Edible Maritimes #5 Winter 2022-23

edible maritimes

the land ~ the sea ~ the people ~ the food

Take Comfort NO. 5 WINTER 2023

Member of Edible Communities

Every great dessert begins with eggs

Cranberry Layer Cake Chantilly Light vanilla sponge cake layered with the tang of cranberry and topped with sweet whipped cream make this dreamy chantilly the perfect finale to any celebration.

Cake: 6 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder

utes. Stir together flour and baking powder; add to egg mixture in three additions. Divide batter between pans. Bake in preheated 350°F (180°C) oven until cake springs back when touched in centre, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn cakes out of pans; peel off paper and cool completely.

Filling: 1 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1/3 cup water

While cake is cooling, combine sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Stir in water, cranberries and apples. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until apples are tender and mixture is thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped 2 cups peeled diced apples Frosting 1 1/2 cups whipping cream 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease two 9-inch (23 cm) round layer cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper.

Beat eggs and vanilla with electric mixer at high speed until foamy. Adding sugar gradually, beat until eggs are very light, about 3 min-

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Just before assembling cake, whip cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and whip until stiff.

To assemble, split cakes to make four layers.

Place one layer on serving plate; top with ½ cup (125 mL) filling. Repeat with two more layers, placing last layer crust side up on top of cake.

Spread remaining filling on top. Frost sides with whipped cream. Pipe a border or decoratively spreah whipped cream around top edge of cake.

Chill up to four hours. Celebrate!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

HELLO FROM US

5

PANETA'Q

7

INDA'S MULLED APPLE CIDER Inda Intiar with a warming recipe

8

RECONNECTING TO PLACE Nick Chindamo on a moment in time

12

WHAT IS "BANNOCK"?

Cecelia Brooks on assumptions and recipes

14

HITTING THE MARK Cynthia Kennedy creates blends that bring joy

19

SEAFOOD STORIES Hana Nelson and Philip Docker are the change-makers we need

28

COMFORT FOOD Katharine MacDonald on winter warmth and a family recipe

32

LOCAL PROVISIONS Ambre Devolpi is rethinking what it means to be a chef

38

A NOODLE IS MORE THAN A NOODLE How a restaurant in Port Williams grew out of a love of comfort food

44

STOKING THE COMMUNITY FIRE Kim Tilsley brings people together around an outdoor oven

48

MIGNONETTE AND RHUBARB CORDIAL Two recipes for any celebration

On the cover: Hana Nelson and Philip Docker on the shores of Big Island This page: Sara sets the table Photos: by Dave Snow

hello from us We love winter—the way it tests our resilience while inviting us to get cozy. This fall, Hurrican Fiona swept through our region, testing our collective resilience. Communities all along the Atlantic Coast came together to support one another... the way we always do.

We hope this winter brings you some cozy respite from all of the hard work—whether it's layering on favourite sweaters, warming up by a fire, shooshing through fresh snow, enjoying a hot beverage or gathering around a big table with friends and family.

CO-EDITORS & DESIGNERS Sara & Dave Snow CONTRIBUTORS Sam Bartol Cecelia Brooks Nick Chindamo Inda Intiar Katharine MacDonald Jody Nelson Kim Tilsey

In this issue, as a counter to the occasional winter blues, we bring you stories to inspire new ways of thinking about things we might take for granted—words, recipes, and spice; food systems, the work of a chef and comfort food. Perhaps our Maritime resilience is the cure for those winter blues.

THANK YOU To all of you — our readers, advertisers, contributors, our friends and family for supporting local and independent print media. We couldn't do it without you!

As we head into our second year of publishing this magazine, we find ourselves consistently awed by the talents and stories of creative folks throughout the Maritimes.

SUBSCRIBE edible Maritimes is published 5 times a year. Subscriptions are $28 and available at ediblemaritimes.ca FIND US ONLINE ediblemaritimes.ca instagram.com/ediblemaritimes

Onward,

Sara & Dave

ADVERTISE WITH US hello@ediblemaritimes.ca ediblemaritimes.ca 506-639-3117 PUBLISHERS Sara & Dave Snow Steadii Creative Inc No part of this publication may be used without written permission by the publisher. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions.

