Making nutritious meals for others to take home and enjoy has been a fulfilling experience for Ashlee Rutherford.
The Enderby resident, who founded her business Gnomnivore Kitchen a year ago with her partner Cedric Dion, said she loves to cook and care for others.
"I love being able to take care of people and provide comfort and nourishment, and the way I do that best is by cooking for them," said Rutherford. "It didn't really matter what that looked like in the beginning, what was important then was to just get started, get out of the gate and into the race."
One of the original items to come out of Gnomnivore Kitchen were kits for people to make poutines at home.
"Cedric loves the poutine and would make it at home for us all the time with crazy good gravies," said Rutehrford. "He鈥檚 hardcore about getting the freshest, most squeaky curds鈥� Poutine needs to be in people鈥檚 homes more than it is."
Asked about the business' name, Rutherford explained it reflects a book Dion loved in his youth 鈥� the 1977 Wil Huygen book Gnomes, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet and Brian Froud 鈥� and her desire for a name that reflects something healthy and sustainable 鈥� "food that鈥檚 not necessarily pigeonholed to one thing."
"So omnivore is in there, that鈥檚 one that I threw out to him," said Rutherford. "I brought the book home to him and he said what about 'Gnomnivore'."
Rutherford said the name immediately made her think of a gimmicky restaurant with "gnome things everywhere, suffocating the place."
"He talked me down and helped me see that was not what he had in mind," said Rutherford. "The gnome respects the land that they live on, they are friends with the animals. That was the sustainable part being mixed in with the omnivore鈥� a sustainably focused person who likes to eat nourishing food."
The duo found a base for the new business at Salmon Arm's Zest Commercial Food Hub, where they began producing a menu consisting of a variety of homemade poutine gravies, cheese curds, as well as several protein "toppers," including Gnomnivore's signature duck pastrami 鈥� which is also available in sliced and uncut portions.
Asked why duck, Rutherford said it's readily available in B.C. and something she enjoys eating.
"Duck鈥� does have a lot of fat, but it鈥檚 all on the outside, it鈥檚 all through the skin of the animal, so the meat of it is really lean and packed full of your good proteins and is quite good," said Rutherford, noting the meat is sourced from a family farm in Chilliwack. Making the pastrami is about week-long process.
"The duck pastrami is something that Cedric came up with as a way to use the breast of the duck. That鈥檚 our signature charcuterie/sandwich-style meat," said Rutherford.
Gnomnivore's latest offering, the Real Meals line of pre-made meals, include a honey mustard chicken bowl, served over herbed mashed potato with vegetables; sweet and sour pork meatballs with brown rice, quinoa and mixed vegetables; and vegetarian Italian "neat-balls" in marinara sauce, with herbed mashed potatoes and green vegetables.
"A lot of it is things we've personally enjoyed," said Rutherford. "There was that connection to how we felt when we would make these dishes and eat these foods. We also tried to find something that鈥檚 not being overdone, and breaking into a market that鈥檚 not saturated.
Rutherford said starting her own business was something she'd longed to do for more than a decade, and while the first year has been a learning experience, she is grateful for the guidance received by Will Miller, Zest's administrative supervisor.
"He's a blessing 鈥� I鈥檝e gotten this far because of his help and knowledge," said Rutherford.
"Now, one year later, I feel I can take all the useful info we have picked up through our customer feedback and our sales trends and modify our offerings to reflect more truly the food I want to be providing through this business."
Gnomnivore Kitchen's products are currently available at farmers markets, including the Saturday markets in downtown Salmon Arm. Gnomnivore also makes appearances at the markets in Enderby, Sicamous and Sorrento.
For more information, visit Gnomnivore Kitchen on Facebook and at gnomnivorekitchen.com.
