Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson says that when it comes to a fat B.C. peach, there are “endless possibilities” for a fruit that signifies summer.
Maybe a salad? “They play so nicely together with nice blackcurrant leaf oil and maybe some rose vinegar and crunchy salt and some fresh shiso (Japanese mint) and basil,” said Stieffenhofer-Brandson, who has earned a Michelin star for Published on Main in Vancouver, regularly listed among Canada’s best restaurants.
Perhaps peaches on top of crispy focaccia paired with whipped ricotta, or roast peaches with seared foie gras? And peach desserts never disappoint, said Stieffenhofer-Brandson, as he described blending plump poached peaches with almond cream and rose granita, in a “really lovely combination.”
But not this year.
Stieffenhofer-Brandson and other top chefs in B.C. who pride themselves on seasonal and local fare are working without some of their favourite summer ingredients after the province’s stone fruit harvest was almost wiped out by a January cold snap.
Others, such as Matt Gostelow, head chef at The Acorn, an acclaimed Vancouver vegetarian restaurant, preserved some of last year’s stone fruit crop.
He said stone fruit from the Okanagan had been a staple on The Acorn’s menu every year, and it was “devastating” to hear of the cold snap’s impact.
“Luckily, we have some preserved apricots we canned ourselves at their peak last summer that are currently on our menu. However, with none coming in this year, we are treating them like gold.”
In spring, the B.C. Fruit Growers’ Association predicted a 90 per cent loss for peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums, while the B.C. Cherry Association predicted harvests would be “dramatically reduced.”
Summerland, B.C., fruit farmer Sukhdeep Brar, who has 100 acres of cherry and peach trees in the Okanagan region of the B.C. Interior, said there would be “no single peach” coming out of B.C. farms this year.
“This year is going to be really, really tough to get B.C.-grown stone fruit, and there’s nothing else that we can do now,” said Brar, who is vice-president of the fruit growers association.
Their absence is being felt on grocery shelves and menus across the province.
Chef Rob Feenie, who recently took over the kitchen at Le Crocodile in downtown Vancouver, said that whenever he bites into a peach or nectarine, his thoughts turn to childhood visits to the Okanagan, where his aunt owned a cherry orchard.
His mother would hoard peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums.
Feenie said the ruined harvest this year meant he would find ways to adapt.
One of Le Crocodile’s dishes is kobujime hamachi, a fish dish that usually features stone fruit, as well as white soy, yuzu, chili and celery ice.
“I can put strawberries with it. I could put grapefruit with it. I can put oranges with it,” said Feenie.
“For me, I will just be a little bit more creative in the fruit that I put with it, right? So doesn’t have to be stone fruit.”
Feenie said he doesn’t change his menu quickly, so he needs to work “a little more carefully … with what’s happening.”
Stieffenhofer-Brandson noted that weather is a “big driver” of what the menu looks like at Published on Main.
“We miss having peaches and plums and nectarines and all those beautiful things that kind of mark the entrance of summer,” he said.
He said he doesn’t like to force anything and will lean into whatever ingredients are available instead.
“We’re sad we don’t have peaches right now, but it’s just the fact of the matter that climate change is affecting us and our growing season here, and it’s just something we need to be dynamic (about), to be able to work around,” said Stieffenhofer-Brandson.
“We never plan a menu without knowing what ingredients we’re gonna have and we’re very inspired by the ingredients. So, we cook within the seasons, and if something’s not available, we just use something else.”
For example, Stieffenhofer-Brandson said there have been “beautiful squash” with a variety of zucchini coming from local farms, as well as strawberries and tomatoes.
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