Known as Pamb ad Tomaquet in native Catalonian (the Spanish dialect spoken in Barcelona), it translates to Tomato Toast in English. With barely four ingredients (toast, raw garlic, tomato and olive oil), you would never imagine that it could taste so good. We can say with complete certainty that these Spaniards really know a thing or two about good food.

We were first introduced to Pamb ad Tomaquet one night while in Barcelona and had this served to us as an appetizer with our dinner. It arrived “unassembled” and we had to figure out how to put it all together. It all consisted of a few toasted slices of bread, sliced tomatoes and several cloves of garlic cut in half. Through trial and error, we figured out that we could rub the garlic onto the toast and then pile on the tomato slices. The last part was to drizzle on some olive oil and enjoy.

We were completely unprepared for how good this tasted. Both of us being lovers of garlic, we didn’t realize how strong the raw garlic flavour would be but the blend of the tomatoes and garlic are a really great mix.

We’ve probably served this appetizer to friends about 6 or 7 times and it’s been a hit every time. So far, we haven’t come across any friends who don’t like garlic. Lucky for them.

Baden

I came across this simple recipe for baked red snapper that employs a delicious combination of lemon juice, shallots and parsley (plus lots of other ingredients). While the lemon taste leads all other in this recipe, the hint of paprika and cumin add a hint of more exotic flavour.

You can find my recipe for Baked Red Snapper here.

Baden

Yet, of this return to normality, there is one aspect that is of particular satisfaction that is the final, ending moment of the vacation: The Big Return. The Big Return really is best experienced when coming back from an international flight and almost always requires someone to be waiting for you to be picked up at the airport.

Picture this: you’ve just spent up to 24 (or more) hours of travel from your remote destination. You’re tired and probably exhausted from the jet lag. You’ve connected through several airports and have finally made it back to your home airport. You’ve gone though customs and immigration and picked up your luggage. You’re now through those final doors where the crowds of people are all anxiously waiting to spot their loved one and then you see that person who is waiting there for you (in our case, Barb’s mum).

The Big Return. You’re home.

I’ve had a chance to experience this a few times from the opposite point of view and as recently as yesterday. My Dad was coming back from England so I was there at the International arrivals area (with about 2000 other people), anxiously awaiting to see my Dad coming through those doors. It’s interesting that since Dad has gone to England several times over the past few years I have gotten into this routine of trying to figure out when the people from his plane are staring to arrive. Invariably there are the flights from Mexico or Hawaii: people with tans still wearing their shorts and sandals. Then there’s the flights coming in from Asian countries which of course will have predominantly Asian passengers. It’s not until I start seeing a specific demographic that I know that it’s people from a flight from England who are starting to arrive. This demographic is (almost always), a large number of older (60′s +), caucasian, wearing long pants/long sleeves (no matter how hot it is) and usually with a complete lack of any skin colour. Let’s face it, people aren’t going to England to work on their tans. 9 times out of 10 I’m right on the mark about this and Dad soon comes through around this time.

The people from Dad’s flight were about 45 minutes delayed arriving. However I’m sure that when Dad saw me there just outside of those final doors waiting to pick him up, him tired from a long day’s travel, he must have felt the same way that we do and knew that a Big Return is always the best way to finish off a long trip.

Baden

Located at the southwest tip of Richmond, Steveston’s origins began over 100 years ago as a fishing village and was the location for some the largest fish canning companies in North America. While most of the canning companies have relocated, to this day, Steveston remains the home of the largest fishing fleet in Canada.

Barb and I go to Steveston about once or twice a year and usually bring our bicycles. Being perfectly flat, all of Richmond is perfect for touring around by bike.

The Steveston village is really quite distinct from the rest of Richmond. Almost stuck in time, it still has the obvious remnants of it’s fishing past but it seems to be in a metamorphosis stage of transforming into a modern small town with restaurants and cafes on the boardwalk beside the fishing boats.

In the evening when the sun is going down, Steveston’s several kilometers of boardwalks along the river are a nice relaxing way to wind down after a a seafood dinner (and there are many choices to get good seafood here). We went for dinner at a place called the Tapenade Bistro which is a French/Italian bistro with plenty of chairs outside underneath umbrellas. I had a grilled Salmon (wild, not farmed of course) and Barb had roast lamb (not exactly local fare but delicious nonetheless). I was tempted to have the bouillabaisse (a favourite of mine from our first trip to Provence, France) but settled for the more local Queen Charlotte salmon. We finished off the meal with a shared creme brulée.

Steveston seems to have grown in popularity over the years as a tourist destination and it gets pretty crowded during the summer days. If you go there in the late afternoon/evenings, the crowds have thinned and there still plenty of sunshine hours to enjoy walking along the water.

Baden

Last weekend Barb suggested that we go see the tall ships at the Sea Vancouver Festival. We ended up calling my brother Peter and his wife Liz and we went together to the festival. This event is where there are the dozen or so tall sailing ships from all over the world that were here for this event. We also ended up touring the Vancouver Maritime Museum and many other maritime-related festival events.

One of the most fascinating events at the festival was put on by a group called the Royal Engineers Living History Society. They had this demonstration camp setup with all of their group in various authentic mid-1800′s military uniform showing how they lived and performed their duties in that era. While my brother and I found this all very interesting, Barb and Liz seemed to get bored early and ended up waiting patiently for us on a nearby bench.

For most of the afternoon we toured the sights of the Sea festival then walked around Yaletown where we ended up eating dinner at the Yaletown Brewing Company.

It was here, while we were enjoying our dinner, that we commented on the fact that this all-day adventure was quite similar to how our days would be in Italy – lots of walking about exploring the sights and ending the day with a nice relaxing meal. Granted Yaletown isn’t Rome or Tuscany but the overall events of the day were fairly similar to how our days together are going to be in Italy.

The good news is that for this near-all day adventure, we continue to be pretty pretty compatible on the things that we like to do and see.

We now just need to see if we can sustain this for 20 more days.

Baden

Many times after coming home from an Excellent Adventure in Europe, we have tried to find local bakeries that make a reasonably good croissant or baguette to keep our travel memories alive but more often than not are disappointed. When we do come across the real thing, we make a permanent note of it and make sure that we visit regularly.

One such place is the Boulangerie la Parisienne located in the Yaletown area of Vancouver. This bakery is definitely the real thing.

Their croissants have that magical quality of being both flaky and chewy at the same time. About the only thing better than their croissants are their chocolate croissants. Pure heaven!

For an assortment of baked goods that’s about as good as it gets or for just for a small taste of Paris, check out Boulangerie la Parisienne.

Baden

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Boulangerie la Parisienne
1076 Mainland St., Vancouver
604-684-2499

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