From aboriginal bread to pies, cakes, even maple syrup, the nation of Canada has a thriving baking industry.

Honey bees at fairmont waterfront
Vancouver’s premier hotel loves bees (and honey)!

At Vancouver’s prime address, the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel is buzzing with an interesting activity. Located on the 3rd floor of the hotel, a 2,100 square foot herb garden has become one of Vancouver’s first green roofs. Laden with varieties of herb plants, vegetables and fruits, there is also an interesting bee hive project right there! With growing concerns about Colony Collapse Disorder in North American honeybees, the hotel placed specially made bee hives on rooftop garden.

500,000 honeybees living in six beehives produce 600-800 pounds of honey per year, sufficient to meet the demands of the hotels’ bakery and confectionery requirements. The Executive chef creates honey infused dishes seasonally. In addition to using their honey in chocolate, pastries, salad dressings and signature cocktails, The Fairmont Waterfront serves a Fairmont ‘Stinger’ Honey Lager brewed in partnership with local Whistler Brewing Company.

Guests of the hotel are invited to join the daily garden and hive tours with Bee Butler Michael King and his team of ‘Bee Buddies’. Eco-friendly moves can not get any better.

Bodock bread- first nation food
Breaking bread in Shuswap

Dustin, from the kitchen of Quaaout Lodge in the Shuswap region speaks of the aboriginal bread from the First nations of Canada with a rare passion. He informs that different bannocks are made from wheat flour combined with sunflower seeds, ground cattail roots, ground camas bulbs and ground bracken rhizomes. The flour was kneaded and baked on a fire on the ends of long sticks in the traditional manner. There is also a fried version as well today. The early settlers in Western Canada who were fur traders and voyagers took to this local dish and improvised on it. There are no less than seventeen recipes for bannock; some that incorporate ingredients used prior to European contact. The bread comes with every meal and is a common part of most meals- breakfast, lunch or dinner.No hotel or restaurant can do without it in Canada.

Bakery biz at salmons arm
Pies, candy and cakes keep them coming for more

How cafes and bakeries can stand out as prominent reasons for tourism can be well understood by the popularity of Salmons Arm, a small village community on Lake Shuswap in Canada. While the town is gaining importance for the annual fish phenomenon of salmon’s run from the sea to the Adams River, the small town is perfect for retired folks looking for peace and quiet.

However, now it is fast growing out of it as water activities on the Shuswap Lake, cycling, golfing is turning it into a smart tourist destination. The small community where everybody greets with first names, the presence of quite a few amazing bakeries cum cafes stands out prominently. With an interesting history behind them, the bakeries and café that dot the town today represent the coming together of an agrarian community and up market style outlets, not to mention perfect marketing savvy.

Blue Canoe Cafe

Owned by Al and Sandy, who weren’t around the day we walked into their outlet, have built the bakery with impeccable attention. Their famous Nanaimo bars, artisanal bread, cakes and pastries are quite a hit and are a popular haunt. As tourism builds, their sundried tomato/free range roast chicken sandwich on homemade bread are frequently on demand. Even yeast free, sugar free bread makes the selection eclectic. Despite the high quality of food, the place retains a quiet small town feel and that itself becomes its USP among the barrage of Starbucks of the world.

Shuswap Pie Company

The Shuswap Pie Company is just a short walk away from the Blue Canoe. Its specialty is the riotous selection of pies that come of their oven every day. Everything is made from scratch every single day. The smiling staff points out that all ingredients are from local farms and fresh with no preservatives. Few can pass by the outlet without stopping longingly at the window and more willingly, at the pies in the display counters.

The Twin Anchor Houseboat cruise we had earlier in the day had an array of pies on the welcome counter which alone are worth a repeat trip to Canada!

The Candy Vault

Now this one is exceptional. It was a bank earlier and as a small village bank had just one large vault in it. This outlet for old style candies from the 50’s and 60’s also sells  caramel popcorn and ice cream cones. This candy shop used to be a bank, and the vault is still there and the owner now uses it to keep the precious candies, chocolates, and marshmallows. The vault door is still the original and though well air-conditioned and inviting; the heavy door can be moved with only some serious effort.

For a small village/town, the presence of so many confectionery and bakery businesses, Salmons Arms is a perfect example of how local produce; prepared and marketed fresh can turn the fortunes of a destination for the better.

Bakery association of canada

The Bakery business is one of Canada’s fast growing industries. Representing Canada’s $5 billion baking industry, Baking Association of Canada’s members include retail, in-store and wholesale/commercial baking companies along with the allied trades. The association brings out a newsletter which seriously gives editorial push to policy issues in the food, especially baking business and presents articles with research on various topics relevant to the industry. With a large number of regular members, the association proactively promotes bakery education even among the common public, thereby creating an educated and well informed client base for the baking business in the country.

Their annual book, The Professional bakers’ manual, currently in its 4th edition, is a hit with the masses and is currently used as the teaching text in a number of colleges across Canada. It teaches the fundamentals of hygiene and sanitation and describes clean and safe working habits. It covers most common equipment, utensils and hand tools used in the average retail bakery. It gives a basic description of ingredients used in baking and describes the technical and scientific principle of modern baking.

Canadian flag and the syrup
The maple leaf is on the flag for a good reason

Not many, including many Canadians themselves, know why the Canada flag features a maple leaf. Wikipedia says that it doesn’t mean anything really and there was no particular reason for it to be there. Well before the coming of the first European settlers, Canada’s aboriginal peoples had discovered the food properties of maple sap. According to some versions, the maple leaf began to serve as a Canadian symbol as early as 1700 but it was only in 1965 that the red maple leaf became central to the flag.

Canada produces 85 percent of world’s maple syrup. According to estimates Canada exports more than 30,000 tonnes of maple syrup to the world and is a huge export industry. Today the table syrup that comes with pancakes is not always honey, it is corn syrup flavoured with maple syrup. Maple syrup in its pre form is used in baking and cooking and regularly used with waffles, French toast and pancakes or crumpets.

The calorie content is 40 per tablespoon. However, when taste is king, who really cares?

By Anurag Yadav
An Independent Leisure, Travel & Tourism Professional _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________