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It’s local, it’s exotic, it’s erotic

Serving up culinary tourism in B.C.

It might be walking with "the seaweed lady" along a rocky beach on Vancouver Island, tasting winged kelp and then going back to a well-stocked restaurant kitchen to create and enjoy a salad featuring same. Or gathering stones to heat and steam pork and potatoes underground for a traditional Maori "hangi" after watching a ceremonial dance. Or harvesting a few handfuls of grapes, the purple fruit nestled like hidden treasures amongst the leaves, before enjoying a meal of perfectly paired offerings, featuring wines from the vineyard you’ve just "worked" and food from nearby farms.

It’s called culinary tourism and it’s touted by its promoters as the latest, the sexiest, the hottest trend in food and tourism. In short, the answer to breathing new life into a tourism industry’s battered profit margins since the world – at least the fortunate members of the high-disposal-income-globe-trotting western world – bunkered down post-9/11.

The first international conference on culinary tourism, held in Victoria last week, attracted about 100 participants from across North America to hear delegates, primarily from Canada and the US. This in itself was a bit ironic given that North America is a little behind in the culinary tourism department, while South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are considered leaders (some of the best info came from two well-informed Kiwi presenters).

While it was a real mixed bag of participants, some of us were there simply to see what this culinary tourism is all about ("experiential moments that build memories", "the five senses" and, what I consider to be foodism at its worst, "bragging rights" to hot new places, dishes, chefs). All this was backed up by, amongst other things, some pretty sound academic research including wine/food consumer demographics and specialized consumer needs, as well as one staccato presentation on how best to "build" a CT (culinary tourist) attraction to take advantage of all the above.

So is culinary tourism truly a hot new trend, or simply another tourism sub-industry/marketing tool to generate optimism amongst, not to mention membership fees from, chefs, tour agents and restaurant managers?

Erik Wolf, director and creator of the Portland-based International Culinary Tourism Association and the man behind the event, is honest enough to admit that the concept is not new. After all, people have been travelling, sampling novel cuisines and looking for memorable cultural/sensory experiences for centuries. Without calling it as much, Italy and France – even cities like New Orleans, have long been exporting their considerable reputations as culinary tourism destinations. People literally go there just to eat or, more romantically, dine on the palate-pleasing offerings. Think exotic, if you’re not a local, and erotic, either way.

In North America, Erik has pretty much single-handedly engineered the commercial aspect of culinary tourism, formalizing the union and marketing of cuisine and travel. If the idea catches on – and from the look of the Victoria conference and the earnestness of its sponsoring partner, the Canadian Tourism Commission’s new Cuisine Canada office, it likely will – then Erik will earn the sobriquet of North America’s father, or is that chef, of culinary tourism.

Culling the essence of culinary tourism

Apparently the term "culinary tourism" was first coined in 1998 by Lucy Long, assistant professor of popular culture and folklore at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University, to describe the concept of experiencing various cultures through food. Don’t confuse it with agritourism, which refers more to rural experiences, like visiting an apple orchard or goat farm to see how food is produced.

Culinary tourism is pretty explicit in that it refers to the search for prepared food and drink in a travel context. Note the operative word "prepared". One could also add adjectives like unique, local or regional, and, although culinary tourism advocates deny it, the word "exclusive" (read: expensive) also comes to mind.

Also note the operative word "drink". Culinary tourism definitely includes the idea of local vintners, brew pubs, and cidaries, the more unique and typical the better.

Components of local culture are expected, whether it’s a string quartet of local musicians playing in the lounge, a demonstration of a ceremonial dance by aboriginal people, or a few sophisticated pieces of art by local artists, either for sale or incorporated into the decor of the food establishment itself – say an engaging wall hanging or distinctive upholstery on your chair seat created by a local weaver using local wool.

Creating a generous, warm, atmospheric mise en scene is also advised. If you can’t offer a fabulous view of a unique setting, then consider an important, preferably historic building, possibly a rustic farm house or an Edwardian-style former post office or city hall. You get the picture, and that’s what CT is all about – painting pictures and setting scenes for sensory experiences and the much-touted "memorable moments" – all centred around food and anything anti-global.

Where does Whistler fit in the CT world

Much of the Whistler product is already aimed at the same demographic as culinary tourism – that nicely monied, well-educated, slightly older, quality-driven audience seeking the good life, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Such people have lots of expanded interests that include luxury goods, nature-soaking, outdoor adventures and cultural high life, which make them ideal tourists.

As well, Whistler is already a pro in the same business as CT of marketing dreams and delivering memories. Plus it’s already home to great restaurants like Araxi and Bearfoot Bistro, which can hold their own in any Condé Naste survey.

But CT is where four-star restaurants get separated from the experiential, local-centric foodie shrines. As excellent a culinary experience as Whistler eateries can offer, I don’t think anyone believes that destination visitors come to Whistler solely to dine out. At least not yet.

For Whistler to earn its CT stripes would take a little imaginative co-operation. Something like, say, Chef Bernard’s or Araxi, with their culinary expertise, partnering with a farm like North Arm or Across the Creek Organics in Pemberton, which offer the right setting, the "experiential" aspect and, most importantly, the local products. Guests could wander the farm, help milk a goat, pick herbs and veggies with Chef, watch her prep a meal, then enjoy it on a deck overlooking Mount Currie, ideally with a beer from the Brew House in Whistler.

A seafood house like Rimrock Café could join with Howe Sound Brewing and selective fishers in the Strait of Georgia procuring sustainable local catch (CT, happily, has a green, sustainable, "small is beautiful" politic to it). They’d find a waterfront location on Howe Sound, should such a rare animal exist, and boom – another "Sea to Sky" CT experience in the making. The First Nations cultural centre proposed at Whistler by the Lil’wat and Squamish Nations could also generate some unique culinary tourism opportunities for 2010 and beyond.

These kinds of things have been done occasionally, but there’s room for growth.

From fantasy to reality: some inspiration

Until such fantasies are served up regularly, B.C.’s culinary tourism icon remains, solidly and with a gold spoon in its mouth, Sooke Harbour House. Other culinary tourism moments on Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands as well as the Okanagan Valley are springing up like organic arugala, if not as singularly as Sooke Harbour House, then at least collectively (you might have to visit a couple of places to get the cultural/local produce/dining/wining aspects all together).

If you want to unearth more ideas about culinary tourism and what’s happening in food circles in B.C. try:

• Elizabeth Levinson’s charming new book, An Edible Journey: Exploring the islands’ fine food, farms and vineyards . Released just in time for the culinary tourism conference, it highlights, in a very entertaining way, the culinary bounty on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

• The Web site for Erik Wolf’s International Culinary Tourism Association, which offers a comprehensive clearing house of CT info. Visit www. culinarytourism.org.

• Keeping abreast of our federal government’s efforts to promote cuisine and travel at www.travelcanada (follow the links to cuisine and wine).

• EAT (Epicure + Travel) Magazine, a fun foodie publication focussed on Vancouver Island. The May/June issue features culinary travel in B.C. Log onto www.eatmagazine.ca.

• City Food always offers a choice selection of Grade A food/wine writing. Vancouver and Seattle editions. Access at www. Cityfood.com.