Slow Food in Canada: lobster and caviar

Slow food in Canada: the neighbor gets crab, lobster, caviar and salmon

A Slow Food menu in New Brunswick reads like a Who's Who of the tastiest seafood delicacies the Atlantic coast in Canada has to offer: crab, lobster, caviar and salmon - fresh or smoked - are on the table. But that also includes such exotic side dishes as ferns. Yes, you have read correctly. In New Brunswick and northeastern New England, one eats ferns - more specifically, the Fiddlehead ferns, which are harvested each spring in the wetlands of New Brunswick and Maine.

Lobster, caviar, and salmon in Canada don't represent luxury, but rather a connection to nature and the people who live there. In many regions, culinary delights are an integral part of daily life and closely intertwined with the landscape. Our guide shows how such moments of pleasure can be incorporated into a journey through Canada. Canada travel tips for connoisseurs, which provide an overview of regions and types of travel.

Canadian products from the neighborhood

The products often come directly from the neighbors, from their own garden as in the Rossmount Inn with chef Chris Aerni or directly from the forest like the ferns. Chris was born in Switzerland and lived with his wife Graziella for many years in Australia before settling in Canada a few years ago. Since then he has been on a mission that has earned him a nationwide reputation as one of the country's best slow food chefs. He represented Canada at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in the year 2010 and was there to show the astonished guests from all over the world how varied the Canadian cuisine is. It comes quite surprising to light.

 

 

On a culinary shopping tour of New Brunswick

We had the great pleasure of being introduced to the regional specialties of New Brunswick cuisine by Chris for a day. Over lunch at a small crab kiosk, he told us what he values in his cooking: fresh produce from local producers, short transport routes, traditional regional dishes, and home-grown exotic herbs, salads, and vegetables in his own garden.

To achieve this goal, Chris is constantly searching for local, regional, and traditional ingredients that have been used here for centuries, and in the case of the Native American population, even longer. He also draws on new products that, while derived from local animals, have only been available in this form for a few years, such as the exquisite Breviro caviar. He will give us an afternoon's insight into the culinary specialties offered by the region around St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, where his inn and restaurant are located.

Lunch at Ossi's Lunch

We stop at Ossi's Lunch, a small street kiosk at a larger parking lot on Highway 1, where the "best seafood in North America" ​​is advertised. I look at Chris questioningly, who laughs and says: “Let yourself be surprised! Here's the freshest seafood from the Bay of Fundy! ”And indeed: the crabs that we eat from the plastic bowl taste fantastic and whet the appetite for more.

 

 

Salmon smokehouse by Oven Head Salmon Smokers

Just a few meters away lies the salmon smokehouse of Oven Head Salmon SmokersDebbie Thorne, the owner, shows us how the Fundy salmon is processed. The salmon is delivered daily fresh from the farms, where he is fed mainly with herring, and smoked immediately after the arrival at Oven Head over maple smoke. The salmon receives a particularly fine aroma, which we appreciate during the rest of our journey. Oven Heads salmon keeps popping up on the road, be it in the delicatessens on the City Market of St. John or the menus of the restaurants we visit in the next few days.

 

 

Sturgeon from Breviro Caviar

And then Chris shows us something very special: Breviro Caviar's sturgeon hatchery in Pennfield, just a few kilometers from St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. Here, they breed a species of sturgeon that is almost extinct: Acipenser brevirostrum. This fish species is found only in the St. John River, which originates in northern Maine and flows through New Brunswick to the Bay of Fundy. This sturgeon has been on the endangered species list since 1967.

Breviro is the only facility in the world where this fish is farmed. The animals are carefully and sensitively raised to breeding maturity. The Breviro crew knows each animal intimately. Only when the females reach the right age is the caviar harvested. This is seasoned with sea salt from the Bay of Fundy. It is then packaged in cans and shipped to delicatessens around the world. A great rarity and delicacy that certainly comes at a price. Depending on the type of caviar, 30 grams of Breviro caviar, or one portion, costs between 95 and 143 Canadian dollars.

Slow Food in Canadian

After our visit to Breviro, Chris tells us that Slow Food in Canada can also be free. "In spring, we go out into the damp areas of the forest. That's when the young fiddlehead ferns sprout from the ground. We harvest them while they're still fresh. For a few weeks, fiddlehead ferns are also available in local supermarkets. We make them into a fresh salad as a side dish. Or we cook them like vegetables." We're not allowed to try the ferns ourselves. We're traveling at the wrong time of year. But we, too, get to enjoy fresh ingredients from the forest. Chris says goodbye to us. "I have to leave you now because I still have to collect mushrooms for your dinner."

Let yourself be pampered with Slow Food on a road trip through New Brunswick in the Rossmount Inn by Chris AerniOr stop at the Old City Market of St. John Look out for smoked salmon and fresh crab. Breviro's rare caviar is also available there.

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Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Arrival:

Arriving by plane with Air Canada, Condor and Icelandair fly from Germany to various airports in eastern Canada.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Hotels:

Hotels in around St. Andrews-by-the-Sea* not far from Cape Enrage you can book through our partner booking.com.

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Discover more travel tips for trips to savor on our blog TravelWorldOnline.

Source: Own on-site research. Kindly supported by Tourism New Brunswick and Chris Aerni of the Rossmount Inn in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea. Our opinions, however, remain our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline