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Having once visited Malaysia, I knew Malaysian food was delicious, and, owing to the multicultural nature of the population, multi-faceted. But, until yesterday, I didn’t realize how exciting and entertaining Malaysian food preparation could be. Yesterday I was fortunate to be one of the travel writers and other travel industry professionals invited by Tourism Malaysia to enjoy a dinner presentation in Vancouver that showcased Malaysian cuisine.

I was able to sample a wonderful variety of food on my recent visit to Mexico’s Yucatan, but, looking back, my favourite was Sopa de Lima, Yucatecan chicken and lime soup. During my short visit, I enjoyed this traditional dish three times. The chicken broth features chopped tomatoes, onion, carrot and celery to which are added chunks of boneless chicken, strips of tortillas and the juice and slices of fresh, local limes.

When I think about genuine northwest coast food, First Nations cuisine comes to mind. When my wife and I were hitched about 15 years ago, we arranged for the Liliget Feast House to cater the reception, and it drew rave reviews from family and friends. Alas, the Liliget Feast House is long gone, but I recently discovered a new place that serves genuine BC First Nations food. It’s the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.

Vij’s Indian restaurant in Vancouver made news around the world recently when they added crickets to their menu. Well, they weren’t really serving bowls full of crickets, or curried cricket. What Vik’s co-owner and chef, Meeru Dhalwala, did was added cricket paratha to the menu. It was a traditional Indian flatbread made with the addition of one very un-traditional ingredient — ground up crickets, which replaced 70% of the chapati flour in the recipe.