Gaily painted Clapboard Houses in St John’s Newfoundland
Atlantic Canada Eats:
Newfoundland & Beyond
with Recipes that Jumped the Pond!
Twillingate Islands Newfoundland & Labrador
This time next week I will be in Newfoundland (Canada) with Lori Butler (The Island Chef) taking a tasting tour through her pantry as well as cooking alongside her and visiting some local foodie emporiums and local artisans! I will be the guest of the Canadian Tourism Commission as well as Erin Skinner & Amy Fisher of Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism and this fabulous trip is an opportunity to research how recipes “jumped the pond” from the UK to this part of Canada when the first immigrants made Canada their home after emigrating……..I will be part of a small posse of food writers and bloggers who are passionate about food and the historical aspect of food and recipe migration; as well as researching recipes, I will also have a chance to cook alongside some local chefs, taste the regional cuisine and visit this fascinating region…..it’s all very exciting and right up my street!
Typical Newfoundland and Labrador Cusine
This trip of a lifetime will culminate in a group “cook-along” in Halifax, Nova Scotia with the other food bloggers at the end of my time in Newfoundland and Labrador, as you will see from my itinerary below. The Atlantic Canada Eats Food Bloggers Posse comprises Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen, Aoife of The Daily Spud and Helen of Fuss Free Flavours. We are all being sent to different regions, and I am delighted to be covering Newfoundland and Labrador, a part of Canada I have always been fascinated with, and an area that was covered in one of my favourite books, Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News, and the subsequent film. Janice will be cooking her way around Nova Scotia, Aoife is exploring Prince Edward Island and Helen will be winging her way over to New Brunswick.
The Newfoundland coastline
My itinerary is as follows, and I will be posting regular updates and posts on Lavender and Lovage, as well as Twitter, Face Book and Instagram throughout my trip……with the hash tags: #AtlanticCanadaEats #ExploreCanada
Tuesday 27th May:
Arrive St. John’s Newfoundland – walk around the colourful battery or through the streets of old downtown, twacking!
Wednesday 28th May:
Meet The Island Chef for cooking and a tour of her pantry – this will include bottled rabbit, bottled moose and other various preserves. Lori will show me the many berries that grow here including bakeapples, partridgeberries, blueberries, black currants and gooseberries. We will choose some of the berries to make a dessert.
Adam Blanchard of Five Brothers Cheese will then join us for a cheese-making demonstration; the cheese we make will be incorporated into our meal.
After lunch, we will head downtown for a walk along Duckworth Street and a visit to the NL Chocolate Company for a demonstration of their techniques and a sampling of their fare.
EVENING:
St. John’s Food Tour: A taste of Newfoundland, old and new.
A guided food tour through the streets of Downtown St. John’s. I will visit four of the top restaurants in the city and taste their specially selected offerings with a paired beverage and an explanation of the dish.
A gastronomic experience unique to Newfoundland; a sample of our cuisine, both old and new. The establishments I will visit are their finest: they have received numerous accolades, including: En Route Magazine’s Best New Restaurant in Canada (2011), Two Gold Medal Plates NL Champions (2011 and 2012) and the Chopped Canada Competition Champion (2014).
Chinched: Tasting the fruits of passion
The tour begins with a ‘taste of the new’ at Chinched, an industry-leading, family-run establishment that specializes in contemporary bistro cuisine.
I will meet Chef/Owner Shaun Hussey and experience his unique charcuterie offerings. Every item is made by hand, from scratch. These tasty morsels are Shaun’s passion; he has served over 30 different types of charcuterie in his Bistro and has become a master of the craft. Shaun will meet with the group and discuss how the cuts are prepared while you enjoy his charcuterie plate with a paired libation.
Newfoundlandia at the Reluctant Chef
Next, stroll down to The Reluctant Chef for a taste of Old St. John’s. Chef Mike Boyd combines rich Newfoundland traditions with modern culinary innovations to create some of the most exciting food in the city.
Mike will meet with me and discuss his offering of traditional Newfoundland fare while you savour the food and wine pairing in the Reluctant Chef’s relaxed setting.
A St. John’s tradition at the Club
Our next destination is Mark McCrowe’s Club Gastropub for a special taste of a St. John’s tradition. Halliday’s blood puddings, mudder’s pickles and greens are paired with a Quidi Vidi micro brew to create a heavenly combination that is held dear to the hearts of many Newfoundlanders. The puddings are a true local treasure, with the Halliday family (local multigenerational family of butchers) using the same recipe for over 80 years.
Raymond’s: finishing up at the leading edge of NL cuisine
We finish our tour at Raymond’s, Newfoundland’s finest example of haute cuisine. Owners Jeremy Charles (Chef) and Jeremy Bonia’s (Sommalier) staff share a passion for building Newfoundland’s capacity for sustainable, locally sourced ingredients, and presenting them to their delighted patrons in an artistic fashion.
Raymond’s will present a sample of their rustic Newfoundland cuisine for your enjoyment, alongside a paired wine and an explanation of the exquisite craftsmanship that goes into the creation of each dish.
Thursday 29th May:
Depart St. John’s and head to Avondale beach for foraging and a boil-up. While in Avondale, Lori will show me the many wild edibles that grow along the shore and discuss their utility. After our walk we will have a traditional mug-up on the beach with smoked mackerel, fried Halliday’s white pudding, a cuppa tea and fresh made toutons with molasses.
Farewall dinner at Lori’s house where will enjoy a traditional Jiggs Dinner with all the trimmings.
Friday 30th May:
Morning activities include sights seeing with Amy Fisher and free time to experience and explore historic downtown St. John’s.
