Canning is the new knitting” might be the mantra of a group of trailblazing Western Canadian chefs and DIY foodies who are rediscovering their inner babas, omas and nonnas, one Mason jar at a time. In the process, they’re transforming the staple foods of the settlers of the Prairies into the next big food trend. And while the process may induce some nostalgia, the new canning craze isn’t just crocks of pickling cukes tucked under the basement stairs—it’s about fresh, imaginative combinations where culinary creativity meets the best of the season, under glass. 

Canning and preserving is an integral part of Calgary chef Wade Sirois’s food philosophy. His Infuse
Catering menus feature dishes like homemade tomato-lavender compote on toasted crostini with warm brie, and savoury fennel mincemeat paired with lamb or pork. Such combinations take preserves “a step or two further than what we grew up with,” explains Sirois. “We now taste thousands of different condiments in a lifetime. Nowadays, naturally, we expect a little bit more than the basics.”

Aside from the ultra-regional catering menus, Sirois and business partner Jaclyn Labchuk also run a takeaway haven called Forage Foods to Go, where seriously local takeaway and canned goods have their food miles (how far away they were grown) listed on their labels. “In part, it’s a shift back to frugality and a realignment back to what’s important,” Sirois explains of his culinary philosophy. He sees the renewed interest in home canning as a sign that people are finally starting to appreciate that local, seasonally ripe products are the best you can get. It just makes sense to want to preserve that for the colder, leaner food months.

Edmonton chef Cindy Lazarenko is bringing the “pickle plate” to a new generation. It was something that she remembered from casual childhood pop-ins at her baba’s house. “There’s never not a jar of pickled beets at our house,” laughs Lazarenko, whose Culina Highlands neighbourhood bistro is one big modern homage to her central Alberta upbringing. Her nouveau Ukrainian dishes are invariably garnished with marinated onions, pickled peppers or a dill-beet salsa.

In the Okanagan, a new generation of chefs is compulsively and creatively combining and preserving the valley’s bounty. It’s a trend born out of selfishness, you might say: most claim they can’t bear to be without their local fruit for the winter.

On a beautiful bluff overlooking Penticton, Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart of Joy Road Catering have become canning converts. They’re mobbed weekly at their Penticton farmers’ market stall not only for their fruit galettes but also for their signature jams, compotes and marmalades. In between markets, they put on magical multi-course al fresco wine dinners overlooking Skaha Lake.

Both formerly worked for renowned Toronto restaurateur Jamie Kennedy, or “the king of canning,” as they refer to him. “We’d grill red peppers for three days, and then we’d peel red pepper for three days,” cringes Ewart.

To their groupies’ delight, Smith and Ewart have unleashed their inspired canning techniques on just about any quality Okanagan products that they can source. Preserves like their Viognier-lavender jelly, Italian prune plum and dried pear chutney with star anise, and Stella cherries with lavender (which they pair with local game meats and charcuterie that Smith cures himself) have become a hallmark of their menus.

Ned Bell, owner and executive chef of Cabana Bar and Grille in Kelowna, has an enthusiasm for canning that borders on obsession. He just bought a steamer oven to help with his restaurant’s canning program, and from asparagus season in the early spring into the pears and apples of late fall, Bell and staff are putting up preserves. By late fall, the place will be literally packed to the rafters with jars of plum chutney, blackberry with horseradish compote (to be served with fresh halibut in season) and blueberry and plum ketchups.

Bell loves the social aspect of canning. “We’ll take an eight-person team from the restaurant and pick 300 pounds of cherries in an hour. Then we’ll grab a coffee and spend the next three hours cleaning, pitting and canning them.” As Bell puts it: “It’s the same time commitment as going out and playing a round or two of golf. Except you have something to show for it at the end.”

In the Can
Canning tips from the pros.
Michael Allemeier, SAIT “Novice canners should stick to 'low-risk' items—think fruits and vegetables— making sure that the syrups are sweet enough and the brines are acidic enough to make them food-safe. Skip preserves with garlic, fish or meats that need to be pressure canned.”

Ned Bell, Cabana Grille “Fill your jars up to the top so you get as little airspace as possible. And don’t can alone; create a social event around it!”

Dana Ewart and Cameron Smith, Joy Road Catering “Make jams in very small batches. It gives you much more control over the various ingredients. With lavender, for instance, a little goes a long way—otherwise it tastes like grandma’s sock drawer.”

“Freeze then can. We have three chest freezers and when squeezed for time, we clean, pit and measure out the cherries, for example, and freeze them. We take them out in the winter when we actually have time to can.”

Wade Sirois, Infuse Catering “Forget excuses, like being too busy to can. My grandmother had the same 24 hours in a day that we do now.”

Read Before Canning
Best books for the canning novice.
Well Preserved Mary Anne Dragan’s essential guide to small-batch preserving is a beautiful intro into the lost art of preserving.

The Beginner’s Guide to Preserving Food at Home This text-heavy tome deals well with the basic principles of canning like a pro.

Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving An old-school basic reference. Need a recipe for crabapple jelly? It’s in here.

About Pickling Spice
Pickling spice originated in England. It is a mixture of several whole spices, including cinnamon, bay leaves, peppercorns, mustard seed, mace, cloves, dill seed, chili pepper, coriander seed and allspice. You can certainly blend your own if you like, using whole, dried spices easily found at markets and gourmet food stores. Pickling spice can be tied into a cheesecloth bag and removed once pickling is completed or placed loose in the jars of pickles to add flavour and visual appeal.

Fruit Flies
Fruit wines, long the country cousin in the wine aisle,
are finally coming into their own.
Elephant Island has been leading the quality charge for the Okanagan fruit-wine industry. Even the Wine Spectator loves its wines. A good start is the 2007 cherry table wine, which has the tannins and fruit to stand up to a gamy dish like venison or pheasant.

Forbidden Fruit is also angling for a seat at the fine wine table. Its superbly named Crushed Innocence, a peach dessert wine that tastes like a cross between a bellini and a Muscadet, recently won gold at the Kelowna International Wine Festival.

With one foot in the old school (its raspberry table wine is slightly evocative of Kool-Aid) and one in the new (its wild cherry dessert wine is a crazy explosion of fruit, marzipan and body that would make a Barolo blush), Strathmore, Alberta’s Field Stone is showing that fruit wine can flourish outside the Okanagan.

Okanagan Spirits’s wares are technically not fruit wines but part of the centuries-old tradition of distilling spirits from fruit. But the Poire William is so fresh and crisp and frankly superior to French offerings at twice the price that we had to give it a nod.