The 2023 Food & Drink Gift Guide
From dinner party essentials to fancy pantry additions, this editor-approved gift guide offers a delicious taste of Canada.
- Northern Bars’ Nanaimo bars are almost too adorable to eat, but don’t let that stop you. Each layer, from the chocolate-and-coconut cookie to the custard buttercream to the chocolate ganache, is distinct and not too sweet. Packed neatly in a chic yellow or black box, the bite-size pieces have become an iconic B.C. treat – and make the sweetest gift for a holiday host. From $12.
- Edmonton Chef Roger Letourneau is a wizard of fermentation, so it makes sense that he recently launched his own product line under the name Lessig Ferments. With two hot sauces up for grabs, choose from the Strawberry Basil Bomb, made with B.C. fruit and regional herbs, or Cheesy Wheezy, a playful riff on spicy cheese made with hot house peppers and organic dairy. From $14.
- Montreal-based MasterChef Canada alum and 2SLGBTQ+ advocate Marissa Leon-John recently launched her own spice brand, Elle Jay’s Fairy Dust. A nod to the chef’s Caribbean ancestry, Bold n Smoky dry rub is a one-way ticket to the most flavourful veggies, seafood and meat (and a stocking stuffer for anyone who knows their way around a grill). $17.
- The low-to-no alcohol beverage market is having a moment. Hot off the heels of their first sugar-free wine-style spritz, Benjamin Bridge has dropped a second: Pink Piquette Zero. Think of it as a refreshing zero-proof rosé with delicate passionfruit and citrus notes. Now, everyone can eat, drink and be merry without the buzz. $35.90 for 12.
- Tofino’s Naas Foods creates umami-rich seasonings from regenerative aquatic resources. Hand-harvested by an Indigenous-led team, their Classic Kelp Flakes or Smoked Kelp Flakes can be shaken on popcorn, stirred in with butter (for dunking seafood), or added to brownies to bring out a next-level depth of flavour (trust us). $14 and $16.
- From a juicy Blueberry Breakfast blend to a Peppermint Blend with Alberta sage and rose, Sarjesa’s tea blends are equal parts creative and comforting. The brand itself is steeped in social impact: Sarjesa donates a percentage of annual sales and $2 from each monthly tea subscription to Awo Taan Healing Lodge Society, a Calgary women’s shelter. $5.49 each.
- After a pandemic-induced hiatus, dinner parties are officially back. Level up the tablescape with anything from Vancouver-based potter Janaki Larsen. Showcasing gentle lines, her dreamy collections of modern handcrafted plates, bowls and mugs bring a timeless elegance to the dinner table. Various prices.
- Masa Shiroki planted Canada’s only sustainable rice field in Abbotsford, B.C., back in 2012. Today, Shiroki’s brand Artisan SakeMaker offers a variety of Canadian sakes. The Osake Fraser Valley Junmai Renaissance – rich, savoury and complex with a racy acidity and touch of sweetness – exclusively uses B.C.-grown Ginpu sake rice (a grain originating in northern Japan). Get this for the local-loving wine aficionado in your life. $24.29.
- Ontario-based Rosewood Winery makes their small-batch Rosewood Hot Honey with lacto-fermented chilies, so it adds sweetness and a kick to everything from dressings to sandwiches and charcuterie boards. It’s a pantry must-have for the modern home chef. $16.
- Salad Pizza Wine: And Many More Good Things from Elena is one of our favourite Canadian cookbooks of the year. Not only is it loaded with 115-plus mix-and-match recipes, but everything about it is fun, goofy and bloody delicious — just like the beloved pizza, pasta and natty wine joint. Buy this for the ones who like to moonlight as a pizzaiolo. $37.50.
- Tucked in the Cobequid Hills of Nova Scotia, Sugar Moon Farm celebrates the complexities of maple syrup in all its glory. Across the annual three- to six-week sugar season, crystal clear sap from the property’s sugar maples is hand-harvested and processed on-site over a roaring wood fire. From $7.00.
- Farmersdotter’s Original Garlic Scape Salt is a blend of hand-harvested, fire-roasted scapes from the brand’s Similkameen Valley-based farm and ancient Canadian sea salt dating back 400 million years. It’s as special as it sounds, and you will find an excuse to put it on everything. $10.
- Canada is the world’s largest producer and exporter of field peas. With that stat in mind, entrepreneur Faaiza Ramji and farmer Lindsey Good decided to take this often-overlooked Canadian Prairie ingredient and distill it into something new. Cheekily named “Don’t Call Me Sweet Pea,” the herbaceous Garden Amaro from Field Notes also rocks botanicals and herbs from across Alberta. $35.50.
- Take the guesswork and the prep work out of holiday appetizers with Nibbl. cheese boxes. The brand delivers throughout Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick and offers over a dozen options, each carefully curated with an assortment of artisanal cheeses paired with complementary accompaniments like charcuterie, olives, crackers and spreads. From $66.
- Tea-loving travellers will appreciate the DavidsTea Travel with Tea Sachet Tea Wheel, featuring 12 loose leaf teas and infusions from around the world (3 sachets of each), from classic Organic Japanese Sencha to mellow and juicy Maui Madness. $39.
- J&S Custom Furniture Co creates functional, stylish and sustainable pieces that are designed to stand the test of time. Their better-than-basic white oak cutting boards, available in three sizes, are handmade in Vancouver and feature genuine tan leather handles. From $90.
