Interesting Finds at Eat! Vancouver 2014

It has been a few years since we last went to Eat! Vancouver. This year, looking at the interesting lineup of events, we returned as a media and checked out the event at the beautiful BC Place Stadium.

Eye Catchers

There was a good amount of samples to try, and if you like anything, you had the opportunity to buy them at a slightly discounted price. The following especially caught our attention:

Pulo Cuisine – These are some great marinate. And they’re vegan. I especially like the Lemongrass marinate.

Pure Infused Maple Syrup – They have some really interesting flavour combinations and they were all very good. I especially liked Chipotle Lemongrass (yes, savoury maple syrup) and Maple Syrup, Ginger & Apple Cider Vinegar.

Three Farmers Camelina Oil – Camelina oil is cold­pressed and it has a nutty, earthy note to it. It also has a high smoke point at 475F so it’s great for cooking and making salad.

Bruce Cost Ginger Ale – The ginger flavour really comes through – and it tastes like real ginger. Original flavour was good, so was the Pomegranate one.

Habibi’s Hummus and other products – The various flavours of hummus were very good.The tahini sauce was literally 100% sesame so it’s the real deal! And it’s locally produced in Surrey!

Original OMG Mexican Gourmet Cajeta – These are caramel sauce made with goat milk. You can definitely taste the gamey flavour of the goat milk but it’s really nice. The rum one was really good – they weren’t shy about adding rum to it!

LB Emporium Spices – Great spice mixes – We love using the African Queen; it works on everything!

Honourary Mentions

Here are some more products that have great potential too:

Floopz Frozen Goodness Maker – Makes frozen treats without the use of dairy

Otimo Brazilian Style Cheese Puffs – Chewy texture with cheesy flavour

Divino Brigadeiro Sweet Treats – Bringing condensed milk made Brazilian dessert to Canada

Alligga Flaxseed Cooking Oil – Similar to the Camelina oil, it also has a very high smoke point at 480F

RightOvers Program – Buying dinner from your neighbour? You cook, I eat!

Deebee’s Teapops – Iced tea in a popsicle form

In addition, celebrity chefs, such as Lynn Crawford, Vikram Vij, Chuck Hughes and Ned Bell, also made appearance at the show. Some of them competed against each other (Jackie Ellis from Beaucoup Bakery won the throwdown!), some did cooking demonstration while inviting public to participate on stage.

The “Sip” area featured many wine and beer producers, as well as spirits.

Some friends said there weren’t many samples, but I think you just have to look for them. All in all, it was a good place to try and discover new products, as well as learn some cooking tricks from celebrity chefs and other seminars. Here are some more photos from the event: