oven, even I don’t know. But he pulled through nicely and later seemed cool in front of the camera, hugging and holding his grandson Justin, darkened shades on, nurse betty tattoo showing. Nice capture camera man! Edwards fav line is…”You have to cook with lurv.”. And his tumeric rubbed seared sable fish and garlic bread was lurved by the judges all right. Here is a gorgeous photo of their Seafood Slam.

Steady Eddie & Justin's Seafood Slam

Justin looked good on camera, strapping young hapa cooking up mussels + lobster with lemongrass infused coconut sauce. A natural in front of the camera for sure. Justin has been enjoying the fruits of grandpa’s foodie labour all his young life and has now cooked with him for the first time, and on tv! You didn’t reveal your tat to the tatted up chef Sedlak but that probably wouldn’t have been appropriate?

Steady Eddie & Justin

There was friendly jibbing going across the work stations with the orange team, team Wimbush from Montreal and across Canada, lovely ladies who can do anything from scratch! Aimée, which I think headed up this team is a foodie extraordinaire, her site is simplebites.net. I should have snatched a taste of their Revolutionary Ravioli when no one was looking, ok unlikely, will have to make it from the recipe instead. And the Wimbush’s desert looked finger licking good, check out the Tasty Trifle.

Wimbush's Revolutionary Ravioli

Wimbush's Tasty Trifle

Then it came to my bro Dennis and I, our turn at battle honey for the desert half. For our Tropical Rolls + Lassie Dennis calmly assembled his ingredients for the mango+ginger lassie topped with roasted pistacios while responding cheerfully to Kim D’eon’s questions, while I, feeling very cold and excited started rolling up the nutella+banana spring rolls. Yes we actually make this food at home all the time, so no problemo right? We pulled it off without a hitch, even got to add rum to the honey butter drizzle.  (mmm, think I’m going to whip some this very moment.)

Dennis & Angela's Tropical Rolls

Thanks to all the people involved in letting us showcase our wanna-be-a-chef talents on tv. Margaret Gallagher(CBC Radio 1) who introduced me to Meribeth Deen(Force Four Entertainment), my awesome family and friends(this is like the oscars), cool host and hot judges!

“Cook with Lurv” -Steady Eddie

Well we pulled it off! Chez D, part of the Powell Street Festival, was a hit. With a great bunch of fun luvin food luvin artists, we created, sang, cooked, danced and they ate, ate, ate their way through the night. It was a blast I must say!

“Local artists trade their instruments and paint brushes for chef hats in Chez D, where art and cuisine meet in a tantalizing feast for the senses.

For one night only, artists normally accustomed to wowing audiences in theatres and galleries will don their chef hats and coats at Gudrun Tasting Room in Steveston and create new works of edible art celebrating the theme of migration.

Commissioned by the Powell Street Festival, Chez D artists will plate delicacies in a five-course menu that pays homage to ethnic roots, migratory paths (the ‘D’ stands for ‘Diaspora’), new lands, family restaurants and neighbourhood survival foods. As event curator Michael Speier puts it, Chez D presents “a meal full of strong cross currents and pollinations here at the tastebud’s edge of the Pacific Ocean.”

Chez D artists include Open Sesame (Michael Speier), Komodo House (Margaret Gallagher and Angela Wan), Patrick Tubajon (Gudrun Tasting Room), Ari Tomita, and Cynthia Low & Leslie Komori. Each candlelit course will be accompanied by a design element representative of the artist’s discipline, as well as the “mallow dinner music” of local music innovators Guimauves.”

Michael Speier

Not sure why it was surprising to me that it was so fun. I suppose the mind forgets what live music sounds like, how performance and dance can be so fun, how food is better enjoyed at a long feast table with friends and strangers, how all these things combined is ridiculously rare. We just get bogged down in the every day and forget to look up and smell the flowers.

We definately need more of these events in Vancouver, actually we were in Steveston at Patrick Tubajon’s Gudrun Tasting Room. Steveston itself has a varied history of Japanese immigrants living and working, many in the cannery industry. So really, this is a very suitable setting to have the Powell Street Festival event.

The set up was really a well planed migratory guerilla kitchen set up with portable tables, stoves, tents(hey its Vancouver you never know), utensils and containers of food and water. While Margaret and I were plating inside at the bar, the rest of the gang were cooking, steaming and plating outside. It wasn’t all work back there though, I did get to tear away for a minute to have a sip of Mezcal.

In the back-lot kitchen, Ari was painting with mango dressing and plating her Enso Salmon Salad, Michael was chillin keeping one eye on his New World Longboat Tamale (and pouring Tequila and Mezcal for the cooks) but it was the smell of searing venison that got me intoxicated, I found myself standing in the smoky goodness (it tasted sublime!), taking it in. Laughing robustly Cynthia and her sister recall their father bringing home whole venison and hanging the animal from a tree in the city backyard, I hope they had a fence. Their Venison o-nigiri ‘hamburger’ with jicama/beets/daikon ‘fries’ was so fun. And last but not least was Patrick’s dessert course, Isdro’s Drift mango mouse, ever so delicately adorned with chocolate drizzle hat and candy ballet slippers.

Take a look…

[Show as slideshow]

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Here is the menu.

Photograph by Evgeni Chekanov

• Social Media will spoil the opening ceremonies surprise? – ctv.ca
• sneak peak at the fireworks around the fully inflated stadium – straight.com
• volunteers sneak peak at opening ceramonies today – cbc.ca
• Cambie Bridge is closed
• where is Neil Young when you need him?
• flickr search hmmm, line-ups

• google map of opening day torch route
• google map of venues
• Vancouver Sun picks of fun stuff to check out
• Cultural Olympiad features – official games site
• Vancouver 2010 Free Events Guide
• Olympic Drinking Pavilions. Some truths, beware!
• Georgia Straits calendar of free concerts
• off the beaten path – VirtualTourist
• food food food – UrbanDiner
• the dope on Restaurants in VanCity

Best discovery of the night? Victoria Gin! Yes the olives were fantastic, the production lesson was informative but the gin martini was stupendous! All I wanted was another one. The initial flavours are star anise, then orange peel, finishing with woody oris root, gins are complex. With salt cured Italian Cerignola and Castelvetrano olives the martini is complete.

(Canada, 2007, 102 mins)
Canadian Images

Thank you for reminding us that we live in a beautiful, lush and abundant part of the world.

Read review via tasteto.com (i know, Toronto!)