Ambrosia – serie

An Indigo Best Book of 2025A colourful illustrated history of the buildings in Vancouver’s Chinatown, celebrating the richness, diversity, and vibrancy of the Chinese community.Buildings are more than just bricks and mortar; they are keepers of secrets and history. With more than seventy vibrant illustrations, writeups on the buildings, interviews with community members, and select archival photographs, Chinatown Vancouver celebrates the invaluable contributions of the Chinese to Canada. The colourful illustrations portray Chinatown during its thriving days as a commercial hub when iconic businesses such as Cathay Importers, Ho Inn Restaurant, Ming Wo Cookware, and Ho Ho Restaurant were pillars in the community.Early Chinese settlers in Vancouver demonstrated immense resilience and perseverance in creating a self-sustaining safety net to weather racial hostility, discrimination, and segregation from broader Canadian society. The protection of cultural sites like Chinatown helps us understand our connection to place, the past, and the future. In showcasing the unique architecture, Chinatown Vancouverhonours the neighbourhood as an irreplaceable living heritage site and cultural asset for all Canadians.

While bok choy is now a staple on Western grocery store shelves, other Asian vegetables remain unknown—even though they’re delicious, nutritious, and easy to grow in northern climates. Caroline, Stéphanie, and Patricia Wang, three sisters of Cantonese descent, have made it their mission to introduce gardeners, cooks, and vegetable lovers of all flavours to wider sources of sustenance.Organized around fifteen Asian vegetables that are presented according to the rhythm of the seasons, this lush, full-colour book offers advice on growing and harvesting organic crops intended for both weekend and commercial gardeners, along with a host of ideas to preserve and prepare them, including over forty recipes, some of which have been developed by renowned chefs.The Wang sisters complement the book’s practical advice by offering thoughts on Asian vegetables from a cultural point of view and sharing the importance of these foods within their own family, members of whom left China to immigrate to Madagascar before settling in Canada.Asian Vegetables is a generous and gorgeous tribute to good food, to the land, and the importance of strong roots.