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Posts from the ‘Canada’ category

Chicken, mushrooms, snow peas in black bean garlic sauce

Chicken with black-bean garlic sauce, HL style

Above: Chicken, mushrooms, and snow peas in black-bean garlic sauce – 26 January 2013.

I’ve had versions of this dish before, hundreds of times, either at home or at a restaurant. When I decided to make this dish, I didn’t start with any recipe: it was all about ingredients, memory, and experience.

When I posted a picture of the final product (which was delicious), I was urged to describe my makeshift recipe. The most common question (re. demand) was: “how’d you make that?”

I describe here what I’ll make from scratch …

( Click here for ingredients and recipe )

Totem poles at Brockton Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

Vancouver : how totem poles put a spell on me

The pull is undeniable.

Under overcast skies and a forecast of heavy rainshowers, I walk out one January morning from Vancouver’s West End and head out towards Stanley Park for a morning walk. Past Coal Harbour and Deadman’s Island, I arrive finally at the totem poles near Brockton Point.

Totem poles, Brockton Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada
Totem poles, Brockton Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada

The totem was the British Columbia Indian’s “Coat of Arms”. Totem poles are unique to the northwest coast of B.C. and lower Alaska. They were carved from Western red cedar and each carving tells of a real or mythical event. They were not idols, nor were they worshipped. Each carving on each pole has a meaning. The eagle represents the kingdom of the air, the whale the lordship of the sea, the wolf the genius of the land, and the frog the transitional link between land and sea.

( Click here for more )