Squeah Renovations – Phase 1

Monday morning. After a wonderfully hot and sunny day yesterday, today is a bit of a disappointment, with the clouds threatening a shower and a brisk cold breeze in the air.

However, today is an exciting day in Squeah kitchen. Today is the day that we put more stainless steel into the kitchen. With Vancouver Stainless fabricating new prep tables in the baking area and the main prep area, it was a time to say, “goodbye” to old prep tables that served dearly for many years, and say, “hello” to a new set of tables that will serve for the next era.

Masa (our new assistant cook), Reid, Dan (site manager) and I worked hard to put the tables in, and we are excited to start using them, beginning this weekend with our next group of the Spring season.

I had some wonderful thoughts going through my head of sometime in the future, where I could come back to Squeah kitchen one day and say, “Hey, I remember when these tables were put in.”

~ Yoshi

Yoshi's Big Pig Gig

 April 19^th was a significant evening for me. An idea that spawned months of planning would pay off.

The “Big Pig Gig,” a name creatively put together by Reid Nickerson, was an event that I put together with the help of Jill Teerink and the leadership of Camp Squeah. This dinner consisted of 9 different menu items, all featuring pork, with 8 sides and 2 desserts to round off the evening. At $20 a person, it was quite the bargain.

My relationship with Walter Bergen began last year up here at Squeah. He introduced himself to me while Emmanuel Mennonite Church was here for their retreat. Through talking about his work on Six Masters Farm, I became very interested in this man, and his passion for farming using the Christian mindset. His philosophy on farming mirrored those of mine as a chef, and I found comfort and interest in that.

After a visit to Six Masters Farm, I decided that it would be great if we could get his product into Squeah.

He was raising four pigs at the time, just for his own personal use, to try it out on the farm. I ordered my pig in February. 60 days later, it was time to prepare for the feast.

This was a great opportunity for me as a chef to see the ingredients I was preparing on a more personal level, and gave me a great opportunity to really appreciate what the cost is of my job.

The evening was a great success, with over 40 people in attendance, and all the menu items received compliments. It was great to have so many people who were willing to try every dish, and I’m sure it was a great experience for Jill, who is in her first year of apprenticeship. Despite the long hours, it was well worth the time we took to make this event possible.

My friends Stu and Mark were photographers for the event and we are planning on creating a cookbook with this event, both as a keepsake and as an educational tool to be used at Squeah kitchen.

The menu is as follows:

YOSHI’S BIG PIG GIG

April 19^th, 2011

All Pork supplied by Six Masters Farm

White bean Cassoulet with Smoked Hock

Thai Green Curry Shoulder

Ras el Hanout Roasted Tenderloin

Cranberry, Orange and Almond Cous Cous with Cilantro

Braised Belly with BBQ Soy Sauce

Hiro and Kari’s B&B Back Ribs

Braised and Broiled

Corn Salsa, Mashed Potatoes

Apricot, Fig and Raisin Stuffed Loin

Grainy Honey Mustard Sauce

House made Pappardelle with Smoked Belly

Peas, Mushrooms, and Parmesan

Grilled House made Sausage

Confit Leg Sandwiches

Cooked in Pork Fat

House made Rosemary and Roasted Garlic buns,

Iceberg Lettuce, Pesto Mayo

Stuffed Pulled Pork Shoulder Buns

Caramelized Onion Jam, Coleslaw

Sides:

Corn Bread

Creamed Corn and Caramelized Leeks

Sauerkraut

Mixed Greens with Goat Cheese, Blueberries, Balsamic Vinaigrette

Fresh Baked Bread

Coleslaw

Dessert:

Chocolate Ganache Tarts, Whipped Cream

Minted Watermelon Salad

Thanks to everyone for their support of this event!

~ Yoshi

the GFS experience

           
As a chef, the idea of big corporations was a tainted one. Just like a general consumer views

Wal-mart and Superstore as having pros and cons when it comes to selling product, so do chefs when it comes to companies such as Sysco and GFS. It’s nice when a delivery truck comes to your dock and delivers everything you need all in one shot, in boxes that are labeled and dated. It’s nice to go on the computer and be able to type in your order as quickly as checking boxes off a checklist, and having the option to order in advance, and having a delivery truck come with the exact order that you placed weeks prior. But there has to be some cons right? Can these big corporations really boast words such as organic, farm fresh and local? I thought that they couldn’t. If it came in a big truck, it was corporate and mass produced; if it came out of the ground at a local farm, then it was local and farm fresh. Would a tour at GFS prove my tainted views to be true, or false?

