Meet the couple making hand-made pasta in the Okanagan

For couple, Emirhan and Cansu Kolburan, their culinary journey is nothing short of extraordinary.

From their humble beginnings in Turkey to becoming sought-after pasta makers in Canada, they have truly embodied the spirit of hard work and passion. Emirhan, a former head chef, and Cansu, a former pastry chef, both brought their expertise to the table, creating Okanagan Pasta Company.

They use the freshest and locally sourced Canadian ingredients, free of GMOs, which is a testament to their commitment to quality and sustainability.

“Our wheat is ground in Vancouver bi-weekly, and it's shipped here,” Emirhan told Kelowna10. “Then we put the entire contents of the wheat in, mix it with water to shape them, dry them and package them the day after. Every pasta we can produce in a week is pretty much sold out within a month.”

Their new retail shop is the culmination of three years of hard work and dedication. Although artisan pasta has gained popularity in recent years, some people are still intimidated by cooking with it. Emirhan believes people just need to get their hands on it to overcome their fear.

“It is not popular enough for sure. There's so much attention on it, but people are still kind of scared… intimidated by it,” he explained. “They only know one type of pasta that they've been cooking for years, and they've seen their mothers do it. People need to get their hands on and learn. And once you cook it a few times, you're very comfortable around it.”

However, Emirhan also noted making pasta is a skill that takes a lot of time and practice. While the machines they use come with pre-set recipes, it can take a year or two to perfect.

“There's a lot of engineered improvements coming to these machines,” he explained. “It’s very efficient to start with, but every artisan has one or two years at least to perfect one recipe.”

When asked about his favorite pasta to make, he said it’s the ravioli, because it requires him and his wife to work together in sync.

“It takes time to understand two humans interacting that way. But once we got used to it, we don't even talk about who does what,” Kolburan said. “One just sheets the pasta, the other one fills it, folds it, and freezes it. So, it’s a really nice process.”

Okanagan Pasta Company’s grand opening at 12-1515 Westgate Rd in West Kelowna is on Saturday May 13.