Hello! My name is Susan and I am your substitute blogger for today. You may know me from a place called The Great Balancing Act. Now, just because Angharad is away does not mean we can get out of control here! No, no, my friends. I have a curriculum to stick to. Thankfully, Angharad has established a pretty darn fun one ;)
Angharad has her work cut out for her, Eating for England and all. Well, what you may not know, is that I’ve been Eating for Atlantic Canada!! I’m from New Brunswick, born and raised. Most people hear Atlantic Canada and think potatoes. Well, that’s true. There’s a lot of potatoes. But we’ve got some fun stuff too! So I’m here to show you some of our local delicacies (note – that term is used loosely here!)
Hands down, the most fun food you’ll find around here are fiddleheads.
Basically, they’re young ferns that start popping up everywhere in the late spring. Pictured here, they are simply sautéed in olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. I find they taste similar to asparagus or broccoli, and they’ve got tons of protein to boot!
Next up: blueberries!
We’ve got a lot of blueberries ’round these parts. It’s the second largest crop in New Brunswick and the largest in Nova Scotia. Oh, and there’s also a giant blueberry.
Speaking of giant statues of food we eat…
This creepy monster is just a short drive from my hometown. Shediac also hosts the annual lobster festival. You can just wander down to the wharf and buy lobster fresh from the water. It doesn’t get much better than that people.
Don’t get the wrong idea though, not everything is so fresh and healthy! We have a strong French influence in these parts. Except our French food isn’t quite what you’d find in France. A prime example of this would be poutine.
Poutine is quite simple, just three delicious ingredients: fries, gravy and cheese. And with that combo, how can you go wrong?? It’s a Quebec dish, traditionally made with turkey gravy and cheese curds. But there are many places that specialize in dozens of poutine variations.
Vegetarians may want to turn away for this next one – the donair.
There are of course many variations of the donair, but this Halifax creation is well known. The meat is sliced off a vertical loaf, and slathered in “donair sauce” made up of evaporated milk, sugar, vinegar and garlic. They are notorious for being huge, saucy and messy. Definitely not something you order on a first date :P
If “sliced meat loaves” in flatbread aren’t your thing, you can still partake in the deliciousness that is donair sauce. It’s also a common dipping sauce for garlic fingers.
This notoriously greasy dish is made up of pizza dough, garlic butter and cheese. Almost always ordered as a side when getting pizza take-out. And like pizza, almost always best eaten cold the next day :)
So there you have it! Some wonderful (and questionable) foods from the Maritimes that aren’t just potatoes!
Can’t wait to see what local Texas delicacies Angharad is being treated to! :)
Question of the day: What’s your favourite local dish?
