Summer Treat: Stone Fruit Salad

Stone fruit salad featuring peaches and plums

On the weekend I had a fabulous seasonal stone fruit salad featuring peaches and plums with arugula leaves and Parmesan cheese shaved on top.

Aside from making the salad look colourful and bright, the peach slices were so sweet and juicy, that I savoured every bite. 

When I was younger, I was allergic to fresh peaches, nectarines and cherries. I could eat cooked or canned stone fruit. But after eating raw ones, my mouth and lips would feel itchy and would take a while for the uncomfortable feeling to subside. 

Oral allergy syndrome is a thing! It usually occurs in people with pollen allergies (which I did).

As a result I avoided eating peaches, nectarines and cherries for decades. But a few years ago I started eating cherries and didn't have any allergic reaction! Ditto goes for peaches, nectarines and plums!

The benefits of getting older -- childhood allergies disappearing and having another reason to enjoy summer!

Picture of the Day: Longevity Buns

Giant longevity peach buns from Kai Wai Dim Sum

The other day we were invited to visit the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Vancouver's Chinatown, in a run-up to the garden's 40th anniversary next year. 

After we toured the garden -- which still looks fantastic and well kept after all this time -- we were given a snack -- longevity buns called sau bao, or 寿桃.

They are peach-shaped buns that are steamed and pillowy soft. Inside the filling is usually lotus seed, but in this case ours was red bean. But what was impressive was the size -- as big as the palm of my hand, and they were artfully decorated with leaves!

The story behind these buns is that they look like the longevity peach. In Chinese mythology, those who ate this fruit would have immortality.

Peaches symbolise long life in Chinese art, along with the deer and heron.

The longevity peach is also in the Journey to the West novel, where Sun Wukong or Monkey King consumes a lot of this sweet, juicy fruit!

So while it wasn't anyone's birthday that day, the garden staff wished us long life with these giant buns!

Not-So-Greasy-Spoon Argo Cafe

Argo Cafe is a relaxed, friendly diner serving gourmet dishes

A good friend I hadn't seen in years took me to a hole-in-the-wall diner and the food was delicious!

It's called Argo Cafe, and it was started in 1954, and the current owners took over it in 2004. Chef Denis Larouche and his brother in law Kirby Wong are running it along with Larouche's wife Linda. Larouche and Linda Wong previously worked at the Four Seasons so they know a few things about cooking.

A hearty portion for the basic breakfast

Argo Cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch six days a week, and for a small place it offers a lot of dishes everyday. The menu changes daily, a dilemma that can keep Linda up late at night.

Nevertheless we came for breakfast and I had the Basic Breakfast, with two eggs, sausage or bacon, and white or brown toast. What really stood out for me was for a greasy spoon, it wasn't at all.

The eggs were over easy and hardly any excess oil. The same could be said for the hash browns, the diced potatoes were perfectly cooked with a slight crunch. Each piece was delicious and not over seasoned either.

I chose to have bacon and it was a bit on the dry side, but definitely crunchy and fatty. The dish also came with two slice of toast and a small cup of mixed fruit that included the sweetest wedges of peaches, blueberries, pomelo and watermelon.

Linda is a pastry chef and she prides herself on sourcing organic fruits for her pies so that the natural fruit flavours come through. After breakfast my friend and I lingered and eventually shared a slice of peach pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

The pie filling is choc full of peaches!

The crust was topped with coarse sugar, but the peach filling wasn't cloying at all -- just choc full of sliced layers of peaches. So good.

Lunch items include duck confit, grilled ling cod, flat iron steak with fries, and sockeye salmon almandine. Gourmet food at very reasonable prices. Will be back!

Argo Cafe

1836 Ontario Street

Vancouver, BC

604 876 3620