THE PUNJABI CHEF IN VANCOUVER
Most Canadians will know Vikram Vij from his stint on CBC’s Dragon’s Den, and as a frequent guest judge on a number of cooking shows over the years, including Top Chef Canada and Chopped Canada. Vancouverites know him best as the award-winning restaurateur, and Indians in Vancouver know him as a pioneer of contemporary Indian cuisine in Canada.
Today, his grocery brand, Vij’s For You, encompasses a wide range of his own products that include spice blends, dals, achaars (made with pickles, vegetables or fruit), various pastes, and Himalayan pink salts.
Chef Vikram Vij grew up in Amritsar, Delhi and Mumbai. In 1983, he left India to study in Salzburg, Austria. While there he received his chef’s training and also later became a certified sommelier. Vikram Vij worked in Salzburg and Vienna for a few years before moving to Canada in 1989.
Eventually in 1994, at the age of 30 he opened a fine-dining restaurant, Vij’s, in Vancouver, and was partnered by Meeru Dhalwala In the early days his parents would make the curry at their home and deliver it by bus to the restaurant By 2003, critics rated this was one of the top Indian restaurants.
He started My Shanti by Vikram Vij. “This restaurant is based on my culinary travels to India and to show case different regions and its uniqueness and use of their spices. The menu items are things that I remembered having either at a house or in a restaurant. I truly believe that Indian food is the greatest democracy of food. No one way to make something. It all depends on an individual house hold’’.
He gives the example of Udaipuri Chaat was inspired by a Maharaja’s house in Udaipur, “I was totally taken back by the use of vegetables in the Chaat. All the dishes are just memories, I never asked them for a recipe but asked them for the ingredients and my memory when I came back to Vancouver’’, he says. His own favourite cuisine is Bengali. “The use of Panch Poran and Mustard is amazing and the delicate use of spices but I am inspired by anybody who puts their heart and soul into cooking. That inspires me the most. The fact that everybody cooks differently and their own style is what is inspiring and unique’’. he states, “I love a good Dosa and Vada, I love Pau Bhaaji, Gol Gappa, fresh coconut water on the streets of Chennai. The sweets and all those aromas inspire me so much’’.
For the food they use Canadian ingreidents, like Blue berries, and Strawberries. “ British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province, has a huge bounty of these great fruits, so we make delicious chutneys out of them. Both of the restaurants, Vij’s and My Shanti is big on using local ingredients with Indian Spices from the Vij’s line of Spices’’, he explains, elaborating, “My classic training is in French and other European cooking, so where it helped is that we were able to grill the meats and sear the fish delicately and serve them with delicious sauces. In that way, everything is not stewed, so it gives a European Presentation but with Indian spices and sauce. Also, we make each and every sauce just for that dish. We do not overlap curries. We have never cooked for a certain market or a certain group of people. We have cooked what we think is delicious and people have been great in showing us the respect’’. Rangoli sells their line of pre-packaged gourmet curries named “Vij’s Inspired Indian Cuisine”, with a food processing facility.
In the early days, they did face challenges in moving away from the stereotype of an Indian menu. “Sometimes people would leave because we were not serving butter chicken or vhicken tikka masala, and it would be very difficult for people to understand that, those dishes do not
represent Indian cuisine, there are a huge number of great dishes that represent Indian diaspora and its vast cuisine and culture’’, he remembers, “Indian food is very well respected and loved in Canada and major cities have great amount of Indian restaurants and we are proud to say, that we have been part of this journey and Canada being a great culinary destination for great local produce, wines and seafood’’.
This chef is a passionate supporter of the sustainable food industry. He has championed many causes such as the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise Sustainable Seafood Program. He has been involved with Farm Folk City Folk and was past president and active member of The Chef’s Table Society of British Columbia. He is also part of the Green Table Society[and is involved in UBC Farm fundraisers. Vij and Dhalwala’s dedication to the work done at UBC resulted in the funding and opening of Vij’s Kitchen, a state-of-the-art culinary learning facility at the University of British Columbia, dedicated to teaching the chefs and nutritionists of the future about ethnic food and cuisine. In 2010, Vij and fellow British Columbian chef, Robert Clark, spearheaded the 2nd Canadian Chef’s Congress on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with the theme of “Oceans for Tomorrow”.
`At our establishments, ee look for the farmers who have sustainable practices, who show the passion for what they do. We do not just buy the cheapest produce, instead we support our local farmers and producers’’, he says proudly.
Vij is active in the Vancouver, Indo-Canadian arts and cultural community. Vij also supports the Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration Society. “. We believe that people should enjoy food from all over the world because Food and Music are universal and should have no boundaries,’’ he states.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article appeared in Culinary Entrepreneurs magazine https://feamag.com/food_magazine/culinary Anil Mulchandani is the founder of IFEA and the publisher, editor and owner of Culinary Entrepreneurs magazine. His insta handle @writeranil
Ankita J Sharma is the co-editor, Culinary Entrepreneurs magazine. Her insta handle @teekhidalmakhani
