In the Photo: Shafeen Jamal and Dominic Fielden


NAAN BUT THE BEST IN ARRANGED MARRIAGE
(Directly from the Press Release)

(Vancouver, BC) – She, a ‘lady of certain age’ of South Asian heritage; he, a younger man of European background. Their ‘families’ arranged the wedding. They had never met before the fateful day. Naan-theless, it was love at first bite when the flatbreads of RMFC Chef Ralf Wollmann met up with the complex curry sauces of Chef Krishna Jamal. The result is an ‘arranged marriage’ that is a harmonious union of two food cultures.

" The pizza is really just a flatbread with topping on it. In Britain, where I am from originally, we put curry sauce on all sorts of things, although, I hadn’t thought of curry pizza until I came here," says Dominic Fielden, co-owner of Rocky Mountain Flatbread and one of the instigators of the flavour marriage. "In Indian cuisine, we tend to stuff our flatbreads, or roll them around a filling. So the idea of topping a European-style flatbread with Indian-style ingredients was intriguing," comments Curry 2 U’s Shaffeen Jamal - the other important link in bringing together the two flavour traditions.

When Mr. Jamal met with Suzanne and Dominic Fielden, they found they shared more than a passion for good food. Both quickly realized that they shared common values about sustainability, organics and buy local philosophies. (Curry 2 U is one of the foundation restaurants participating in the Green Tables program, Rocky Mountain Flatbread is known for its commitment to sustainability and to community outreach).

The next step was to bring together the ‘talent’ – the creative chefs who would make the idea work. Chef Ralf Wollmann flew out from RMFC’s corporate kitchen in Canmore to spend a day cooking with Chef Krishna Jamal. He returned to Canmore laden with sauces and ideas. "I played around with the sauces, tried them in different ways – not just on flatbreads," says Chef Wollmann. "I taste-tested dishes both in Vancouver and Canmore and ‘tweaked’ the recipes before we ‘unveil’ them to the public."

Starting late February, you too will be able to enjoy the ‘offspring’ of this east meets west romance. Five new Indian-inspired dishes will be piloted on Rocky Mountain Flatbread’s menu. The new items include Warm Turmeric Curry Salad ($12.50), Brinjal Curry Lasagne ($14.50) and three South-Asian flavoured flatbread pizzas – Spicy Kashmiri Chicken ($19.50 & $25.75), Shahi Shrimp ($19.50 & $25.75) and Brinjal Goat’s Cheese ($18.50 & $24.75). "We’re going to be rotating these items through as daily specials to gauge how our patrons like them before we make them permanent additions," says co-owner Suzanne Fielden. "We recently tried one of the flatbread pizzas as a test one evening and it flew out of the kitchen so fast we ran out of sauce." The flatbread pizzas will be offered in two sizes – regular 12 inch or a larger 16 inch version.

Over at Curry 2 U on Granville Island, they will be piloting two personal-sized (6 inch) versions of the Brinjal Goat’s Cheese ($5.50) and Kashmiri Chicken ($6.50) flatbread pizzas. "Granville Island presents a challenge," says Shaffeen Jamal. "There is a lot of competition in the pizza market, we are hoping that customers respond well to Rocky Mountain’s organic ingredients coupled with our sauces. I believe we are offering leading edge , high quality food at very competitive prices."

Who knew an arranged marriage could be so successful or so tasty! -- Nancy Wong



The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company …Changing the World, One Pizza at a Time
1876 West 1st Avenue,
Vancouver, BC
604-730-0321
www.rockymountainflatbread.ca