It's been far too long since I've had a bottle of truffle oil in my pantry. As I left the kitchen at the Tea House, Chef Knowlson bestowed upon me a beautiful bottle of Elle Esse white truffle infused olive oil, and I used it frequently for the whole year it lasted me. Its last drops were, unfortunately, spent in the hot pan of a roommate, who had unwittingly wasted it to cook bacon for his Kraft Dinner. Never mind its relatively exorbitant cost, using the stuff like olive oil yields extremely displeasing results... I came home to a house filled with truffle smoke, and my roommate telling me, "Dude, that truffle oil is shit."
Hoping that my new roommates are more gastronomically aware, I once again strapped my panniers on the Time Machine and made my way out to Burnaby for an epic shopping trip.
From my "research" on GoogleMaps, I'd decided that taking the TransCanada Highway from the Second Narrows to Boundary would be the most direct route -- the information I'd failed to acquire was that bicycles are strictly forbidden from the freeway. I also failed to obey the clearly posted signs telling me so. When I've got somewhere to go, I get there. Potholes, deep gaps between sections of the road, and fully loaded 18-wheelers leaving me no room on the shoulder were the first sign that an alternate route might have been better... crossing lanes of 120km/hr traffic to avoid unwanted exits and access left turns reminded me that truly death-defying experiences are infinitely more entertaining than the simulated ones at Playland.
Finally, I found the importer's retail superstore on Kootenay Street just off 1st and Boundary, but I couldn't find anywhere to park my bike. How very un-European. I wish they'd imported some ideas along with all those olives.
But what olives there were! Walking through the front door and picking up a basket, I was struck dumb by a diffuse, ethereal, almost holy glow emanating from Bosa's shrine to olive oil. I've never seen such a variety in my short, provincial life. From bulk, cheap, cooking oil, to single-variety and regionally specific bottles. I'd noticed the phrase Denominazione di Origine Protetta
on some of the bottles, the first time I've ever encountered a non-wine product bearing appellation status. Holy shit.
Nonetheless, the only truffle oil I saw on this shelf was Italissima oil with white-truffle extract for $10/375mL. I picked it up, a little disappointed, but ready to move on to mushrooms, meat, and cheese.
Lots of dried, Italian mushrooms. I definitely should have picked up a bag of dried Porcini (good idea...) but, instead, turned up my nose in discontent at the absence of local varieties (elitist idea). In the cooler, however, there were a couple of packages of Ponderosa mushrooms. I used to deal with this company through the Tea House. It was a guy in a Van full of mushrooms - fully above board, but small, and I met the pickers sometimes. Awesome. These mushrooms were $6/100g though. That's $60/kg. But I don't need much, they'll make a big difference to my risotto, and I know that this item represents a short food chain - Bosa buys these fresh from Ponderosa, who recently picked them themselves. I'm on board.
Cheese was insane. Huge variety, mostly imported, but all in wedges or wheels... and gorgeous. One deceptive brand called "Okanagan Falls" is actually produced in the USA but it doesn't say exactly where. I can't tell you if this cheese is any good or not, but I can tell you from looking closely that it doesn't come from Okanagan Falls, BC. I don't want to buy this product, simply because they're pissing on my head and telling me it's Fresh, Local Rain. Whatever... in any case, my wedge of true Pecorino Romano was 1/3 the cost of any comporable cheese at Save-On. I would highly recommend Bosa for a massive cheese trip. They also have a full spectrum of Raincoast Crisps, and Terra Breads fruit & nut crisps. I chose Fig & Olive Raincoast Crisps... the Terra Breads was organic though. Whatever, choosing organic is less important for small amounts of dried fruit and flour, than it is for choosing beef or chicken. I saw the meat department on the port side.
There is some beautiful meat here. And if I recall correctly, an organic chicken that was even more expensive that Safeway (who is, I think, doing fairly well on the organic front). Beef enderloin was about $20/lb and sold $100 at a time, and the pork is all from Quebec or Ontario. I was happy that the guy at the counter was forthcoming with this information, though assuring me that the beef is Alberta (local enough, really, but not awesome) and the chicken is local. Pretty standard meat department, I think, though displaying some larger cuts and good quality meat. I bought a gorgeous whole flank at $7.50/lb, and some beautifully aged skirt stakes. They later proved immensely flavourful, and I'm still eating the medium-rare flank sliced thin in sandwiches.
That was about it, I thought. Some cool sausages and cured meats, but I wasn't interested in those and had to be at Fishworks soon, so to the checkout I went. And there it was, so close to the beginning of my journey, but so far, the truffle oil display right next to the checkout. I spent some time here. Mostly taking pictures -- this is like a sacred place for me. In my experience, truffle oils are the best expression of truffle flavor available in this city. And here they all were - I would assume Bosa is one of the city's largest importers and wholesalers of truffles and truffle oil, based on its size and Italian focus... and here they all were. Including, in fact, the round, $20 bottle of Elle Esse white truffle infused extra virgin olive oil, the very bottle that Chef Knowlson had kindly introduced me to many years ago. I knew then my destined mission was fulfilled successfully. This trip was meant to happen, and I found myself more than happy to pay $80 for my load of premium local and imported gastronomic reagents. So happy, in fact, that I went to Liberty wines on my way home and picked up a $25 bottle of Blue Mountain Pinot Blanc to celebrate... but not until dinner...
Oh yeah, I also bought some salt pork. I fried some up and put it on my Annie's before work. With, of course, truffle oil.
