Edible Vancouver Island Fall 2022

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Parksville Qualicum Beach: A Food-Lover’s Field Trip The coastal community of Parksville Qualicum Beach is well-known for farms and foodie businesses—as well as open ocean views, beautiful trails and independent shops. One beautiful sunny weekend, my partner and I made a trip to the area, eager to try local seafood, cheese, vegetables and drinks, and enjoy a stay at Parksville’s Beach Club Resort.

cheese and crackers in their picnic area, before taking a “Free Ranger” charcuterie box for our evening feast—brimming with cheeses, meats, nuts, pickles, jellies, and fresh and dried fruit. From one farm to another, we drove over to Silver Meadows near Errington and Coombs. Despite its grand size, it still felt welcoming driving between the open fields and growing produce to the large barn. There are vegetables and fruits on offer, but also the farm’s own meat products, along with local ice cream, baked goods and a food truck pop-up. I chose some pepperoni sticks and a punnet of the freshest strawberries before we wandered around the patch where the latter are grown. We then took the route via Coombs and down through Qualicum Beach to enjoy the scenic oceanside drive to the Beach Club Resort. In Qualicum Beach, I couldn’t resist stopping in The Bookcase, a rare-book store, and a couple of other sweet shops and galleries. A final walk in the verdant Heritage Forest and we’d both worked up an appetite for our incredible local feast at the condo. We decided to add some local wine and liquor to the mix, so we swung by Cascadia Liquor for some wine from 40 Knots Winery (a vineyard in the neighbouring Comox Valley), and popped into Mount Arrowsmith Brewing (which has a lovely little tasting room and retail store) for their Salish Sea Pale Ale and Weekend Ramblers. Finally, we arrived at the Beach Club Resort and settled into our welcoming room, where we were delighted to find everything we needed in the fully stocked modern kitchen to prepare our local feast. We couldn’t resist indulging in the delicious spread on the balcony, where we enjoyed watching the vibrant sunset over the ocean. Before calling it a night and curling up in the condo’s cozy bed, we ended the evening with a lemon tart and a fruityWeekend Rambler, easily solidifying it as one of our favourite evenings of the year.

Our first stop after driving up from the south island was Rathtrevor Provincial Park, where we strolled the sandy beaches during the low tide. We then headed on to French Creek Seafood Market, which piqued my interest due to their focus on sourcing solely from local fishermen. It’s tucked behind the commercial fishing boats in a quiet corner of the marina. We found the staff to be extremely helpful in choosing the freshest in-season seafood. We opted for octopus salad, smoked salmon and some fresh salmon pate, excited to enjoy them at the beachfront condo later. Since salmon pate is best enjoyed with buttery bread, our next stopwasWild Culture Bakery inQualicumBeach. Having opened in 1995, they’ve spent years perfecting their recipes and sourcing local, organic and sustainable ingredients. The building is nestled amongst a tranquil, blooming garden, making it easy to gather together outside to fully enjoy their fresh-baked treats. We packed up a loaf of sourdough, some decadent scones I couldn’t resist, and a few cookies and lemon tarts for later on. The scones were quickly demolished en route to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, where I was excited to see the process behind the cheese we regularly purchase. I love exploring farms, and this beautiful rolling 88-acre farm didn’t disappoint. We pulled up to a couple of classic reddish-brown barns where we could spot the cows and immediately took a self-guided tour that brought us closer to them, as well as some goats and sheep, before arriving outside the cheese plant itself. The business was first brought to life in 2001 and has always been a small, family-run business (even a change of owners in 2021 included in-depth training from the previous owner before passing it on). Drawing inspiration from all over the globe, they offer everything from a Raclette and a Caerphilly (a crumbly and lemony raw milk Welsh cheese) to a wine infused Tipsy Jill, a Dutch classic with caraway seeds, and more. Stuck for choice, we nibbled on a sampler box of

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