Old Habits fish sauce from Vancouver Island is true Canadian umami

Nathan Gawalko left high-end restaurants across the world to bottle ancient traditions of fish, salt, and time on British Columbia's coast.

J.P. Karwacki

2 avril 2025- Read time: 6 min

From a facility on Vancouver Island's Port Alberni, a coastal town where fishing boats dot the inlet visible from his office window, Nathan Gawalko is practising something nearly lost to time: traditional fish sauce fermentation.

It's taken enough time as it is for Nathan to acclimate himself to a slower pace. Five years into running Old Habits—one of Canada's very few fish sauce manufacturers—he admits with a laugh that he still hasn't fully adapted to the waiting game that defines his craft.

"It was great for the first couple of years," he says about trading kitchen chaos for fermentation's languid rhythms. "Then I started to miss it. I don't know what to do with that excess energy."

Article réservé aux membres

Découvrez Montréal autrement. Rejoignez la communauté The Main.

Lisez cet article gratuitement.

Entrez votre courriel pour débloquer votre premier article et recevoir The Bulletin, notre infolettre sur la bouffe, l’art et la culture locale.