KELOWNA, B.C. — Don’t panic . . . we have bannock.
The motto of Kekuli Cafe — the Okanagan’s only Aboriginal foods restaurant and catering company — says it all.
Bannock is the traditional First Nations bread that’s gained fame cross-culturally as the food that can be a tasty dessert when dressed up like a doughnut or a savoury staple that can be used as a hamburger bun or the base of an Indian taco.
Speaking of Indian tacos, it’s Kekuli’s signature dish — a play on words and tastes from both the Aboriginal for its bannock and the Mexican for its tacos.
The bannock forms the base for an open-faced taco featuring chili, salsa, sour cream and grated cheese and lettuce.
“It’s our house specialty and we sell a lot of it,” says Kekuli owner Sharon Bond, a member of the Thompson First Nation who now makes Westbank, just outside of Kelowna, B.C., her home.
“I’ve been told more than once by people who have eaten it that it’s life changing.”
Kekuli first opened its doors nine months ago on Westbank First Nation land.
In an area with a big Aboriginal population and influence, it comes as a surprise to many that Kekuli is the first restaurant to specialize in First Nations dishes.
There was obviously pent-up demand because Kekuli is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks seven days a week.
Kekuli, by the way, is an Aboriginal pit house that’s used for dialogue and eating.
The Kekuli story started five years ago when Bond sold bannock at a local festival called Westside Daze.
They sold like crazy and she received so many compliments that she decided to open a concession at a friend’s car wash and start up a catering company.
To start with, the catering gigs were mostly Aboriginal events and celebrations, but more and more she started to get jobs outside the First Nations realm as more people discovered bannock and its variations.
Last year, buoyed by the positive reaction to her concession and catering, Bond did a full business plan that showed you couldn’t get bannock regularly anywhere in the Okanagan and people hungered for it.
Kekuli Cafe was born.
“We’re a warm and welcoming cafe where you can get the lattes and espressos, muffins and baked goods you’d expect at a coffee shop,” explains Bond.
“But we definitely have an Aboriginal ambience.
“We have all the bannock foods, Saskatoon berry smoothies, local Aboriginal art on the walls and we sell native souvenirs and products like mugs, jewelry, dried Saskatoon berries and Little Miss Chief salmon products.”
By the way, Saskatoon berries are another traditional Aboriginal staple that is eaten fresh in season and is dried for use year round in everything from bannock to game meats.
Traditionally bannock was made by Canada’s first peoples by grinding wheat, corn or roots into a flour that was added to water and dried fruits or berries to be cooked over an open fire or in a clay pot over fire.
Sometimes it was even rolled in sand and cooked and when the sand was brushed off it gave the bannock a nice texture and taste.
Bond cooks Kekuli’s bannock in a more modern way in an oven with a special recipe of wheat flour, sugar, yeast and water.
With added cinnamon, sugar or maple syrup and nuts it can be like a doughnut. Plain it can be used as bread for the aforementioned hamburgers and tacos.
Any leftovers are used to make bannock pudding, a twist on the English bread pudding that also uses Saskatoon berries.