Help My Sister Become a Winner!

As many of you know, my sister has been living in a van down by the river for the past 4 months. (Ok, really a fifth-wheel next to a creek.) but in her Chris Farley existence, there is a glimmer of light! We're talking about having her picture chosen as a finalist in the "Istanbul Eats Photo Contest"!

The contest has two sections, one is National (Turkey) and the other international. Mel's picture is of noodle makers taken a few years back in Shanghai, so look for her under the "international link" labeled "Melanie Noodles".

Simply e-mail your vote for "Melanie Noodles" to istanbuleats3@gmail.com.

What does she win if she's successful? Kudos and bragging rights! That's it! But it's a lot, when you're living in a van, down by the river!

Day 70: The Big Night

The final night set up.

I usually include a lot of pictures of food in this blog, but tonight, food takes a back seat. This blog is about the people who make it happen - my classmates.

3 out of 5 of our stove members 

with our mentor, Chef Warren just before final service.

Amy wrote "success" and "victory" on each member 

of our stove for good luck!

Pre-service confidence!

Last minute chiffonade!

The Guest Judges arrive and watch our every move....

....while banquet prepares the graduation dishes!

Service begins! My team in action....

....so focused, they never even noticed I took these pictures.

Chef C mans the pass with his terminator vision 

and trusty thermometer, nothing substandard gets past him, 

especially split beurre blanc!

Relief!! It's all over but the dishes.

Big shots finish the night back at Barneys...

...with tequila. Of course. Thanks KK!

Gluten-free-gal-Ashley

My fellow classmate Ashley and I have something in common; we both must avoid ingredients that are commonly found in a lot of foods. 

When I first signed up for culinary school, I worried a lot about my poultry allergy and what kind of problems I was bound to run into. Then I met Ashley, she has celiac disease and must avoid all wheat gluten! 

Through Ashley, I've learned that a lot of foods contain gluten that you would never think about, for example - beer! 

We have both had days when we have had to pack a lunch because all the food on the menu was off limits to us. The above picture comes from one of those days during Italian week. Our classmate Bowes* saw that Ashley couldn't eat all the pasta we were chowing down on and ran back to his stove and whipped up these little mini kebab appetizers for her. 

Ashley also blogs about our class and the difficulties of her disease at glutenfreegal. Click on over for an alternate view of our class!

*If the class were to vote for a Miss/Mr. Congeniality, I believe Bowes would win! 

Sisters Think Alike...

What I made last week.

What Mel made last night.

Brace Yourself for Asia Week!

Another day off! Going to see Leonardo Da Vinci at the VAG.


Tomorrow we start two weeks of cooking that I've been looking forward to since the day I received my acceptance letter - Asia and Middle East weeks!


I've noticed that a lot of people in North America prefer only the sweet and salty flavour profiles. Vancouver is definitely more adventurous than other parts of the country due to it's mixed ethnicity, but the average person doesn't appreciate sour, spicy or bitter very much.

This week will be filled with strange condiments, (fish sauce! kechap manis!), seaweed and whole baked fish.( Yes! my favorite way to have fish! Our food is going to have a face this week!)

A few of my classmates are disgusted by oysters and squid, others avoid any kind of heat, so I think this week will be an adventure in pushing our palates and exposing our taste buds to those other flavours they've been missing.

And even though I have already had almost all the food we'll be cooking before, this time I'll actually be preparing it. The one that has me most fired up are stuffed pork sticky buns!

And because I have no picture of food yet, and I hate posts without visuals, I leave you with my sister's latest painting from the Okanagan, The Ice Wine Harvest! Bravo Mel!

The Creative Caravan Stops In at MyNaramata!

Check out my Sis and I high-jacking a kebab stand in Istanbul! (Oh, and there's an article about my fabulously talented sister too!)

Chasing Canada Geese at Manitou Beach

My sister has just completed her first canadian painting, of dogs chasing Canadian geese in our hometown of Naramata. I love it! Check it out here!

Street Food: Taiwanese Pancakes!

In Taiwan, my friend George and I used to cruise the night markets from time to time. He ate all the questionable foods like "stinky tofu" and "chicken butts", and I kept to the "safe" foods like "papaya milk" and "steamed pork buns". One of my favorite night market foods were the scallion pancakes. Wandering the crowded little alleyways with George munching on a steamy pancake from a plastic bag is one of my favorite memories of Taiwan.

So, one day feeling all nostalgic, I decided to make them here at home in Istanbul. Here's how it worked out.

First, I got a recipe from the Internet. Oh how I love the Internet.

The dough was super straight forward - water, salt and -this is important! - HOT water.

Here I've rolled out the dough and spread a thin layer of sesame oil over it.

Then I sprinkled scallions over it.

Then you roll up the pancake, twist it and roll it - like so.

Let them rest for 30 minutes before flattening them out with a rolling pin.

Once they're flat, you can freeze them between parchment paper, (which I did with some).

Or... you can put them into a super hot pan with a little oil and make them nice and crispy!

I served them with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, rice vinegar and ginger.

Georgie! You'd be proud!

Jonny and the Sublime Portal

If you look to the right hand side of this blog, you might see something new!

My excellent friend Jonny who is the creative force behind Istanbul's Sublime Portal made this for Melanie and I to promote our show at Java Studio. And he did it all while taking care of his beautiful three-and-a-half-month old son. What can I say? He is THE man!

Check it out!