Introduction

I live in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia which is constantly rated one of the top places to live in the world.  I grew up in the 80’s and 90's and have been fascinated by the evolution of food and food culture to where it is today and what it was back then.    Remember in the 80's movie ‘The Breakfast Club’ when Claire (played by Molly Ringwald) takes out her lunch and John (played by Judd Nelson) asks what she has for lunch? When she says sushi to all the blank faces and she has to explain it as rice, raw fish and seaweed, you see the look of disbelief on everyone’s face. Imagine if that scene occurred today? Sushi is so common today that almost everyone eats it or at least knows what it is.

Or before the explosion of the Food Network on television 10-15 years ago, the word celebrity chef was normally reserved for actors and musicians. Now, we see hundreds of chefs who have reached celebrity status and are now referred to as celebrity chefs. That didn’t exist when I was growing up. I recall watching only one cooking show in Canada on the Canadian Broadcast Public Television Network and that was called ‘Wok with Yan.’ I remember how I thought the chef, Stephen Yan, was so cool making all these delicious meals in his wok because his show was so unique and rare back then. BTW, Anthony Bourdain is my idol right now.

I also remember when I was in grade school, the snacks that all the kids would bring in their lunches were things like Ding Dongs, Twinkies and Wagon Wheels. I’m pretty sure that with all the emphasis there is on healthy eating, these snacks aren’t as common.  Nowadays, the term gluten free or dairy free seem to be everywhere or having bacon covered donuts, or bacon infused vodka or bacon ice cream seem to be the way to go right now.

Food culture has changed so much since I was a kid and I find some things are much better now, while other things were better then.  With that in mind, I do love discovering, eating, cooking and sharing my experiences on good food and wine, both past and present and analyzing food trends.  So grab a glass of wine (or Cherry Coke, or Tab, or Hi-C if you can find one), and I hope you enjoy my reading about my foodie evolution from my own experiences!