Back in October 2019 I headed to Vancouver to visit friends from my time living there. One friend had since moved to Vancouver Island, and I made the five-hour trip mid-week to visit her. One Skytrain, bus, ferry, minibus, and a car ride later, I was in the small town of Courteney, BC.
The journey was long and heavily dependant on the ferry times, so my trip there was pretty whistle-stop. I had only returned from Seattle the night before, therefore I was pretty shattered by the time I had arrived. However, I was with my friend, who was delighted to show me around her new neighbourhood.
The town was littered with beautiful independent shops, where we perused boutiques and pottery shops at leisure. The evening was set aside for a homecooked meal of Shepherd's Pie and catching up. Then an early night, when I read my favourite Canadian food magazine, Edible.
Friday brought us a new adventure to the nearby town of Cumberland. Surrounded by mountains and bike trails, we meandered through the historical mining town and decided to stop for lunch at Rider's Pizza. I ordered the Silence of the Yams pizza and polenta fries and never looked back. The pizza was packed with yams (sweet potatoes to us Brits), goat cheese, pesto base, kale, and caramelised onions. The whole thing was smothered in mozzarella. I was blown away.
Now, don't get me wrong. I've had great locally made plenty of times. But there was something about this pizza, at this moment, that really stuck with me. Sure, the tangy and moreish combination of the ingredients helped. Maybe it was the stillness of Cumberland itself? The company of a good friend? All the elements were there, not just ingredients, to pull me into a world that I want to live every moment of; good food, good company, and good surroundings.
I clutched the remaining slices of pizza in a box back to the mainland. I opened the box on several occasions, tempted by that crispy kale and goat cheese combination. Stealing myself each time, I would tell myself it was my treat for the morning. Arriving back at my friend's apartment, he gleefully asked how my trip went, in which I proceeded to tell him all about the pizza. He stared at me like I was a crazy person and then smiled, said he was glad I had a good time and went to bed.
The morning came and went and so did the pizza. It took me about five minutes to devour it.
It was worth it.
For more pictures of my trip, visit my Instagram page here.
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