When Maria Aryan was growing up, food was a big part of her family life. Her dad is Persian and her mom is German, and both love to cook.
“The kitchen’s always the best place to be in the house,” Aryan said. “It smells good, there’s good food and a real sense of family.”
Instead of a simple jelly sandwich in her lunch, she would occasionally find eggplant stew and rice.
“It was definitely a lot different than a lot of kids growing up,” she said. “I took it for granted when I was little, but now I appreciate that my parents took the time to put something together with love.”
That upbringing instilled a passion for good food, something Aryan now shares with the community with her Fork food truck, which she opened last summer. It’s seen regularly at the Creston Valley Farmers’ Market, the Picnic in the Park concert series, Baillie-Grohman Estate Winery (every second Friday) and Faramon Farm (Thursday and Friday lunch), as well as special one-time events, such as this weekend’s Shakespeare in the Park (or Something Like It) VI.
“If more stuff like this keeps happening, I’m 100 per cent behind it,” she said.
Her food has become popular, with a burger the only constant on the menu. Aryan tries to have a chicken and pork option, as well — Argentinean pork is a feature this month — along with salads and popsicles. And don’t forget about the cheesecake.
“Cheesecake has a soft spot in my heart,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful and more people should eat it.”
All of the food Aryan serves is homemade, using only local products.
“All of the ingredients, with the exception of oil and salt, come from here,” she said.
She even makes her own sauces.
“It takes a little more time, but it’s worth it,” she said.
Aryan grew up in Creston, and left after graduation to backpack around Europe, where she studied in Finland and Germany.
But a chance viewing of the Pixar Animation Studios film Ratatouille, in which Remy — an anthropomorphic rat — dreams of becoming a Parisian chef changed everything.
“I saw that and said, ‘I’m that rat!’ ” Aryan said.
She enrolled at the College of the Rockies culinary school in Cranbrook, and went on to work at Victoria’s Rebar (vegetarian), and Vancouver’s Burgoo (comfort food) and Beaucoup (French bakery).
“I’ve managed to work in some really awesome places,” she said.
During her time away, Aryan kept vacationing in Creston, wanting to move back. When she and her brother got talking about opening a food truck in Creston, her plan was clear.
Her brother, an engineer, built Fork to be as efficient as possible — it runs off a battery instead of a generator, it has a sunroof for natural light and uses a flash heater instead of a hot water tank. And like every good chef, Aryan said, she cooks over an open gas flame.
Last year, she ran Fork until the end of September, and will be trying to stretch the season out longer this year.
And that will give her a chance to make even more happy customers — whose reactions make all the hard work worth it.
“I don’t want somebody to say, ‘That wasn’t bad,’ ” Aryan said. “I want somebody to eat it and say, ‘That was really nice.’ That’s the glorious moment.”