If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us.

Thank you, © 2022 Steadii Creative Inc. All rights reserved.

Edible Maritimes is proudly printed in Canada on paper made of material from well-managed, FSC®-certified forests, from recycled material and other controlled sources.

Through 1% for the planet we contribute one percent of our revenue to environmental non-profits.

Photo: A Troyer Orchard apple looking out to the Northumberland Strait

by Dave Snow

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Photo: Resilience

by Dave Snow

Read it, love it, share it!

Please reuse and redistribute this magazine - read it again and again or pass it on!

paneta'q "a Mi'kmaw word meaning the sun is beginning to shine through the clouds... a very hopeful word" - Cecelia Brooks, Wabanaki Foodways Instructor Listen to pronunciation at www.mikmaqonline.org, an online resource for the Mi'kmaq language.

We respectfully acknowledge that we are in Wabanaki territory, on the unsurrendered and unceded traditional lands of the Wolastoqey/ Wəlastəkwey, Mi’kmaq and Passamaquoddy peoples, who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship which the Wolastoqey/Wəlastəkwey, Mi’kmaq and Passamaquoddy peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725 recognizing Wolastoqey/ Wəlastəkwey, Mi’kmaq and Passamaquoddy title.

We stand with them in their efforts for land and water protection and restoration, and for cultural healing and recovery.

Edible Maritimes WINTER 2023 5

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Inda's Spiced Mulled Cider In my household, the mulled cider is the go-to cozy drink when the weather cools down. It also reminds me of community, because this recipe was first taught to me by a friend. I’ve since added my own twist and shared this drink with friends and family.

Apple Cider — my favourite is from the Belliveau Orchard in Memramcook ½ - ¾ cloves ½ - ¾ allspice ½ - ¾ star anise Dash of cayenne pepper (optional) Orange slices optional 4 cinnamon sticks Half an orange washed and sliced thinly A splash of spiced rum (optional - it’s delicious either way!)

In a pot over medium heat, add enough cider for 4 large cups. Add cloves, allspice and star anise, and a dash of cayenne pepper for an extra kick (about ¼ tea spoon).

Add 4 cinnamon sticks and thin slices of orange.

Let it heat up, but don't let it boil. Serve with a ladle into mugs and top off with spiced rum if you please.

Enjoy!

RECIPE BY INDA INTIAR Inda is an Indonesian immigrant based in the part of Mi'kmaki that is also called Moncton, NB. She's a storyteller at heart, and loves writing about cultures and travels!

Fall 2022

7

Reconnecting to place Nick Chindamo pours out a warm summer day

T

he weather has begun to settle into consistently cool temperatures on Prince Edward Island.

Like clockwork—November 1st hits and my early morning forages are replaced by reflections on the past year, and the processing of the nuts, seeds, and fruits that we harvested throughout the late summer and autumn months.

I dumped a jar of dried Hogweed seeds out onto the table this morning and sat with them for a little while —thinking back to when I first brought them home. I picked up a small handful and crushed them between my fingers. When I closed my eyes and inhaled, I was transported back to a late summer day.

The sun rose early that morning. Its red glow flowed in through my window and lit up my face. I rolled out of bed, brewed a cup of coffee, and packed out for the day.

aroma I had picked up on from around the bend. It engulfed the area that I stood in, and I didn’t mind at all.

I remember stepping back and just admiring it for a few moments. Its features stood out in extraordinary ways among the other umbellifers in the area, and it really impressed me (probably more than it should’ve, I’ll admit). I eventually filled my bag and continued on—perfectly content with the day’s find.

Though I didn’t find the Rabbit Tobacco that I was looking for that day — I found exactly what I was looking for, that day.

Nick Chindamo is a wild food enthusiast, avid outdoorsman, chef/storyteller in Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island), Canada.

After a few hours of driving, I pulled over along the outskirts of the provincial park, popped open my trunk, and pulled out my waders. I was on the hunt for a patch of Rabbit Tobacco and needed to cross a fast-moving river to find it. After double checking my topographic map, I established a route that began with a 50-yard trek upstream to a grassy access point—and got to walking.

