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Nov. 30, 2007
Is there skiing at Whistler?
At the village, food and wine flow – and not only during festivals.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
When I first moved to British Columbia, I took the time to visit some of the province's tourist attractions, including Whistler Village. That was years ago. It was a lot of fun but, since then, in part from laziness, in part because I'm not fond of crowds or skiing, I've chosen to keep my distance. That is, until recently.
In September, friends of mine who own a time-share kindly invited me to spend a few days with them in Whistler. That trip – which included buzzing along ziplines high in the treetops with Ziptrek Eco Tours and wall-climbing at the Core – motivated me to tag along with these same friends when they returned to Whistler earlier this month. On this trip, the adventures took place closer to the ground, as we happened to be there for Cornucopia, a five-day festival of coffee, wine and food, which takes place every Remembrance Day weekend at the village.
Even though we didn't participate in the party scene, we heard all about the fun people had at the Crush! Gala Grand Tasting evenings – and we could see the toll they took on the partiers who joined us at the two morning coffee seminars we attended.
The first was led by Frog Friendly Wild Coffee (www.frogfriendlywildcoffee.com) owner Karla Ferster. The company's motto says it all, "Humane beans for human beings." As Ferster explained, Frog coffee is not just organic, fair trade and shade-grown, but is about "embracing life" and she sets out "to inspire others" with the way in which she does business, keeping it a sustainable size and returning a portion of its profits to charitable causes, such as SOS Children's Village B.C. As its name implies, Frog coffee grows wild and is not farmed.
This empathy for other human beings and the environment comes at a price. Ferster said that a cup of coffee that someone buys in a lower-end coffee shop costs about eight to 10 cents a cup to produce, while Frog coffee costs about 29 cents a cup. As big a price difference as that is, the price we all pay at the coffee counter – whether at a gas station or a fancy café – should give us cause for pause. Buying a pound of coffee and making it at home certainly makes more sense, and Frog makes for a very pleasing cup of coffee when brewed properly. The benefit of a talented barrista was made clear when we tasted Frog coffee brewed by conference centre staffers and then were treated to coffee made by Cuppa Joe. No comparison.
Cuppa Joe (www.cuppajoecoffee.com) roasts Frog Friendly Wild Coffee and the two businesses co-hosted the second morning seminar that we attended. This time, we were taken through the labor-intensive production process, from fruit (yes, coffee is a fruit!) to cup. A few interesting tidbits are that all coffee has its origins in Ethiopia; coffee is one of the most handled (literally, touched by human hands) products; and you can't just set a timer to roast coffee because the time required depends on such things as the humidity and temperature of the day. In taste-tasting coffee, it's a little like wine – you want to take sips, letting in air while you have some coffee in your mouth. But first, smell the aroma of the grounds, then add water, steep and inhale once more, checking for spiciness. In the taste, be aware of acidity, body, sweet/sour, bitterness, flavor (what dominates, strength/weakness, finish, varietal distinction) and balance.
Luckily, my friends and I lingered over our cups of coffee, long enough for most people to have left the conference centre and, as a result, we got recruited to attend a seminar on wines from the Napa Valley, which was having trouble attracting winos. So much was going on at Cornucopia that this was an unfortunate, unintended, undeserved situation that we were happy to remedy, even though my friends don't drink wine.
Presenters Michelle Bouffard and Michaela Morris were charming and knowledgeable. They took participants through 10 wines and, despite a growing insobriety for those of us who felt compelled to empty our glasses, we learned (and even retained) a lot about the wines, the regions in which their grapes are grown and the people who run the wineries. All of the selections were incredible, but highlights for me were the Scramsberg Blanc de Blancs, a delightful, affordable sparkling white wine; an unoaked Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands, called Mer de Soleil Silver; the MacRostie Pinot Noir 2002, which is available from the Jewish Independent's landlord, Liberty Wine Merchants; the Hess Collection Mountain Cuvée 2003; and the Frog's Leap Zinfandel 2003. All of these wines should be available locally. For more information on Napa Valley vintners, visit www.napavintners.com.
But drinking was not the only item on our weekend's agenda. Chocolate and cheese were priorities, too. George Graham of Rogers' Chocolates was on hand to explain and demonstrate the company's production process. The first surprise was that Rogers' is strictly a candy-maker. For its creations, it buys chocolate from Guittard Chocolate in San Francisco.
