In the kitchen of a popular Indian restaurant in Maple Ridge is where spice magic happens.
Since 1993, Joginder and Swarnjit Shah, owners of GM Restaurant, have been perfecting their spice blends to make flavourful Indian curries, using only fresh ingredients and the recipes taught to Joginder by his mother back in a tiny village in India.
Now, they have passed the torch to their son, Manvdeep Shah, who has founded a spice company, Shah Foods, and he will be at the Ridge Meadows Home Show sharing the his family's recipe with the community and beyond.
Every day, Manvdeep makes the spice mixes by hand in the kitchen of the restaurant. Half of each mix is used at the restaurant and then he packages and boxes the rest to be sold at local retailers.
Usually the spice mixes are used for curries, he said.
"But the nice thing about spices is you can kind of use it for whatever you want," he said. "Then it's really up to how creative you want to be in the kitchen."
"Butter chicken mac and cheese is really popular," added Shah.
Shah is excited to be a part of the Ridge Meadows Home Show this year. He explained that he grew up at the home show because his parents used to be a part of it every year.
At the home show sampling area he will be featuring a butter chicken sauce, prepared at the restaurant that morning, served with a little bit of rice.
Shah will be one of eight businesses featured in the sampling area of the home show, which will be the first area visitors will walk through when they enter the show.
Checkers Premium Fudge will be handing out samples of their sweet treats, Hothead Sauce will be sampling their small batch hot sauce handmade in Maple Ridge, and Infusion Soy Sauces will have their traditionally Japanese brewed soy sauces.
Island Jerky will have different flavours of beef jerky, Kizuna Sauces based out of the Okanagan will be featuring a variety of soy sauce and more, along with Nutri Haven, a company that sells premium olives, nuts, and Mediterranean desserts.
Finally Zoomer's Myco Powered Foods will be showcasing their super mushroom health mixes.
Debbie Bradbury, sales director and event coordinator with the show, explained that most businesses will make a single appearance at the home show because their businesses soon grow and they are no longer dependent on trades shows.
Checkers Premium Fudge, though, has been a part of the home show since the sampling area since it started, about eight years ago.
"They do well with us," said Bradbury. But, they never had a store front and only sold their items at trade shows.
Infusion Premium Foods has also been with them since the beginning.
Bradbury noted the sampling area is where people can purchase items not typically sold in stores and brand new products.
It so popular with vendors, they call her to request a table, and with only 10 spots available, it sells out very quickly, she said.
The Ridge Meadows Home Show – which features the trade show; the Family Fest complete with amusement rides, live entertainment, and a monster foam party; psychic and wellness fair; food truck festival, and much more – takes place in and around the Albion Fairgrounds.
The event runs May 2 to 4. It’s open from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Parking is free. The only admission fee is for the home show component of the event, which is $5 per person or $8 for families.