With over 800 employees and 300,000 square feet of space (60,000 of which is cooler space), GFS boasts an impressive food supply operation. Anyone who supplies food to as many restaurants, hotels and other food service establishments like GFS does has to have an impressive facility and system in place. From the beginning, we saw just that. The knowledge of the tour guides as they showed Reid, Jill and I around was incredible. They described the systems in place, the work the warehouse employees had to do, and even described the system used to record productivity among workers. As I took my first walk around the large warehouse, I saw glimpses of ingredients that I never thought to see in a place like this.

We met Bill Foster, the Marketing Specialist in the Produce department. When I think of a person in a management position in a section of a large supply operation, I think of a salesman, a businessman with a suit, slick hair, and sunglasses. When we first met Bill, he was a shorter man with thinning hair, wearing a standard navy blue work wear and a jacket. As he described his produce section, something was very evident. This is a man who loved his job and loved the product he was working with. Bill knew anything and everything about produce, about which farming operation it came from, how it was grown, why it was grown, and what it is typically used for in the industry. He explained why these products were chosen by GFS and how GFS not only has standards for quality, but also a passion for things that are organic and local. Cheeses from Saltspring Island, shimeji, hedgehog and black trumpet mushrooms from local farms, micro greens and baby vegetables from Evergreen Herb located in South Surrey, blood oranges, and even products like porcini powder, dried lavender, and white truffle oil were there. I was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. How is it that a place that sells you a 50 lb box of jumbo carrots can also sell you beautiful chantrelles and organic shiitakes? I couldn’t believe it. Then Bill started talking about the different things he cooks at home using these products. Not only is he passionate about produce, he utilizes them every day in his own house to make dishes that made my mouth water! Feeling a bit ashamed to have made so many assumptions about GFS, we said our goodbyes to Bill and followed Brett Randall (our rep) upstairs to the show kitchen for lunch.

Lunch was just salt into my freshly opened wound. Chef Brandon Owen, Corporate Executive Chef of GFS and Certified Chef de Cuisine is a man that I immediately gelled with. To be able to talk with someone in the industry and speak of certain people we knew and places we had worked at was refreshing. He explained that the three most important things about food are flavor, texture, and color. Reid mentioned that it was funny to hear him explain things in almost the exact same way as we had discussed in the car just this morning; what was important for the chef, what was important about food. He cooked us dishes using GFS products and showcased the products in a variety of ways. As I have cooked in Sysco food shows before, I understand his job and had a great deal of respect for what he did. And he did it very well. Throughout the meal, I was grateful to hear Chef’s passion for cooking and for making things from fresh, and I was also grateful to hear where GFS’ pre cut products can be a positive thing in Squeah’s kitchen. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in making things from scratch. I have talked endless hours of the value of knowing where your product comes from in its raw state, and how you can gently coax flavor out of it with the application of heat. I have spent much of my time at Squeah defending the value of working together, prepping while building relationships. But Chef came up with a great point. Why spend all that time cutting romaine lettuce, washing it, and spinning it for Caesar salad, when you can spend more time teaching people how to make Caesar dressing? Now we do make our Caesar from scratch, but what he was saying was how to utilize time in the most effective way so those in the kitchen can grow in their learning? Is it important to know how to cut romaine properly for Caesar? Yes! Is it more or less important than learning how to make Caesar dressing? I would say both are equally as important! But if the summer staff spend every day cutting romaine lettuce for Caesar and then end up not having the time to learn the dressing, would it not be more effective to buy it in cut already? Or better yet, how about spend the first bit of the summer learning to cut these different types of ingredients to get an appreciation for where they come from and how to break it down to the form that we eat, and then buy it in the rest of the summer and teach them things that are more interesting? I do confess that I did not have the time I wish I did to teach the summer staff what I wanted to teach them, and they did not have the time to learn it as they were busy prepping veg trays, cookie dough, and fruit salad. With a quick question on favorite cookbooks to Chef Brandon (White Heat by Marco Pierre White, El Bulli cookbooks, and French Laundry by Thomas Keller) and a final goodbye to Chef and Brett, we were off back to Camp.

