Dec. 01, 2010 - Issue #789 : Beckett Shorts
Revue
Cultural mix
Pacific Café melds Asian and Caribbean influences
Pacific Café brings together a number of different influences into its cuisine / Bryan Birtles
Owner Robbin Lu explains that the idea for such a combination came from having friends of different backgrounds, as well as living in Canada's multicultural society.
"Just being in such a multicultural society ... I enjoy foods of many flavours, and just [wanted] to make it different for when people want to come in and they have a variety of tastes," she says. "I like to pick up tips just from watching other people cook. And I just basically enjoy cooking all the time."
Lu herself learned to cook from her mother, who has been catering Asian food since the 1980s. As for the Caribbean items, Lu learned these from her Jamaican boyfriend's family. Lu then tests her cooking on him.
"He is my—I guess you would say—guinea pig," Lu laughs. He has told her that her Caribbean food is better than how he would make it.
Today, we are eating ackee and saltfish, a Caribbean item. As well, there is plantain, fried in a light batter. Lu notes that plantain is something that both Caribbean and Asian people eat, but they prepare it in different ways. In Caribbean cooking, for example, the plantain can be served in soups when it's still green, while Asian people will caramelize it and serve it with coconut milk as a dessert. Today, I'm eating the Caribbean-style plantain, the texture of which is almost like a potato. And it's nice and soft, which I enjoy.
Joining us at the table is Lu's mother, Nhan Lu, who came from Vietnam. Nhan helps in the kitchen, and her art also graces the walls. A beautiful statue standing at the front is one of her creations, too.
In addition to sculpting with materials such as aluminum, Nhan also uses foods as a medium. Two of her lovely creations sit on the tray before me. One is a small carrot, carved into a flower that contains spicy peppers. The other is a slice of mango, shaped like a flower, in the delicious mango salad. Nhan explains that she learned these skills from her own mother, who taught home economics.
In addition to having taught Robbin, Nhan teaches cooking classes at the restaurant, and has taught food-decoration classes to youth through the Action for Healthy Communities. Some of her other art was displayed at the Nina Haggerty Centre in 2008 at the One Heart. One Voice display. In 2009, she displayed her art during the University of Alberta's International Week.
With mother and daughter both in the culinary business, things can get competitive, Robbin jokes.
"We have to sometimes fight for the kitchen," she laughs.
Enjoying Nhan's flowers that grow outside, we discuss the benefit of everything that comes from a garden, whether it's flowers or fresh vegetables. Nhan herself tends a rooftop garden, growing vegetables for making salads.
"I think that food brings people together," she says. "Even the garden, too—when you work the long day, and you come home and see the garden, and you want to smell [flowers]."
As I sample the crunchy coconut cookies, I can understand why eating them was a social activity for students in Vietnam, as Nhan relates to me. Indeed, as a student, she and others would hang around, eating these cookies with ice cream.
"And the Vietnamese coffee, we call 'dating coffee,' because it's drop by drop by drop. You count the drops, and you forget the time," she laughs. V
Robbin Lu
Pacific Café
10874 - 97 St, 780.462.1270
More info about Pacific Café →
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