Herb Garden - Chef Daryle Ryo Nagata - Interview - Recipe

Flower & Garden Magazine, Sept, 2000 by Lyn Dobrin

VISIT WITH CHEF NAGATA IN THE LARGEST CITY CENTER HERB GARDEN IN CANADA

When Chef Daryle Ryo Nagata wants fresh thyme for his mushroom ragout, he takes the elevator to the third floor of the Waterfront Centre Hotel in Vancouver British Columbia where he is Executive Chef. There, just around the corner from the outdoor swimming pool that overlooks Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, is Chef Nagata's 2100-square-foot herb garden. It's a delightful, sunbathed culinary haven edged with lavender and santolina, packed with six kinds of thyme, plus parsley, sage and rosemary ... and lovage, bergamot, dill, chervil and tarragon ... and feverfew, echinacea, anise hyssop, marigolds, black cohosh ... and much more.

Eight months of the year, the garden supplies the chef with enough herbs to create the fresh dishes for which he has become renowned in the city.

Nagata and his staff of 40 serve 1,000-to-3,000 meals a day, dishes that make use of local products and draw heavily upon the bounty of the herb garden upstairs. Fresh herbs aren't used simply as a garnish to pretty up a plate but instead serve as integral ingredients in much of Nagata's cooking. On his menu you might find scallops with lemon verbena infused oil, brie flavored with burnet, potato and chive griddle cakes and peach cobbler sweetened with stevia.

Nagata says he has rejected trendy spa cuisine in favor of the more natural flow of eating food that is seasonally available and promotes wellness. "I don't believe everyone should weigh the same," he says. "We're all individuals with different body types." Nagata also seeks to present a cuisine that draws upon Eastern philosophy which recognizes that the body goes through different seasonal cycles and requires different foods at different times. For example, after winter he recommends bitter greens to help cleanse and detoxify the body. "And I don't serve asparagus out of season," he says.

Nagata, who is 37, credits his grandparents with his attitude toward food. When he was three, his Scottish mother and Japanese father separated, and he went to live with his father's parents in Alberta. "There was a big emphasis on health," he relates, "and my grandparents would always say to eat a certain food because it was good for you." In addition, Nagata's grandparents had a huge garden, and his grandmother made fresh tofu every Saturday. "To this day, tofu is one of my comfort foods," he reveals.

Nagata seeks to provide that same wholesome food--and some education--to hotel visitors. The evening menu at the hotel's Herons Restaurant is geared towards herbs, particularly in the summer when they are available in such abundance. Each week's menu, the "Evening Fresh Sheet," features a different type of herb.

The hotel is also becoming well-known for its dinner series throughout the year, with topics such as Making Herbal Spring Tonics, Starting an Organic Herb Garden and Creating Herbal Aphrodisiacs.

Nagata developed these programs and the garden with Elaine Stevens, an herbalist and master gardener. She received her training in biochemistry from the University of Liverpool in England and certification as a clinical herbalist from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.

No herbicides or pesticides are used on the garden, which was planted in early 1995. "We use no sprays or growth enhancers," says Nagata, who reports that the garden is nourished with mushroom manure and red worm compost.

"We grow enough to meet our needs," he says. And apparently those of other creatures as well. The garden, which is the largest city center herb garden in Canada, has become a haven for small birds. Bird watchers, epicureans and natural food lovers can all take pleasure in this garden.

Recipes from the Kitchen of Executive Chef Daryle Ryo Nagata

* CHILLED BC HOT HOUSE GAZPACHO SOUP

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

8:           Medium Tomatoes
3:           Medium Red Peppers
1:           Medium Green Pepper
1/2:         Medium Onion
2:           Cucumbers
1 tsp:       Garlic
1/4 cup:     Red Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp:      Canola Oil
1 tsp:       Fresh Thyme
1 tsp:       Fresh Basil
1/2 tsp:     Fresh Oregano
1/2 cup:     Vegetable or V8 Juice
To taste:    Salt & Pepper

METHOD:

Skin, seed and dice tomatoes. Chop the red and green peppers with the garlic and onion. Peel and seed the cucumbers. Chop the thyme, basil and oregano. Combine the above ingredients in a food processor and blend. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from fridge and adjust the consistency with V8 juice and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!!

* PAN SEARED GIANT SEA SCALLOPS & TIGER PRAWNS WITH TEMPURA VEGETABLE BOUQUET & A SORREL VERMOUTH SAUCE

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

12 pieces:        Giant Sea Scallops
12 pieces:        Large Tiger Prawns
2 tbsp:           Olive Oil
3 tbsp:           Shallots (fine dice)
1 cup:            Vermouth
1 cup:            36% Cream
1/2 cup:          Sorrel Puree
To Taste:         Salt & Pepper
4:                Zucchini barrels (hollow)
4 pieces each:    Asparagus
                  Yellow Beans
                  Green Onion
                  Shiso
                  Carrot
                  Yam
12 pieces:        Soba Noodles cooked
8:                Tooth picks
1:                Egg Yolk
1 cup:            Ice Water
1 cup:            Tempura Flour