Indigenous food in high demand in Vancouver, but remains hard to find
Big City Bannock is taking the streets by storm with its new food truck, and Vancouverites are hungry for the flavours they are finding.
Raymond and Hannah Yamelst are serving up Indigenous staples like bannock, salmon, elk and venison, and various types of the increasingly popular “Indigenous taco” consisting of bannock loaded with meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream and lettuce.
They also serve innovative treats based on traditional foods, such as their bannock crunchers, cinnamon twists, cherry-stuffed bannock and huckleberry hibiscus lemonade.
“I love coming up with ideas,” Raymond said. “I’ve always been very creative, so I love to just think of these new things and what’s going to, honestly, just what everyone’s going to love.”
Despite the growing popularity of the food, there are very few options when it comes to ordering Indigenous food. When compared with similar-sized populations in Vancouver, such as Latinos, the options are notoriously sparse – while there are dozens of Mexican restaurants in Vancouver, there is only one Indigenous restaurant.
The couple began selling bannock and Indigenous taco kits out of their home kitchen in October 2023, mainly to their community on Facebook. To their surprise, the business took-off immediately.
“It seriously just went crazy,” Raymond said. “People started ordering over and over, nonstop.”
The food truck is the latest addition to the quickly expanding business, making sell-out appearances at various places across Vancouver since opening last month. They also do catering and online orders and hope to establish a brick-and-mortar restaurant within the year
Grand opening draws crowds despite rain
On April 6, Big City Bannock had a grand opening celebration outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of the Indigenous Artist Market.
The event began with a blessing from local Indigenous knowledge keepers, prayer and a land acknowledgement. The Love Medicine drum group followed, accompanied by powwow dancers.
“The dancers went hard, in the rain, it was absolutely amazing,” Raymond said. “We just had a lot of fun. We had a huge amount of support out there.”
Despite the pouring rain, hundreds of people ventured outside to attend the event.
“As soon as we opened our doors, we had a big lineup. We couldn’t keep up for the first hour or so,” he said.
Clare Smith attended the grand opening and said she has been ordering from Big City Bannock since they began delivering meal-kits nearly a year ago.
“The venison skewers are incredible,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve tried them.”
Smith said accessing Indigenous food is important to her as her husband and son are Blackfoot, and she came downtown just for the food truck. She said it is difficult to find bannock and other Indigenous foods in Vancouver and generally has to find it online.
Food an important part of cultural identity
Raymond said making and serving Indigenous food is an important part of his identity and allows him to connect with his home. “When I’m eating bannock, it just reminds me of growing up on the rez with my cousins and grandma,” he said.
Raymond wants more people to be able to access Indigenous foods, saying that finding space to fry bannock can be difficult and finding affordable Indigenous food at restaurants is nearly impossible.
“We are on Indigenous land here,” Raymond said. “And there’s just not enough of it out there,”
“So we’re just trying to spread some more awareness. I’ve met so many people today who actually never had bannock, never had elk, and they were just blown away,” he said. “Let everyone try this beautiful food, right?”
Clayton Yamelst, Raymond’s brother, also attended the event as a vendor to sell jewelry. He said although the weather hampered attendance, he was glad to be there. “Culture brought us together,” he said.
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