So what can I take out of this experience? Well first, I’m excited to hear about the different products that GFS has. Flatbreads, watermelon radishes, blue potatoes, heirloom tomatoes are a few that excite me. Second, I’m impressed at the GFS facility and now have a greater understanding of what they do (and I will be a bit more forgiving when they make a mistake, which seldom happens). Thirdly, and most importantly, it has changed my priorities in some ways as the Chef of Squeah. I will continue to make things from scratch. I will continue to do my best to teach people in Squeah kitchen the importance of the value of ingredients and how to take those raw ingredients and prepare them. More importantly, however, I will make a conscience effort to buy the best products suited for the job at Squeah. I will be more open to pre-fabricated ingredients if it’s fresh and prepared the way we want it.

The short of it is this; if buying a case of pre-peeled onions will buy me extra time to teach the volunteers of the summer the importance of a proper caramelization of onions for a perfect onion soup, I’m happy to say that I would not be opposed.

                                                                                                                     Hiro and Reid

Layering Flavors

As I stir in the last of the basil into the food processor at Squeah, my mind starts to ponder. I give the basil and olive oil puree a taste, and as delicious as it is, it’s empty. The flavors are there, but there’s no depth. It’s lacking boldness and strength. Yet as I take this puree and add spinach, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper, oh how the flavors develop! This pesto will be part of a creamy sauce which will top the Curried Yam and Roasted Cauliflower Agnolottis that will be served to the MCBC Camp Committee this weekend. Each delicate pillow of silky pasta dough filled and rolled by hand will be gently simmered, coated with olive oil, and garnished with chives, oven dried tomatoes and celery leaves.

How fascinating is it that the flavors of raw ingredients are so clean and pure, yet the addition of other ingredients enhances the original flavors to a level that is indescribable? I think it’s important to taste as you cook. People know that it is important to taste the final product, but it’s just as important to taste something that’s not done yet. Tasting a stock before it is turned into a soup or a sauce; tasting a balsamic vinegar reduction before the oil is added to make vinaigrette.

The ability to develop our taste buds is right in front of us as chefs. What does heat do to this ingredient? How will reducing this ingredient benefit that end product? If we taste as we cook, it will broaden our knowledge of these questions and through that knowledge, things are created. It’s amazing.

The layering of flavors; try it at home. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Christmas 2010

Nostalgia: –noun

a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a formertime in one's life, to one's home or 

homeland, or to one'sfamily and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness

of a former place or time:

Christmas this year looks a lot different than past years.

Actually, the month of December looks a lot different than it has the past 6.

December as a Chef usually represents a time where personal commitments are second to the demands of the restaurant and food service industry. Christmas parties, family gatherings, even Christmas Day with the family were put on the backburner as hundreds of people filed in to the banquet halls and restaurants of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and Newlands Golf and Country Club.

Corporate parties took up the mass majority of these elaborate banquets, and hours were spent in the kitchen prepping and cooking for guests hungry for turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, and pumpkin pie. Christmas day at the Fairmont was a time when families would come to Griffins restaurant and feast on the many dishes featured on the Christmas day buffet. I spent those times cooking halibut a la minute, saucing, plating and garnishing an assortment of dishes, and replacing dishes on the buffet.

With all this commotion, there were rare times when I would be able to enjoy time with family.

Christmas visits were short, with present unwrapping and meals sandwiched between work and other plans. Home, it seems, had become a strange place to me.

Most people who know me don’t know me as a home body. To be brutally honest, time with family was never a high priority on my list of things to do. It seems the language barrier between my parents and I has proven to be a factor in a lack of deepened relationship with them. On top of that, with my sister in Victoria studying music and my brother busy with work and his hobbies, there wasn’t much pulling me home. So Christmas this year would be a special one.

