After driving through the somewhat boring landscape of Quebec with its broken roads things livened up as we hit miles and miles of green as we entered New Brunswick. Living in Super Natural British Columbia, I think it was my spidey senses, too (I can’t confirm that though).
This being my first time on the east coast, everything has been one big east vs. west comparison. Firstly, I’ve never seen this many cemeteries or churches before (that I’m questioning whether we’re on a culinary tour of the east coast or something else…). I like how most houses are kind of English-like in the way you climb up the stairs for your second level instead in the west where you go downstairs to the basement. Even more so the prices of the houses compared to the Okanagan and BC! There are a lot more gas stations during the drive compared to Kelowna to Vancouver for example, it turns out that I don’t swear as much as I thought I did, and the buildings have a lot more character and history compared to out west.
After a pit stop in Norton, New Brunswick, it was off to some fall camping at the Bay of Fundy for a few days. We managed to convince Mel’s cousin, Jenny, and her friend, Devon, to join just for a little playtime in the tide pools followed by a camp cook out. I honestly don’t believe that supporting local has to mean more expensive – the moment you start growing or foraging your own food, magical things start to happen and you begin to look at food in a different light.
It was a pretty grey and windy morning, but none of that mattered as we ventured into the bay. Time seemed to fly by as we carefully treaded and overturned rocks and patiently waiting for edible goodness to appear when the tides went out. We lots of life in the pools from baby soft-shelled crabs and periwinkles (a small snail that’s sweet and delicate), to different species of seaweeds. To my knowledge, there are no toxic species of seaweed, so that’s good enough for me to taste away as I stroll.
I’m all about stories and adventures rather than things. That’s also how I dream up my dishes – I’m someone who needs to have an experience – then it’s my job to translate that sense of time and place onto a plate. My mind immediately starts racing with what I would potentially do with the periwinkles that I’ve not tasted or cooked before. Hmmm, a simple garlic butter made more exciting with one of my house-roasted spice blends would do the trick, but how about I season it with dulce?
After Jenny’s boot got stuck in the mud moments after informing us that they were her dream wellies, we decided to head back to camp to start a campfire. One thing on the menu was a Canadian split yellow lentil daal or Indian lentil stew or soup. This is my ultimate comfort food and my Mum would always make it for me when I was sick. Canada is one of the world’s largest producers of lentils, which is pretty badass. We harvested a lot of dulce, so I wanted to season the lentils with that for a taste of where we are and start figuring out how salty the Atlantic is compared to the Pacific, which is warmer.
As we splashed our way through the sand and turned over rocks, it was cool to hear how we’ve made quite the impression on our budding food geeks. Jenny and Devon commented on how they’ve never taken the time to explore their own land and they’ve learnt so many things after just one afternoon with us.
Next up is the recipe for the campfire daal.
Stay tuned.
