Exploring BC’s Indigenous Cuisine

Indigenous chefs and cooks are fixing up delicious traditional cuisine all across the province and reclaiming their rightful place among BC’s culinary scene. And while it varies from Nation to Nation, Indigenous cuisine almost always has one major thing in common: a focus on delicious local flavours and ingredients. By incorporating what comes from the land around them, along with modern twists, they’re able to fuse together Indigenous recipes with modern flare.

For Nial Day, Chef at Nax’id’ Pub in Port Hardy, he works to keep a dish nice and simple, looking at all of the raw products found around the Island. This includes fresh salmon and halibut directly from the ocean, but also root vegetables, fresh herbs, and locally grown berries. “It’s very simple, it’s not fancy,” says Chef Day. “It’s a combination of letting the ingredients speak for themselves and then augmenting with local flavours.”

Indigenous cuisine can range from very traditional to very modern, explains Trevor Jansen from Tawnshi Charcuterie in Vancouver. Jansen says, “We look to incorporate Indigenous flavours and ingredients that might not be familiar to folks in a way that is more familiar to them.” 

A great example of this is Pickled Milkweed Pods: they’re like a pickle or gherkin in flavour, but with none of the crunch, and are meant to be eaten in one bite. One of the goals for Jansen is to educate people on how to enjoy traditional Indigenous cuisine with other food items that pair well together, and to share them with as many palates as possible. 

If you’re looking for where to find some of the best Indigenous cuisine across our province, we’ve provided a list to get you experiencing the raw talent of local ingredients and Indigenous flavours.

 

Nax’id’ Pub

Located in Port Hardy’s Kwa’lilas Hotel, on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Nax’id’ Pub is owned and operated by the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw First Nations. They even have a custom-built smoker just beside the hotel for all their menu items that require it—giving flavour and tradition to each plate. Their pub includes more than fifty different menu items, but we’re partial to the Salmon Bannock Benny or their Salmon Bannock Burger.

 

Jack Sam’s Restaurant & Lounge

Quaaout Lodge & Spa at Talking Rock Golf Resort is known as the pride of the Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band, and if you’re looking for authentic Indigenous cuisine, then look no further than the Jack Sam’s Restaurant & Lounge. In a beautiful location overlooking Little Shuswap Lake just outside of Chase, they specialize in the freshest high-quality ingredients and locally inspired culinary traditions. We’re particularly salivating over their Pacific Provider Smoked Salmon on Bannock with whipped cream cheese, pickled red onions, and crispy capers.

 

Nemiah Valley Lodge

In the Chilcotin Region you can find Indigenous owned and operated, off-grid, Nemiah Valley Lodge. Nestled amongst mountains, canyons, grasslands, rivers, and lakes, the lodge is a two and a half hour drive southwest of Williams Lake, or a thirty minute float plane ride from Whistler. It’s also on Xeni Gwet’in and Tŝilhqot’in Nation lands, the only area acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada as having Indigenous Title. 

When it comes to cuisine, visitors can find a mix of Western and Indigenous flavours. Imagine fresh fish, elk and venison, hand picked vegetables and herbs grown from their own garden—as well as experience cooking bannock over the open fire, canning local produce, and if the season is right, smoking salmon.

 

Mr Bannock

Are you in search of a food truck specializing in Indigenous cuisine in the lower mainland? Then hit up Mr Bannock—Vancouver’s 1st Indigenous food truck led by award winning Executive Chef Paul Natrall. A member of the Squamish Nation in North Vancouver, Natrall brings a fusion of Indigenous cuisine to his food truck, and uses traditional ingredients from the Squamish Nation like juniper berries, smoked wild salmon and meats, as well as cooking with clay and stone baking.

Also offering take away platters and consulting services, you can easily up your next social event with smoked meats and fresh bannock. You can also order his Classic Bannock Mix online to bring a little taste of Indigenous cuisine into your home kitchen.

 

Thunderbird Café

In the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, discover their Indigenous-inspired menu selection at Thunderbird Café. Their regular specials include Bannock Tacos, Venison Chili, and Salmon Chowder, as well as a selection of sandwiches, coffees, and treats. They also feature an in-house catering department complete with local seafood, free-range game meat, and of course, bannock baked fresh every single day—a perfect spread for your next workplace meeting or family outing.

 

The Bear, The Fish, The Root, The Berry

Located within the beautiful Spirit Ridge Resort in Osoyoos, this restaurant specializes in modern vineyard cuisine inspired by their Indigenous roots. The Syilx People of the Okanagan Nation approach food based on their creation story, and the restaurant name comes from the original four food chiefs: Skamxist (Black Bear), Ntytykxw (Chinook Salmon), Speetlum (Bitterroot) and Seeya (Saskatoon Berry). Together, they represent the key elements of Indigenous cuisine. 

Special menu items to check out are their Elk Osso, a slow braised 6 oz elk shank, and their Salmon Platter, a share plate full of maple candied salmon and smoked salmon. They also boast a very detailed list of locally and traditionally inspired cocktails like their Sage Smoked Old Fashioned, as well as BC VQA wines from the South Okanagan.

 

Kekuli Café

With locations in Kelowna, Westbank, Merritt, and Kamloops, Kekuli Café is able to service the central interior with the freshest, tastiest bannock catering and café offerings. Founded by Sharon Bond-Hogg, a culinary cook and Nooaitch First Nation member, as well as Darren Hogg, originally from Moose Jaw, these two proud owners opened Kekuli with the motto, “Where passion meets plate.” 

Kekuli specializes in a rotating menu of bannock flavours like the Traditional Yeye (fried), as well as Skor, Saskatoon, Maple Glazed, and more. You can pick up tasty coffees, breakfast bannockwiches, as well as menu items like their Pow Wow Power Bowls.

 

Tawnshi Charcuterie

“Tawnshi,” means hello in Michif, the language of the Métis. Serving Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, and Burnaby, Tawnshi Charcuterie curates Indigenous-inspired, hand-crafted charcuterie boards and boxes. Run my Marina LeClair, originally from the Red River settlement in Manitoba, and Trevor Jansen, from the Gitksan Nation in Northern BC, their platters and boxes focus on a modern take through a fusion of Indigenous flavours and ingredients with the goal of educating folks on how to enjoy traditional cuisine by pairing them with more familiar items. Inside their boxes you can find items like Apple Sage Butter Bison paired with traditional plant medicine jam, along with slices of brie and other delectable bites. They’re the perfect choice for your next corporate meeting, social gathering, or family event.

 

Salmon N’ Bannock

Vancouver’s only Indigenous restaurant, Salmon N’ Bannock, uses local and traditional ingredients in the same way their Grandmothers and Grandfathers used to before them. All their game meats are organic and free range, and their fish and seafood caught off the coast of British Columbia. 

Current owner Inez Cook grew up in Vancouver and is a proud member of the Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola, B.C. The staff proudly represent the following First Nations: Anishinaabe, Big Trout Lake, Heiltsuk, Hesquiaht, Inuit-Nunaat, Lil’wat, Long Plain, Lytton, Metis, Muskoday, Nuxalk, Nuu-Chah-nulth, Secwepemc, Seton Lake, Stellat’en, Squamish, Tse-shaht, Ts’msyen and Wet’suwet’en.

Some eye-catching menu items include their Pemmican Mousse, Bison Pot Roast, as well as their Salmon Sampler and Game Sampler. You can find them on Broadway in Vancouver, or at their second location, Salmon N’ Bannock On The Fly, at the Vancouver Airport’s International Departures area.