With Squeah life, December is the complete opposite of the rest of the food industry. December is slow, and groups are sparse. Most of my time was spent composing recipes and planning renovations. With apprenticeship planning and research on the trends of the industry, most of my days were spent in the office. Though my heart is in the kitchen, this time has its many perks, one of which is a good chunk of time spent at home for Christmas.

This year was going to be different. This was my chance to reconnect with my family.

December 23^rd, my 25^th birthday, began with a shift in the kitchen, and ended with a feast of sushi in the dining room of my parents’ house in Surrey. Salmon, tuna, lightly cooked mackerel were all beautifully sliced and laid gently on a small clump of perfectly cooked rice. Unagi, or freshwater eel, was sliced thin and topped on the traditional California roll to produce the Dragon roll. Dynamite rolls, tobbiko nigiri, ebi, and house rolls made up the rest of the platters and we enjoyed these clean tastes with an equally clear and crisp green tea. This is a tradition that my parents have for me, and we have practiced it for many years. It was beginning to feel like Christmas.

Then came a special time spent with my dad. We went through his knife collection, and I was able to see with my own eyes some of the knives he had used as a chef when he was younger. The highlight of this time was when my dad willingly gave me his first chef’s knife, a 12 inch Japanese chef’s knife, one he used when he was 18 years old. The very steel that was in my father’s hands in 1961 would be in my hands. I know that cutting an onion will seem different, knowing that the knife did the same motions almost 50 years ago.

Christmas Eve was an eventful one, with 5 of my parents’ friends coming over for a potluck. I don’t remember the last time I was able to cook for my parents, which is quite the sad fact, considering how many people I do cook for, and so I was able to spend time with my dad in the kitchen. We peeled and cut and sliced as we prepared a few dishes for the potluck. I made warm potato salad with hardboiled egg and sliced onion and carrot, and sautéed prawns finished with garlic, butter and freshly squeezed lemon juice. An afternoon of fellowship and good food followed, and I was even able to show off my catering photo albums and show people what I was doing with my time. The evening ended with a trip down to Olivet Church for the Christmas Eve service.

Then today came; Christmas day, 2010. I was able to sleep in, and when I woke, I woke up to my room. I woke up to the light green color of my walls, sprinkled with a bit of graffiti, from a day when I tried out some new spray paint a few years ago. I walked up the stairs and the decorations were the same; glittery wreaths going up the railing of the stairs, a small tree and some ornamental decorations on a table on the top of the stairs. It was the same as in years past, but unlike years past, I was able to enjoy it for the whole day. I had some duck and squab marinating from the night before so I put it in the oven. We had a church service as a family. In years past, we used to have a big Christmas celebration as Surrey Mennonite Church. We used to get about 40 people at those services, the biggest showing of the year. We would start with the regular traditional service and then had a music recital section of the service, where my brother, sister and I would do different things as well as some of the younger people in the church. My dad and two other men would always sing “We three kings” in Japanese, there would be skits, and it would be a great time! With the number of members in that church diminishing, it was just the family for the service this year. My grandparents and immediate family sat at our dining table and had church. It was a blast from the past. The order of the service was the same, the songs were familiar, and the message was actually one that our first pastor of Surrey Mennonite Church had given in 1994. My dad had brought it up from then and used the same outline to give the message today. Although my Japanese isn’t as good as before, I was still able to keep up and understood most of the message. We then gave that pastor a call as a family. Her name is Anna Dyck, and she now lives in Drake, Saskatchewan. She was a missionary in Japan for a number of years and started our church in Surrey back in the early 90’s. It was great to catch up with her and tell her what has been going on in our lives. So much has changed, and yet some things are still the same. After opening presents, we had dinner. We had dinner as an entire family, just like we did for years when I was still in high school. Every Sunday morning we would have a meal as an entire family before going to church. It brought back many happy memories. We had roast duck and squab, farmer sausage with Dijon mustard, white rice, French baguette, squid sautéed with soy and ginger, and mixed greens with ponzu dressing. As I looked around the table, I saw the happy faces of my mom and dad, looking around to see three generations of the Takeda family all at one table. As the tender and fatty duck got devoured and as the feeling of cold butter on warm baguette and acidic and crisp baby greens repeatedly washed down the taste of farmer sausage with Dijon, I realized that this is the essence of Christmas. Christ was born on this day. He was born on this day to set us free, so we could enjoy life with hope. He was born on this day so that as we sit and eat and enjoy the company around us, we know that we are the luckiest people on earth, because Christ died for you and me.