Signal Hill National Historic Site
Cape Spear National Historic Site (most easterly point in North America)
The Rooms, Provincial Museum, Archives & Art Gallery www.therooms.ca
Lunch: Chafe’s Landing, Petty Harbour for the catch of the day, Fish & Chips
Depart for Halifax, Nova Scotia early evening.
Saturday and Sunday 31st May & 1st June:
Meet up with other bloggers for a cooking weekend!
More details to follow next week.
Avalon Peninsula
So, PLEASE do follow my adventures as I cook my way around Newfoundland and Nova Scotia! The hash tags once again are:
#AtlanticCanadaEats
#ExploreCanada
See my posts and photos on:
Twitter: @KarenBurnsBooth
Face Book: Lavender and Lovage
Instagram: Lavender and Lovage
Pinterest: Atlantic Canada Eats
A lighthouse on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic
All images courtesy of Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism and Canadian Tourism Commission
The Northern lights over snow and icy water
Links to other posts:
Atlantic Canada Eats – A Nova Scotia adventure awaits…
Janice says
Wow, fab photos Karen. It’s going to be such a great experience, so glad I can share some of it with you.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Me too Janice, all the better for sharing! See you on Monday! 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
You are going to have such an amazing time. I can’t wait to follow your blog posts and social media updates all about it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Dannii! It will be a wonderful experience!
La Torontoise says
Karen, this is Canada in its purrest form:-)
I know Nova Scotia andHalifax & Lunenburg food highlights, but never been to Newfoundland.
Hope the weather is great. Enjoy your tour! Nature are magnificient there.
All the best!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much! I am very excited about the trip!
La Torontoise says
PS. Thank you for posting the links to these local blogs! Again, have a great time!
Karen Burns-Booth says
De rien! Karen
Aoife @ The Daily Spud says
Fab looking itinerary Karen – looking forward to catching up (and cooking!) in Nova Scotia…
Karen Burns-Booth says
Me too Aoife! It will also be lovely to see you again as well!
Susan says
Newfoundland is one of my favourite places I’ve ever visited. Stunning, wild scenery and fantastic, down-to-earth people. You will surely fall in love with it too.
I must confess that my memories of the food are not that great! There were some lovely restaurants in St John’s when we visited, several years ago, but the rest of the island weren’t great foodwise for someone like me who hates fish and seafood. I had to either call in or phone in advance to make sure that they could make me a non-fish dish. I have never eaten so much chicken in all my life! Mind you, my husband, who does love fish, found the freshness and flavour of the local fish/seafood dishes to be exceptional. I absolutely loved the bakeapples/cloudberries, though.
Our favourite place, and one to definitely try if you ever return to Newfoundland, was Quirpon Island, where you stay in with other guests in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage, looked after by some of the kindest, loveliest people you could ever hope to meet (Doris, Madonna and the 2 Nelsons, etc). An extremely atmospheric, otherworldly, foggy place, where you can follow pods of whales around from the shoreline. Magical.
I would gladly go back to Newfoundland in a heartbeat. Can’t wait to learn how you get on!
Karen Burns-Booth says
WOW – what a great comment Susan! Thanks for your wonderful comments and recommendations too! As I am a HUGE fish and seafood fan, I think the food will suit me just fine, which is great! I am also REALLY looking forward to tasting the bakeapples/cloudberries, as I have never had them…..Stay tuned for my travel notes next week and I hope to get some great photos to share here too. Karen
Janie says
Not jealous, not jealous, not jeal… ah hell, who am I kidding??! I AM GREEN WITH ENVY!!!
Have an AMAZING time Karen, I’ll be hanging on your every word for every detail 🙂
Janie x
Karen Burns-Booth says
Well Jell eh Janie? I would be too in your shoes, but, I will try to bring a stick of rock back for you! 🙂
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
Hey Karen, you are going on my dream foodie trip. Seriously. Are you sure you don’t need an assistant to come along and hold your bags? I will be looking out for your tweet and recipes. Especially the island chef and the bottled rabbit, charcuterie and Raymonds. I want to hear about everything. Enjoy every moment Karen – you deserve it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks SO much Bintu – it would be great if you could have been my assistant, but sadly my husband had first dips and he can’t come either! LOL! I am beyond excited I can tell you…….Karen
AncientMariner says
Wonderful expedition Karen. Newfoundland is a marvellous part of Canada. I knew and worked with Newfoundlanders (Newfies) some time ago, lovely folk, down to earth, warm and friendly. Bon voyage.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks! I am very much looking forward to the trip and especially since you mention hoe friendly and warm the “Newfies” are now!
Lauren Hairston says
How fun! I’ve actually never been to Canada (or Mexico), even though we’re on the same continent. All of my international travel has been to Europe so far. I’d like to go someday and see all the places from the Anne of Green Gables books! (Those were my favorite growing up.) Can’t wait to see your photos and read about your adventures.
Karen says
Thanks Lauren, I’m in London waiting to fly out tomorrow now and I am very excited about visiting a country I have never been to before! Karen
Dom says
Oh honey. You’re just going to have the most incredible time. Be safe and enjoy! Can’t wait to hear all about it xxx
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Dom! I wanted to tell you so many times I was going, but was sworn to secrecy for months!!! I didn’t event know who the other bloggers were, with the exception of Janice, until a few weeks ago! Karen
Vohn says
Sounds like an amazing trip Karen. I can’t wait to hear all about the food – I’ve never even heard of bakeapples or partridgeberries! Looking forward to seeing all your wonderful dishes. Have a fabulous time. x
Vohn says
Oh and Canadian wildflowers too! Take lots of photos of them! x