(Opinion) FSJ Eats with Ed samples international dishes without having to charter jet at food festival

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — For less than the cost of a plane ticket, Fort St. John residents could take a trip around the world – at least cuisine-wise.

Taking place at the Fort St. John Curling Club, the Taste of Fort St. John International Food Festival returned in 2025 on June 28th.

The lunch-hour event had a substantial turnout and this being FSJ Eats with Ed, this reporter decided to make an excursion to check out the festivities.

Taste of Fort St. John was organized by the Fort St. John Multicultural Society, and founder Alan Yu said he was “very excited” about this event, as new countries joined the fray.

Several vendors returned showcasing their cuisines, including favourites from the Philippines, China, India and Jamaica.  

They were joined by newcomers from Jordan, Mexico and Nigeria, as well as Ukraine. 

With a limited budget and having tried the food of both the Philippines and Nigeria in the last edition, this reporter decided to taste the new entrants from Jordan and Ukraine, as well as the crowd-favourite (and returning vendor) from Jamaica.

So, with $45 and my taste buds awaiting, here’s this week’s edition of FSJ Eats with Ed:

Jamaican cuisine

I decided to start off my taste-bud trip with a staple from the Caribbean: the spicy, smoky dish of jerk chicken.

My fondest memories of being a young adult include leaving the club surrounded by a line-up of clubgoers looking for a late-night bite post-last call and a Jamaican gentleman overseeing a hot barbecue, determined to give his customers a solid after-hours meal.

I would go so far as to say I’ve never experienced what I would qualify as a bad-tasting jerk chicken until last year’s Taste of Fort St John.  

Granted, I had arrived long after the final pieces of chicken were finished prior to the event’s conclusion…so it wasn’t the vendor’s fault, and I can reserve my judgments for this year’s Taste of Fort St. John.

The Jamaican booth offered a meal of $20 for jerk chicken, coleslaw and two pastries called festivals. Resembling corn dogs, this is a tasty deep-fried side dish made from flour, cornmeal and sugar.

The festivals were absolutely on the money.  Sweet, crispy and scrumptious to devour.  The jerk chicken? Not so much.  Much better experience than last year, but it’s still not spicy enough. Edometre score: 3.25 stars out of five.

Jordanian cuisine 

Without needing a plane ticket to travel from the Caribbean to the Middle East, a unique table awaited me, featuring food from both Jordan and Ukraine.

The cuisine from the Middle Eastern country had fine choices, and the cuisine from the region is “different” according to Deena, who manned the table – but requested to use only her first name.

“We use different spices, and we mix flavours that you think you cannot mix,” she explained. “The moment you try it, you can feel that you are somewhere in the desert, somewhere in an Arabic country, and it smells really good.”

Deena said the fruits of her labour had her cooking for “a couple of days” — this reporter would hate to think it would be all for naught.

It sounded like a challenge to entice me – but what she didn’t know is my circle of friends were from that area of the world in high school – so let’s see how these treats stack up.

Sfiha lahme was $5, and it almost resembles a wrap, served with spicy beef, baby arugula lettuce and veggies rolled up in a flatbread.

With the option of eating it hot or cold, I opted for the latter.  Although it probably tasted better with a little heat, it still packed a punch. Edometre score: 4.2 stars. 

I also had yalanji, which are stuffed grape leaf rolls filled with white rice and veggies. Having tried a similar version when I ate at a friend’s house some years ago, these were tasty. My only grievance is this version of the rolls weren’t as big. Edometre score: 3.9 stars.

Other dishes served there included shish tawook, a chicken shish kebab recipe, desserts and Arab coffee. 

Ukrainian cuisine

After stuffing my belly with trips to two drastically different parts of the world – I decided to stop in Europe for some dessert.

The Ukrainian table offered dishes ranging from sweet pastries as well as a staple among Ukrainian tables – borscht, a meat stock, sour soup. 

Liudmyla Polyvana, who headed the table, told me the efforts of the newest table prepared a lot of food, but people in the country enjoy the practice.

“We like to prepare the food,” Polvyana said. “Whether it’s preparing cakes or pancakes.”

With the last of my money available, I decided to try trubochki – a waffle rollup with condensed milk and whipped cream. 

Sweet and full of flavour – I came back for seconds, thirds and fourths.  This might have been as close to a five-star review as I can give. Edometre score: 4.7 stars.

Taste of Fort St. John took place on June 28th at the Fort St. John Curling Club.

Read more FSJ Eats with Ed here.