Merry Christmas.

Hey, somebody answer the door

Christmas is at the doorstep, knocking to get in. We've heard it. As we open the door, we see it too. The Hope area was blanketed this past week with the first magical snowfall of the season. Snow is always different before Christmas. It feels different, it smells different, it looks different.

...You don't believe me? Just wait until a February snow then come back and re-read this blog post...

Lights are starting to adorn people's houses. And people themselves are happier in general. There is something in the air.

"For unto us a child is born; For unto us a son is given"

Somebody please get up and answer the door. I hear someone knocking.

-- Reid

Agassiz and Chilliwack Farm Tours – October 12th, 2010

I woke up on a cold, autumn morning at Camp Squeah. I had a late night, and I didn’t get that great of a sleep, and so I was slow getting out of bed. Though tired, I had a little bit of excitement and a jump to my step because today was the day that Reid, Caleigh and I were to head out to Agassiz, where we would meet up with our sous chef, Jill, and make a few stops on Agassiz’s self guided Circle Farm Tour. Along with a couple stops at farms in Chilliwack, today was going to be a full and hopefully educational day. After a quick stop at the Larsons to say hi and grab a scone, I was on my way to Hope to meet with Reid and Caleigh.

Highway 7 is a fairly straight road, blessed with a gorgeous view. It’s not long before we reach Agassiz. First stop is the Hazelnut farm. Canadian Hazelnut is a 68 acre farm where trees are allowed to grow these nuts until they fall to the ground. They are then swept up and cleaned, and then shipped to the U.S. for shelling. We were introduced to Cody, who gave us a tour of the area and showed us some of the products, including flavored roasted nuts, hazelnut oils, hazelnut butter, and different honeys. We went outside to see the trees and Cody explained to us the process in which the hazelnuts are harvested. It was amazing to see how small their kitchen was, considering the fact that all the flavored nuts were made in house. With ideas in our heads of using hazelnut butter as a substitute for peanut butter and using hazelnut oils for vinaigrettes, we headed to our next and most anticipated stop in Agassiz, Farmhouse Natural Cheeses.

As we walked into the small retail shop and the smell of cheese was in the air! Goat brie, caerphilly, castle blue, these are all names that were common to me at the hotel in Vancouver, as we had gotten Farmhouse cheeses for our cheese plates. To see where it came from and to see the cows and the goats who give their milk so we can enjoy these delicious treats was an amazing experience! They also had pigs and sheep in their farm, and thoughts of sheep’s feta and bacon came to mind. 30$ at the retail store and I had 200 g of Castle Blue and a sampler of 6 different sea salts, including a smoked bacon and chipotle sea salt and a black Hawaiian sea salt. Next stop, Valedoorn Farms for some milk!

Valedoorn Farms is a dairy farm housing approximately 250 milking cows and 250 cows that will be milking. We met with Tom, who grew up on the farm, and we couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide. Beginning at the milking pen, Tom gave us thorough explanations of the milking procedures, about the standards that they have in terms of controlling the temperature of the milk, the systems they have in place to control the safety of the milk, and the reason for those standards. Throughout the tour, we were educated on the cycle of milking cows in terms of when they are milked, bred, raised, and so on. The amount of knowledge this man had was amazing, not only explaining to us procedures that they have on the farm, but also why it was the most efficient way and how it affected the end product and why it was better this way for general consumption. We got to see the different pens, where milking cows were kept, where pregnant cows were kept, and where calves were kept. The cows are given very comfortable spaces to live in, with food available all the time along with warm water, which we learnt was preferable to cold water from a cow’s perspective. The philosophy behind the farm is that cows come first, workers come second, and everything is done for the cow’s benefit. A healthy cow equals more milk and therefore, more money. It’s a system that benefits everyone. The tour gave us a better understanding of how milk gets from the cow to our fridge, and it gave us all a better appreciation of milk, as it’s not something that just shows up at your doorstep like magic.

