B.C. LIQUOR DISTRIBUTION BRANCH Touring a liquor lover’s heaven

By PAT RICH

THIS IS maunly an article of facts and figures, but oh. what memories it evokes. For I have been to that place where the cases of premium Scotch reach to the sky and where rye pours forth from giant's vats.

What we are talking about here is a tour of the Liquor Distribution Branch of B.C.’s distribution centre at 3200 East Broadway, taken earlier this month.

It is surely

the one

building in the province that makes a liar of anyone who

would claim that British Columbians don’t drink much.

The floor space of the centre is about the size of five football fields. At first it looks like any large warehouse or aircraft hanger until you realize that those are cases of liquor that are stacked to the ceiling all around you.

According to the branch, the centre handled eight million cases (that’s cases) of liquor and wine last year. Liquor for much of the province passes through this

building on its way to various liquor stores.

Daily shipping volumes range from 20,000 to 45,000 cases (that’s daily and cases).

On the day the media toured, only 15,000 cases were being shipped, although we were told that the entire stock of the building is emptied out and replaced about every two weeks.

With such volume being handled, the main feature of the centre is the efficiency of scheduling.

Trucks bring the liquor from bonded warehouses and are quicly unloaded.

food

A new way to poache

Tip from a startled lady whose dish-washer turned into a fish-washer: use heavy duty foil!

Remember my breakfast egg’? With the cheese and cream? I have a better one. Its from Margo Oliver, a Canadian cook much ad- mired for her good food.

When you have’ more experience. I will remind you to acquire one of her cook-books, but you would find at this stage they are not explicit enough about temperatures and times. Like many cook-books on the market, 1f 1s assumed the reader is already expert.

Wait all | write mine, boy, itowill take absolutely nothing for granted!

Anyway. the egg recipe It consists of an egg poached in butter and cream which ts lifted on to toast bearing a burden of broiled cheese and

is oin turn cheesed = and allowed a couple of seconds under the 9 broiler The moming | tred it 1 followed

the recipe which is for two and it

eggs was more breakfast than | needed Better at Sunday brunch ot for a quick Tight supper if you served at with a stir fry of vegetables. of a bowl of spinach

So turn the bromer on and grate half a cup e250 mba of Swassoon Csruvere cheese for cach cep vou use bor the eee use a shallow saucepan tan ce pomcher would be nleall that has a lid oor clse a small skallet that will wear Something else s tid

Inte this pan put a quarter cup COO mb oof dapht oream

gy

erorrvietoet: ol fis contort

Wiere (oles ROBE)

and private consultation

If th Shove Sole

remove hair permanently

Room 217B Medical Dental Bullding 1940 Lonsdale,

- od, \ Amerlien North Vancouver [et | \ . t ) ~ - MO

the kitchen

ranger

Godley

and 1'% tsp. (7.5 mL) of butter and turn the heat on under it, medium. Put some wholegrain bread in the toaster and break the eggs into the cream-butter mixture, and clap the hd on. Reduce the heat to simmer.

As soon as the toast pops. butter it and put half the grated cheese on it and slide it on a cookie sheet or flat pan in under the broiler Look at the eggs and spoon some of the cream them

over

The minute the cheese is melted take the toast out, and as soon as the eggs are set (well, jiggle them, eh”) lift them and the cream out on to the tosst. spnnkle on the rest of the cheese and

give it seconds under the broiler just to the melting pot.

980-1510 SUSHI, SUKIYAKI, BEEF - TERIYAKI

‘=, MANYO

japanese restaurant Lic PE NSEL) PREMISES

I8O0 EAST 2ND ST NORTH VANCOUVER

Marie Stafford qualified and certified siectroliogist invites calls for a personal

Ase

( d Cg 33 Od POCO

private COogsultations Cry enpepratriterescit cored ting barnes and arching eyetrows

fem tal lengn aris

tamene

Closed Mondays 980-2022 929-4468 (res )

The cases are then stacked and cross-referenced ac- cording to aisie. Orders for various liquor stores are then compiled, cross-checked, and shipped out at the other side of the building.

One section of the warehouse is set aside for high volume products. These change according to the time of year and, as our guide explained, “what's trendy”.

“Bailey's Insh Cream went crazy on us,” he said by way of example.

It may be interesting to note that Olympia beer is currently the number one product being handled by the branch, in terms of volume. Schloss Laderheim is the highest volume wine currently being shipped.

The warehouse is the main part but not the only part of the distribution centre. It is here that the LCB bottles its own brand of rye and other liquor.

smelled strong drink,

In a room that strongly of

$

Out on to the warm plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne or Tabasco and wow.

Company for breakfast isn't such a bad idea, you know — it leaves your

evenings free!

SUMMER BONUS

THE AMAZING C G —E HEAT PUMP NOT ONLY SAVES YOU MONEY IN WINTER BUT REVERSES ITSELF AND BECOMES AN AIR CONDITIONER IN SUMMER

FOR MORE INFORMATION CAL!

C9 - Sunday, May 16, 1982 - North Shore News

hquor is taken from a huge stainless steel tank labelled “Fine Old”, and quickly bottled on an_ ordinary assembly line. Outside the room is an area marked “Emergency Shower” and one wonders if this is used when an employee cannot control himself any longer and jumps into one of the tanks.

It is at the centre that the branch also fills many of its orders from restaurants and other licensed establish- ments.

Upstairs are the business offices and a tasting room where a panel of six em- ployees tastes new products to help judge which will be added to the LCB product

106 West 3rd St North Van BC Phone 984-9741

Have your kitchen Rem

OIL USERS

You have just experienced your most expensive winter ever.

And with natural gas prices rising 65°. the past year, conversion to this fuel may be economical. Pump is the most cost effective way to heat your home and can save your more than 60% heating bill And your pay for your CGE Heat Pump inyust 4 years

‘800 BONUS

not

The

Dukes and Bradshaw Mechanical Ltd. 1495 Pemberton, North Vancouver, B.C. ‘988-6126

Canada will pay towards the cost of a heat

Users

list. Since about 40 products were deleted from the list last year, about 40 will be added this year.

In a room adjacent to the lasting room = are racks containing bottles of the 629 brands of liquor, wine and beer from which the 40 will be chosen. Also adjacent is a laboratory which the branch hopes will soon be used for spot checking products.

Not all the liquor in British Columbia is shipped through this warehouse. But as you stood in an aisle surrounded by cases of your favounrite wines, liquor and hqueurs. you could well believe you had died and gone to liquid heaven.

KITCHENS VANITIES COUNTERTOPS APPLIANCES CERAMIC TILE

a

dellied now!

A CGE Heat

on your

savings can

government of acturally $800

your

pump for ofl

A QUALITY PRODUCT FROM:

Canadian | General Electric

Outside Greater Vancouver neral ble 1 % 60

4) 255 651)