The Five-Bottle Bar: A Simple Guide to Stylish Cocktails by Jessica Schacht Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2022 $28.00 / 9781771513760 Reviewed by Rebecca Coleman * Have you been out for drinks lately? At some of my favorite cocktail bars, drinks are now in the $20 to $25 range, and even at chains, you’re looking at between…
Read more 1928 DIY cocktails
How to Clean a Fish and Other Adventures in Portugal by Esmeralda Cabral Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, May 16, 2023 $27.99 / 9781772126556 (paperback) Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * Well, first of all, you won’t learn how to clean a fish. Secondly, … But let’s start at the beginning. Esmeralda Cabral is a writer living…
Read more 1876 A reluctance to join in
Interview channel update by Richard Mackie * Since January 2023 Trevor Hughes, interim non-fiction editor of The British Columbia Review, has branched out as Video Segment Producer and curator of our new Interview Channel, hosted by YouTube. So far, Trevor has uploaded thirteen interviews that capture in words a broad spectrum of British Columbian authors,…
Read more 1841 BC Review interviews update
Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir by Margot Fedoruk Victoria: Heritage House, 2022 $22.95 / 9781772033953 Reviewed by Susan Sanford Blades * Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives, Margot Fedoruk’s island memoir, instantly captures her reader’s attention by beginning right in the thick of things: “The night I ran over Rick with my car,…
Read more 1834 Stuck in the middle of nowhere with you
Welcome Trevor and Brett by Richard Mackie * On behalf of the Board of the Ormsby Literary Society and our Advisory Board I’d like to welcome Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic as interim editors of The British Columbia Review for the year May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024. The position was made possible…
Read more 1813 Welcome Trevor and Brett
Dinner on Mars: The Technologies that will Feed the Red Planet and Transform Agriculture on Earth by Lenore Newman and Evan D.G. Fraser Toronto: ECW Press, 2022 $24.95 / 9781770416628 Reviewed by Eleanor Boyle * Dinner on Mars: A Delicious Thought Experiment I’ve never thought that high-tech inventions would solve the complex problems that bedevil…
Read more 1776 New food for an old planet
Announcing the BC Review interview series by Richard Mackie * In November 2022, at the most recent board meeting of the Ormsby Literary Society, the chair, Byron Sheardown, suggested that we open a YouTube channel and start an interview series. Board member Trevor Marc Hughes jumped at the suggestion. “I’ve got filmmaking experience,” he said,…
Read more 1757 Announcing interview series
The Growing Season by Nelson Boschman, with a foreword by Lois Cho Vancouver: Nelson Boschman, 2022 $23.99 / 9781778083105 Reviewed by Dennis Wilkinson * Nelson Boschman displays an orgasmic-like giddiness towards wine. He is the eight-year-old at Christmas time, and wine is the biggest present under the tree with his name on it. This book…
Read more 1729 Wine and spirits
Evergreen Kitchen: Weeknight Vegetarian Dinners for Everyone by Bri Beaudoin with photos by Anguel Dimov Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Penguin Canada), 2022 $27.00 / 9780735241923 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * I used to work with a woman who claimed not to enjoy eating food, with the rather amusing exception of popcorn; that she was…
Read more 1689 No-pressure vegetarian
The Ramen by Sheldon Goldfarb * Editor’s note: as a Holiday and post-Christmas answer to that leftover turkey or that ham, lamb, or duck roast, we present Sheldon Goldfarb’s solution — The Ramen! Sheldon adds that the poem was inspired by the cartoon below, courtesy Janet Rudolph’s Mystery Fanfare — Richard Mackie * Once upon…
Read more 1688 The Ramen
The Science and Spirit of Seaweed: Discovering Food, Medicine and Purpose in the Kelp Forests of the Pacific Northwest by Amanda Swinimer Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2022 $28.95 / 9781550179613 Reviewed by Howard Stewart * I feel guilty for having sat so long on Amanda Swinimer’s book about seaweed. Sure, our island has suffered a…
Read more 1664 The seaweed book
The Okanagan Wine Tour Guide Updated & Expanded by John Schreiner and Luke Whittall Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2020 (6th edition) $25.00 / 9781771513241 Reviewed by Isabel Nanton * When we last visited Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars on a hot June day in 2021, the owners were protecting from Covid their 17 seasonal workers from…
Read more 1640 An Okanagan classic
Mobilize Food! Wartime Inspiration for Environmental Victory Today by Eleanor Boyle, with a foreword by Tim Lang Victoria: FriesenPress, 2022 $19.99 / 9781039123663 Reviewed by Mary Gale Smith * Almost daily, news headlines – heat waves, drought, hurricanes, land slides, floods, fires, and so on – remind us that climate change is real. The pandemic…
Read more 1629 Return to Victory Gardens
Arab Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook Tales by Karim Alrawi, illustrations by Nahid Kazemi, recipes by Sobhi al-Zobaidi and Tamam Qanembou-Zobaidi, and Karim Alrawi; art direction by Carol Frank, book design by Elisa Gutiérrez Vancouver and London: Tradewind Books, 2021 $29.95 / 9781926890272 Reviewed by Harvey De Roo. Recipes tested by Harvey De Roo…
Read more 1602 Tabouli, hummus, couscous
Off the Hook: The Essential West Coast Seafood Recipes by D.L. Acken and Aurelia Louvet Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2018 $22.00 / 9781771512763 Reviewed by Gillian Crowther * Off The Hook: The Essential West Coast Seafood Recipes is the perfect description of this little gem of a book. It does, however, put you on the hook…
Read more 1525 A seafood lover’s pantry
Gather: A Dirty Apron Cookbook by David Robertson Vancouver: Figure 1 Publishing, 2019 $38.99 / 9781773270678 Reviewed by Gillian Crowther * As the Covid-19 pandemic anxiety recedes we can now look forward to friends and family coming together to cook, eat and renew our bonds with one another. Food is the stuff of our sociability,…
Read more 1490 Robertson’s global cuisine
Mushrooms of British Columbia: Royal BC Museum Handbook by Andy MacKinnon and Kem Luther Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum Press, 2021 $34.95 / 9780772679550 Reviewed by Jocie Brooks * With over ten mushroom books already on my shelf, I hesitated as to whether I needed yet another guide book for fungi, but as soon as…
Read more 1430 A mushroom forager’s bible
Saving Seeds: A Home Gardener’s Guide to Preserving Plant Biodiversity by Dan Jason Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020 $14.95 / 9781550179002 Reviewed by Luanne Armstrong * This small book packs a lot of punch, much like a seed itself. I am a life long gardener, but, for various reasons, I have never been a seed…
Read more 1414 A seed saver’s companion
The Farmer’s Daughter Bakes: cakes, pies, crisps, and more for every fruit on the farm by Kelsey Siemens Salem, MA: Page Street Publishing, 2020. See here to purchase $34.50 / 9781645671046 Reviewed by Luanne Armstrong * I have always been a farmer and a farmer’s daughter so this is the perfect cookbook for me. Already…
Read more 1399 Cake with a farmer’s daughter
Distilleries of Vancouver Island: A Guided Tour of West Coast Craft and Artisan Spirits by Marianne Scott Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2021 $25.00 / 9781771513326 Reviewed by Joe Wiebe * Published earlier this year, Marianne Scott’s Distilleries of Vancouver Island is essential reading for anyone who might enjoy a wee dram of Island whiskey, a sip…
Read more 1313 Island spirits and cocktails