After a quick lunch at White Spot, we headed to Six Masters Farm in Chilliwack, where we met with Walter Bergen. I had met with Walter a couple weeks ago at a weekend church retreat, and he had intentionally come to the kitchen to talk to us about his products, which include squab and rabbit. I was extremely interested in visiting his farm because as I had spoken to Walter prior to today, it was very apparent in the way he talked about his procedures on the farm that he cared about the animals and how to raise them in a way that would be pleasing to God and to the customer. We drove onto the property and were immediately greeted by Walter and his two dogs, Peanut and Dexter. After introductions with the rest of the Food Services team, Walter went ahead and took us on a tour that gave us a real appreciation of what meat should be when it is served to the general public. He showed us some of his gardening projects, different types of chard, a plum cherry tree and a few melons, to name a few. He showed us the sheep and the duck that he had, all of which were free to roam the property. Inside, he had dozens of rabbits in cages that were lifted from the ground. He explained that so far, this technique worked best to provide the animal with a clean environment in which to live. He also explained the butchering technique of these rabbits, where if you grab them by the feet and hold their head tilted slightly, inserting a knife into the back of the neck will cause the animal to simply exhale, and then die. No fighting, no kicking, just a simple process. Walter explained that there is no joy in taking an animal’s life; it is just a necessity to life. Next was the squab. Thousands of pigeons were kept on this farm and this would keep the farmers busy throughout the winter months. Pigeons are the most profitable part of this farm, Walter explained. After a quick lesson on what the characteristics were of a good pigeon, we headed outside, where we were introduced to four pigs. Walter spent a few moments in the pen before feeding them some chard from the garden and some bread from a local bakery. These four pigs were for his family dinner table. He was testing out the meat and seeing how he could raise these pigs for the best possible product. You could tell that Walter really cared about the quality of his product, to the point where he would eat it himself to make sure he got exactly what he wanted. The pigs would be slaughtered within the next three weeks. Finally, we met the cattle, a beautiful black angus and a few others, and that concluded our tour. We were extremely impressed by Walter’s dedication to his trade, and to his efforts to treat these animals as God’s creatures, with respect and appreciation. It was an eye opener for us to see the amount of work it does take for a farmer to raise animals the proper way, and why these products cost more than your average meat at Costco and Superstore. If you ask me, I would be tremendously overjoyed if the general public were educated on the same things we were educated on today.

Fraser Valley Duck and Goose is a place close to my heart, as my best friend married the daughter of the owner of this business. I had cooked with the product before and have heard stories of this place, and it was great to finally tour the facilities. Ken Falk personally took time out of his busy day to show us around, which was a real honor, and he was gracious to spend time explaining in detail the procedures of how the product came to be. Fraser Valley Duck and Goose is an extremely large operation. From the outside, it looks institutionalized, with little heart and with a “get-it-done” attitude towards the product. But as we toured around with Ken, we realized the care that they take to make sure the animal is taken care of before slaughter. The appreciation that Ken has for his animals and the product and the duck industry in general is amazing. It’s a big operation, and so that demands efficiency. Approximately 15,000 a week make this company one of the three largest duck companies in Canada. Ken showed us the different barns, holding ducks from birth until week 6, when they are slaughtered. We saw the eggs being washed and handled carefully, and we learnt that the whole process is rigorously looked at by the employees that he hires. We saw the slaughtering facilities, and although we didn’t actually see a slaughter as it was later in the day, we dot a picture of what it would look like up and running. We got to see the packaging plant, and we got to see all the product of the day, which would be shipped tomorrow. It was an impressive facility, and a very efficient operation. After receiving some product to try out at home (and a duckling for Caleigh to keep as a pet), we were on our way home. Fraser Valley Duck and Goose is a family owned operation, and it was great to see that such a big business could have so much heart and so much care in their product. I truly felt blessed to experience this.

Overall, it was a full day, and one that was eye opening for me as a chef. I grew up a little bit today. The more I spend time up here at Camp Squeah, the more I am exposed to the raw foods, where they come from and why I need to show them respect in the kitchen. Today was another step in making sure that I realized that God created these creatures, and they demand respect, they demand an appreciation for the sacrifice so that we can go home to food on the table.

~posted by Yoshi