The reason was that Ms. Dhalwala wanted to educate people that it’s better for the planet if we ate more insects and less beef. It takes 100 pounds of feed to produce 16 pounds of beef, while those same 100 pounds if fed to crickets, would produce 44 pounds. Of course, it would be even better if we simply ate the 100 pounds of feed directly, wouldn’t it.

Anyway, the cricket parathas are off the menu at Vij’s. But that is only temporary, they hope. It’s because of worries regarding legal liabilities, because serving crickets as food is not included in Vancouver’s health protection regulations. As soon as the paperwork is sorted out, diners at Vij’s Indian restaurant may once again be able to chow down on cricket parathas, which they serve alongside a spicy turnip salsa.

One of Vancouver’s most popular restaurants, Vij’s is located in the South Granville area at 1480 W. 11th Avenue, just two blocks south of the corner of Broadway and Granville. Their website is www.vijs.ca.

What I enjoyed most was the opportunity to talk with culinary entrepreneurs, people who have started small food-related businesses. People such as Rachna Prasad and her mother, Rekha, who gave their product line the wonderful name of “Gourmantra.” Based in Toronto, the company makes it possible for any kitchen klutz to cook up authentic Indian meals in 30-minutes. I sampled their butter chicken, and it was as tasty as any I’d find in numerous good Indian restaurants. Rachna told me I’d need to purchase at least $30 worth of spices in order to duplicate their recipe from scratch. The box of ingredients retails for less than $4, and it includes the rice. All you add it chicken, and it makes four servings. www.gourmantra.com.

The women of Gourmantra were only two of many exhibitors with fascinating offerings. For example, I loved the motto of Kitikmeot Foods, based in Nunavut. They promote muskox meat and Arctic char by reminding that “wild is the original organic.” Regetfully, this Inuit company doesn’t have a website at the moment.

I enjoyed chatting with Donna Livelton whose BC Coastal Grilling Planks company markets cedar planks on which to cook succulent salmon. The cedar they use is cleverly salvaged from discards of a Vancouver Island sawmill. www.bccoastalgrillingplanks.com.

Malgorzata Rose and her husband came to Vancouver all the way from Montana to stir up enthusiasm for culinary vacations to her native Poland. In late July she’ll be taking a group to experience hands-on and demonstration cooking lessons as well as vodka and beer tastings and art and architecture tours. www.PolandCulinaryVacations.com.

I had at least six other conversations with a half a dozen other fascinating foodies, as well as nibbling on such tidbits as picked German gooseberries, potato chips seasoned with Himalayan salt, chocolatey almond butter, yellow organic carrots and luscious green walnut and grappa preserves.

If you have a chance to go, I highly recommend EAT! Vancouver, the World Culinary Travel Expo at BC Place Stadium through until 5 pm Sunday, May 25, 2008.

Yesterday I was fortunate to be one of the travel writers and other travel industry professionals invited by Tourism Malaysia to enjoy a dinner presentation in Vancouver that showcased Malaysian cuisine. It was a lead-in to the Malaysia Truly Asian Kitchen 2008 participation at “EAT! Vancouver,” the largest food show in Canada, to be held at BC Place Stadium from tomorrow through Sunday (May 23 to 25, 2008).

In addition to feasting on nasi lemak, chicken satay, roti canai, char koay teow, mamak mi goreng and several other delicacies (the names of which I didn’t write down because I was too focused on devouring them), we were fascinated by the performances of two top chefs who had jetted in from Kuala Lumpur.

First, Chef Mior Sazali gave a dramatic demonstration of teh tarik — tea pulling — pouring spicy Malaysian tea with amazing skill and agility. He never spilled a drop, even when pouring behind his back, standing on one foot. Chef Mior has been winning teh tarik competitions since 1994.

Muhamad B. Arshad, better known as Chef Matt, the Flying Chef, then showed off his talents in tossing roti canai bread dough. Evidently they have dough tossing competitions in Kuala Lumpur, and Chef Matt frequently wins them, twirling roti dough as high as seven feet into the air, and catching it gracefully. We later enjoyed tasting roti canai, but I don’t think it was made from dough that Chef Matt had tossed. The traditional Malaysian flatbread is made from ghee, fat, egg, flour and water that is mixed, kneaded, flattened, oiled, and folded repeatedly before baking.

Malaysians are passionate about food, and their cross-cultural cuisine features flavors from China, India, Thailand and Portugal.

Nowhere in Kenya did I experience warmer hospitality than at the House of Waine. Located in the Nairobi suburb of Karen (named for Karen Blixen of “Out of Africa” fame), it is a small but luxurious boutique hotel. The property has 11 bedrooms, all of which are unique. I stayed in the “Tembo” room, with decor inspired by elephants. A lovely painting literally done by an elephant was hanging in the elegant room.

Meals were perfect. I enjoyed two breakfasts, a lunch and a dinner there. Although there were limited choices on the small menus, it is no exaggeration to say that everything looked intriguing. One morning I had excellent Scottish pancakes with passion fruit curd. There were three of us at the lunch table. I chose the beef, another selected the chicken, and a third opted for vegetarian crepes. We were all very happy.

The House of Waine (named from the initials of the owners) is located close to many popular attractions, including the Karen Blixen museum, Giraffe centre, Kazuri Beads, Nairobi National Park, and also a fine, modern shopping center. For anyone wishing to stay at this wonderful hotel, reservations, I am told, are essential.

For more information visit www.houseofwaine.co.ke