When I ask Eric Pateman if he'd be willing to do this column, he jokingly warned me there are so many condiments in his fridge there's hardly room for anything else.
This is the same guy who, the week before, pulled off a five-course dinner inside Granville Island Public Market featuring B.C. products for two dozen nattily dressed CEOs of the world's largest international airports. Many of the ingredients came from Eric's own business in the market, Edible BC, which features some 900 products, most of them from around the province.
Potential suppliers drop off 30-40 samples every month at the shop, so you can imagine what a variety of condiments might come to agglomerate on the shelves of his family's GE Profile stainless steel refrigerator. It sits on the open-plan second floor of a three-level townhouse in Garibaldi Highlands with great views of Howe Sound and surrounding mountains.
Eric shares the home with his wife, Gail, and their young daughters, two-and-a-half-year-old Meiko and Aya, who's almost one. At least he does when his business, which includes gourmet kayaking, private catering, and chef-guided market tours, doesn't keep him in Vancouver or send him on the road, to Toronto, for instance, to check out what's new in the culinary world. Last trip, the best meal he had was a rare seared horse heart with horse tongue confit and French fries cooked in horse fat. And people were lined up for it.
As we pull open the fridge doors, what we find is just as he warned: condiments - lots and lots of condiments. On the top two shelves alone are 33, and on the door shelves, another 16. It's what you'd expect from someone who started cooking commercially in his uncle's White Rock restaurant when he was 12 and went on to an international career in hotel and restaurant management/consulting.
Even Eric admits it's a bit much. Some condiments are probably five or six years old and, as we all find, it's hard to dump them. You never know when you might need them, right?
"But I do toss them out when weird things appear on top, like crystals on the jams," he laughs.
To name a few, there's what Eric and others consider to be the best pesto anywhere, from Sonja Cameron's Sunday Farm near Brackendale. Also, two Rabbit Hill Farm jams from Vancouver Island; Okanagan Herb Farm's lavender jelly; basil pesto from Italy; three different condiments made from quinces; mint sauce from England; buckwheat honey from Manitoba; and XO Sauce made right at Dollar Meat Store in Vancouver's Chinatown - delicious on rice.
There are also a few regular condiments such as Miracle Whip, which he had in his mom's potato salad while growing up in North Delta; ketchup; and that all-time favourite, Bick's Sweet Green Relish, otherwise known as hot dog relish.
But the king of the condiments in the Pateman household is mustard. We count eight different mustards, including Arlo's Honey Farm honey mustard from Kelowna, Arbutus Accents Champagne and Curry Mustard from Saltspring Island, and good old Maille Dijon. There are even mustard beans from Abbotsford's Goodies by Thelma.
Sure, Canada is the second largest producer of mustard seed in the world, but why so much mustard?
"I'll put mustard on sausages, on sandwiches, I'll put it into sauces, everything - I just love mustard," he says.
But there's another reason. Most of his life, Eric suffered from major digestive problems, to the point where he weighed about 50 pounds below normal. When his grandfather died 10 years ago, the autopsy revealed he had celiac disease, which can have lactose intolerance as a side effect. Turns out other family members, including Eric, suffer from it, too.
"When I got diagnosed with celiac, the one thing you can't have is anything with fat in it, so mustard went on everything."
Ergo we also find lactose-free milk along with regular milk, and wheat-free soy sauce and peanut sauce in the fridge, as well lots of other Asian condiments and a variety of tofu products.
Eric splits the cooking about 60/40 with Gail, who is Japanese-Canadian and would likely be mostly vegetarian if left to her own devices.
"If I'm not home, my wife and kids will likely eat tofu most of the time," he says. "I don't think she's ever cooked red meat like beef or pork for herself when I'm gone."
When they do eat meat, the portions are reasonable - four ounces for an adult, which is the size of the palm of your hand, or a pork chop one inch thick. So we only find one package of meat in the fridge, Maple Leaf Prime turkey slices, and no big turkey. Thanksgiving dinner is usually at Eric's or Gail's mom's house, but this year it'll be at Whistler.
Last but not least, the produce drawers hold a variety of vegetables, some organic, some not, and some they grew themselves in raised beds beside the townhouse so the kids can learn where food really comes from. (Eric whipped up the recipe below to use up green tomatoes from their garden.)
It's all reflective of Eric and Gail's philosophy about food: balance - balancing organic and non-organic, meat and veggies, local and global, reality and ideals.
"It's about doing what you can, buying as much organic or locally as you can afford to do, what you realistically can actually do," he says. "Anything and everything we can do to ensure healthy eating is a good thing. It's not a perfect system but with two kids to think about, it gives me a little more peace of mind."
Eric's Bacon & Tomato Jam
1 lb. Oyama double-smoked bacon, sliced and cut into 1/2" pieces
5 lb. under-ripe tomatoes, cored and diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 c. cider or rice wine vinegar
1 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. chipotle chili powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Heat a large pot over medium-high; add bacon and cook until wilted. Add onion. Cook until the mixture is almost crisp. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until tomatoes are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. If the liquid cooks off too quickly, add some water so tomatoes cook until they're soft. Puree in a food processor until almost smooth (some small chunks are good). Return it to the pot, adjust seasoning, and cook to desired thickness. Cool and refrigerate.
Eric's favourites: use to top pan-fried Qualicum Bay scallops or rice, or as a condiment for pork or chicken. Or try it with turkey this Thanksgiving!
Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who tries to keep her balance, too.
