Let's get to the menus, shall we?  Your first option is Ocean Potion 1, a class which showcases the world-class seafood we have here on the west coast.  Not only will you eat mussels, scallops, and halibut to your heart's content, but you'll also have the confidence and skills to prepare these restaurant-worthy dishes at home.  You'll be making:

BC Mussels in Tomato-Coconut Cream with Smoked Chili and Lime (Chambar-Style)

Maple-Seared Scallops with Warm Chorizo, Kalamata Olives, and Pea Coulis

Pan-Roasted Halibut with Lemon and Olive Oil-Crushed Potatoes

The second gluten-free option is Sea to Sky: Ocean Deep Mountain High.  This class highlights the abundance of local ingredients from this region's ocean, fields, and forests, with recipes that'll add a contemporary twist to your next dinner party.  Chef David Robertson's menu was created with entertaining in mind, and includes:

Bourbon Maple Roasted Quail with Herb Potato Rosti

Smoked Sablefish with Buttered Dungeness Crab

Roasted Loin of Venison with Borlotti Beans and Truffle Ragout

Now that your cooking classes are covered, we should also let you know that nearly every day we carry at least one gluten-free treat in our delicatessen.  Baked fresh by our in-house pastry chef, these range from Coconut-Lime Macaroons to Dark Chocolate Ganache Cakes with Fresh Raspberries.  They're so delicious, you may be battling with even the gluten-lovers to get your hands on one.  

Here's a brilliantly simple idea by Kavita Shukla, and it's neither the result of genetic engineering or sterile laboratory tests.  Instead, it's based on a drink recipe from her grandmother, and uses biodegradable and organic materials to combat waste.  

Here's Kavita discussing her idea at a Tedx conference, and her talk will leave you with a lovely thought for the day - perhaps a piece of scented paper can help feed the world!

That's what Aprons for Gloves is all about.  Founded this year by a variety of professionals from the service industry, the group is organizing a charity boxing tournament to help out The Astoria Boxing Club, an influential non-profit in the downtown eastside that recently closed.  They want to assist head coach David Schuck launch the new Eastside Boxing Club, providing a space where he can continue his work as a mentor and trainer.  In AfG's own words:

There were so many incredibly courageous young kids that relied on the mentorship of the coaches to guide them through life, even outside of the ring.  When it was brought to our attention that the gym was in danger of closing, we felt that we had to do something to help.  The gym has since been closed, leaving these kids (many of which are troubled youth) without a place to go that offers a positive environment and instills good moral values and work ethic.  It was with this in mind that the Restaurant Rumble fundraiser was born!

A total of 63 contenders began a gruelling training schedule in April, and of those currently working on their upper-cuts, only 16 will make it to the Rumble on July 25th.  Eligibility for the final round is based on which contenders reach their $2000 fundraising goal first, so check out all the bruisers here, decide on your favourites, and help them slug their way to the big show by donating.  

Are you not a fan of being punched in the face, but a born entertainer?  You can try out to be a Ring Girl or Announcer on June 25th at The Cobalt, with prizes for crowd-chosen favourites.  

Tickets go on sale in June, with the final event held on July 25th at the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre.  Help out this great cause and contribute today!

This magically easy-to-make food we're speaking of is labneh, a cheese typically found in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel made simply by straining the whey from yogurt.  This classic and versatile mezze is usually eaten with soft flatbreads, in sandwiches (its texture is similar to that of cream cheese), or as a finger food if rolled into balls and marinated in olive oil, as we'll do with the recipe below!  

The version we've used comes from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi of London's Ottolenghi and NOPI restaurants.  The team originally hail from Israel and Palestine, and have blended the culinary traditions of their respective homelands with ingredients of the world to create a genre all their own.  In their first cookbook, Ottolenghi, they offer a traditional labneh recipe that's used unconcentionally in many of their dishes (think 'Roasted Rhubarb with Sweet Labneh').  You can get creative too; roll the balls in spices like sumac or za'atar (two of our favourites - they're both available in the delicatessen), use labneh in salads, with grilled vegetables and baked eggs, or even on pizza.  If you can find yourself some yogurt, salt, cheesecloth, and 48 hours, the sky's the limit.

Here's Ottolenghi's recipe, and we'll check back again in a few days when ours is (literally) ready to roll!

Labneh

1 litre natural goat's milk yogurt (or full-fat cow's milk yogurt)

3/4 teaspoon salt

200-300ml olive oil

pinch dried mint          

1. Line a large bowl with cheesecloth (folded in half to make stronger).  In another bowl, mix the yogurt and salt together well.  Transfer the yogurt to the cheesecloth, pick up the edges of the cloth and tie them together to form a strong bundle.  Hang this over your sink or a large bowl and leave for 48 hours.*  By this time the yogurt will have lost most of its liquid and is ready to use as a spread.

2. To go further, leave it hanging for a day longer.  Remove the labneh from the cloth and place in a sealed container in the fridge.  Once it is thoroughly chilled, preferably after 24 hours, roll the cheese into balls, somewhere between the size of an olive and a walnut.  

3.  Take a sterilized jar** about 600ml in capacity.  Pour some of the olive oil inside and gently lay the balls in the oil.  Add some more oil and continue with the balls until all the cheese is inside and immersed in the oil.  Seal the jar and keep until needed.  

4. Before serving, scatter the mint and pepper on a flat plate and roll the labneh balls in it.  

*We'd suggest hanging it in the fridge to keep it colder, but it's up to you.

**To sterilize your jar, fill it up with boiling water, leave it for a minute, then empty it.  Allow it to dry naturally without wiping so it remains sterilized.   

Making Labneh: Part II coming soon!

So why not celebrate the season of renewal with a cocktail?  A rhubarb and ginger cocktail, to be exact!  This recipe comes care of Serious Eats, and it's sweet, tart, and peppery all at once.  We can think of few things more lovely than this pink drink on a sun-warmed porch.  You hear that sky? Sun-warmed.  Enough with the rain, already!

For the Rhubarb Syrup:Food52

-2 cups sliced rhubarb                    

-1 cup water                        

-1 cup sugar

For the Rhubarb Syrup: Combine rhubarb, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over high heat until boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook until rhubarb breaks down, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Rhubarb syrup will keep for one week in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

For the Cocktail:

-1 ounce rhubarb syrup

-1 1/2 ounces vodka                      

-1/2 ounce juice from one lime

-3-4 ounces spicy ginger ale or ginger beer

For the Cocktail: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the rhubarb syrup, vodka, and lime juice. Shake for 10 seconds.  

Strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.

Serious Eats

If your appetite for rhubarb is now fully stimulated, check out these ways to jam, crumble, and tart your way through Spring.