According to Rogers' website (www.rogerschocolates.com), the first Rogers' chocolates were made in 1885 by Charles Rogers in the back of his grocery store in Victoria. The company is still based in that city, but now has 10 retail stores, several hundred wholesale outlets and a 20,000-square-foot factory. Graham shared with us some of what goes on in the factory, from the tempering of the chocolate, which distributes the cocoa butter through the mixture, to the final product. He also discussed the considerations that go into developing a new candy, such as flavor and expected shelf-life, and gave us a pre-taste of a chocolate-covered cream that is expected to be on the market sometime next year. Made with Vancouver Island's Merridale Estate Cidery winter apple cider, it was, in a word: yum.
We also got to try several other Rogers' chocolates, as well as take home a Victoria cream that we wrapped ourselves. The fastest wrapper at each table was awarded a block of Rogers' baking chocolate and the winner at our table was Herb Goldman.
There were several members of the Vancouver Jewish community in Whistler for Cornucopia. In addition to Goldman and his wife, Binny, we ran into Richard Wolak of Arelco Promotional Group, Inc., who was there to report on the event. A few Jewish restaurateurs were also there for work reasons, but not us, though I took detailed notes, which has helped me write this article. My friends and I were in Whistler to relax and at Cornucopia to imbibe, and that's exactly what we did.
We finished up our scheduled events with a cheese-tasting, presented by multiple-award-winning Comox Valley-based Natural Pastures Cheese Co. (www.naturalpastures.com). Husband-wife team Edgar Smith and Mary Ann Heynman Smith provided samples of almost every product they manufacture – with high standards of animal stewardship and grass-fed cattle and buffalo and without the use of any chemical pesticides, growth hormones, genetically modified organisms or animal-based feed products. Of the many cheeses we tasted, particularly interesting were the Mozzarella di Bufalo, made from the only Canadian herd of water buffalo, as well as the cumin seed, Pacific pepper and wasabi cheeses and the soft cheeses, the brie and camembert.
While most of these products are available at grocery stores, Edgar Smith said that wasn't always the case. In their earlier days, a large supermarket chain wanted the Smiths to pay the supermarket $35,000 for one foot of dairy section space. That same chain has since started to order Natural Pastures cheeses, although some products – like the Parmadammer, which is a Parmesan – are only available at Natural Pastures' Courtenay farm, and even then, you'll want to call ahead because they're often sold out.
What was fun about Cornucopia was that people were there from around the world and they were friendly, which is a characteristic of Whistler in general, I think. My friends chatted at length with Jeanette Helmer of Helmer's Organic (604-894-6618), which is based in Pemberton, and ended up buying some Rheingold and Russian blue potatoes, which we had for dinner one night. Helmer's produce can be found at Nat Bailey Stadium's farmer's market, which takes place on Wednesdays from May through October.
I ended up talking with Greg Addicoat, who works for the Westin Hotel and Whistler Mountain – he's from Melbourne, Australia, and has been in British Columbia for only four months – and I tried all of two lines of my newly acquired Spanish with a couple from Argentina.
I also met Paula Robertson, who is originally from Vancouver Island, but now calls Pemberton home. This December, she will be celebrating four years as the owner, and head bean counter, roaster, packager and distributor, of Pemberton Valley Coffee Co. She has a bean broker and gets some help from friends on occasion, she said, but is pretty much a one-woman show, operating out of her home – although the labels on her coffee packages are designed by Squamish artist Marlene Ootjers. The coffee, which is fair trade, organic and shade grown, is only available in a few locations, but can be ordered by e-mailing Robertson at [email protected].
Helmer, Addicoat and Robertson were all part of Cornucopia's Artisans' Market, which also featured a couple of dishes from the Westin's new fine-dining restaurant, the Aubergine Grill (604-935-4344). If they were any indication – especially the cranberry-cherry compote – it's worth making a reservation before your next trip to Whistler.
But you don't just have to eat when you're in the village. There are, of course, several activities you can do on your vacation, including backcountry tours, Bungee jumping, wall-climbing, eagle viewing, heli-skiing and heli-tours, downhill and cross country skiing, sleigh rides, spas and other health and wellness facilities, the ziplines and snow shoeing. As one of the main locations for the 2010 Olympics, there is a lot of construction going on, but it won't detract from your stay. On so-called Whistler Days – from now till Dec. 21, Jan. 14-Feb. 8 and April 7-20 – visitors can receive 40 per cent off learn-to-ski and ride programs, as well as discounts on some other programs.
For more information, visit www.whistler.com.
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