I came to Newfoundland for the first time just over four years ago. I can still vividly recall taking the ferry across from Nova Scotia in the late winter, listening to the groaning sounds of the ice around the boat. Within two months of arriving I made my first trip to Bonne Bay, a remote fjord on the west coast of the island. I went to learn about the food system and fisheries in the region as part of a PhD program I was beginning at Memorial University that fall.
Maple syrup conjures up images of towering arboretums in places like Quebec or Vermont, but it’s a little known secret that the rugged and hardy maple trees of Newfoundland make darn fine maple syrup. With nothing more than a half dozen maple trees, some old salt beef containers and a handful of 25 cent metal tree taps, you’re good to go and can expect to end up with over a dozen bottles of hand made maple syrup.
Spectacular vistas, whales breaching, ice bergs floating by, and a foragers paradise. We are blessed with many wilderness areas that offer abundant edible plants. I rarely go on a hike without stopping to have a little taste of this or that. In this post, I will touch upon some of the edibles currently available in our wonderful wilderness.
Thanks to the listing from Seeds of Diversity, I was able to locate a gentleman in Newfoundland who has a great deal of experience growing a wide variety of potatoes here. Last week, I recieved by my set of samples from George, and here's what my benefactor told me about the varieties:
Red Dutch: A very dry, yellow flesh red from Holland in the 1940’s. An excellent potato. Late maturing.
Northern White: A white flesh variety, from Quebec apparently, from the early 1900’s. Very high yield. Good taste.
Friday January 23- Saturday January 24 join some of the provinces best chefs, pastry chefs and musicians for an awesome winter weekend of activities at White Hills Resort. Eat The Hill is a fantastic weekend of food, wine, dessert, coffee and music.
Can you imagine a whole weekend dedicated to celebrating the amazing food, culture, land and sea of Newfoundland? This is happened last weekend along the rugged coast line of the Bonavista Peninsula, where hundreds of root cellars that have survived many storms and many years are scattered throughout the landscape, adding an incredible charm to the region. The Roots, Rants and Roars Food Festival in Elliston was doing just that. During the weekend, Elliston was filled with passionate people and chefs from all around the country to celebrate the flavours of the land and sea, while local music was filling the air.
Dan Rubin's enthusiasm is infectious. A former teacher and curriculum designer, now a writer, musician, and seed company owner, Dan runs Perfectly Perennial Herbs and Seeds on the edge of the ocean at his Pouch Cove home. Growing for seed and consumption on the lot behind his house, as well on an adjacent lot shared with four neighbours, Dan currently stocks eight seed varieties of flowers and vegetables alike. The passion and creative energy that Dan puts into his project yields results. He's interested in growing as much as possible in our windy, wet, and cold climate, which means that he uses as many tricks and tools as possible to make that achievable.
Check out the new video " The 100 Mile Nautical Diet" encouraging you to enjoy the variety and value of seafood available off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Restaurants and home cooks are showing renewed interest in what our waters have to offer and CURRA's new video is a great place to start learning more. CURRA's "The 100 Nautical Mile Seafood Diet is a short video, directed by Anne Troake, that promotes dialogue about ways to build a diet heavily reliant on food from the sea around Newfoundland and Labrador, including both traditional and contemporary uses."