When I (finally) hopped out of the water and onto the bank, I noticed a smell. An unusual smell. A little gingery... a bit like cardamom… maybe a bit citrusy, even?

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large plant tucked in behind a stand of alders. It really wasn’t hard to find, as it towered above the shrubs in the area. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talking about. Of course, Common Hogweed (Heracleum maximum)!

I walked over and brushed my hand across the hundreds of seeds that sat in clusters where the flower once was. They clicked and rattled like a set of wooden maracas and released puffs of that unique

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The word borscht is rooted in the Eastern European word for the Common Hogweed plant as well as the soup made of its leaves and stems. Once dried, the seeds of Common Hogweed have a flavour similar to that of cardamom.

WORDS AND PHOTOS

BY NICK CHINDAMO

WINTER 2023 9

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WINTER 2023 11

What is "bannock"?

Cecelia Brooks on the comfort of food and the importance of language

I

n the Wabanaki Territory there is a comfort food that is relatively recent in its origins. This is a simple bread with many names such as lakalet, luskinikn, four cents or more generally opan or opanisik.

Lakalet (La-gah-led) is a word used by the Wolastoqiyik with its origins coming from the French word for flat bread - la gallette.

Lakalet is cooked in a cast iron frying pan on top of the stove while Mi’kmaw luskinikn (Loo-skin-e-gen) is usually cooked in an oven. In the early 20th century Mi’kmaw called bread cooked in a frying pan “Four Cents” as it cost about 4 cents to make.

Opan is a more general word for bread in the Wolatoqiyik language and I remember my father asking me to make opanisik (ah-bahn-ee-sik) and I knew he wanted individual servings of pan fried bread rather than a large loaf that filled the pan.

Wabanaki as these government rations replaced the traditional food systems of hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering and gardening. Loss of food sovereignty was the gateway to the loss of political sovereignty as the Wabanaki People were no longer able to feed themselves but rather dependent on the government rations for survival. This dependence on these foreign foods has significantly contributed to the prevalence of diabetes, heart disease and other food related chronic diseases. (National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health 2010/2013) Across Turtle Island (aka North America) there is a resurgence of Indigenous Nations returning to the traditional foods of their ancestors as part of a cultural revival. Many communities are relearning wild food harvesting and cooking techniques as part of a broader renaissance of their Indigenous cultures.

Prior to contact with the European Settlers the Wabanaki did not eat wheat flour. Our ancestors would have made unleavened breads with flours made from a variety of starchy tubers, grasses, nuts and maize. Wheat flour was included in the government rations that were distributed to the Wabanaki in the late 19th century when they were sequestered onto reserve lands. Lack of access to wild harvested foods forced the Wabanaki to be creative with the ingredients in the rations. Wheat flour, lard, baking powder and salt were commonly distributed to the Wabanaki and they made do with what they had by creating fry bread for their survival.

So to answer the question “What is Bannock” we need to look at the Scottish and Irish languages that use this word to describe flat fry bread. I have never used the term bannock when speaking of the Wabanaki fry bread and this is probably because it is a relatively new term brought here by people of non-Indigenous ethnicity. Some Wabanaki people have adopted the word for simplicity, as most non-Indigenous people would likely be confused if we used the words lakalet, luskinikn or opan. However, I prefer not to use the word bannock since it is not a Wabanaki word and with our languages on the verge of extinction I would rather take the time to teach the pronunciation of our traditional word for our newly adopted but beloved comfort food.

Within the Wabanaki communities there are mixed feelings about fry bread as some fully identify with it while others consider it to be a reminder of the negative impacts of colonization. Colonization dramatically changed the lives of the

Cecelia Brooks is the Wabanaki Foodways Instructor at Hayes Farm in Fredericton, N.B.. www.hayesfarm.ca

Cecelia Brooks shares two Wabanaki recipes

Lakalet 2 cups all purpose flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon sea salt 4 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard (divided) 1 cup water Heat a medium sized cast iron frying pan on medium heat. In a medium sized mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients till thoroughly mixed. Add water and mix with a wooden spoon until just blended.

Do not over mix. Batter should be a bit thicker than pancake batter. Add 2 tablespoons oil or lard to the frying pan and swirl to cover the surface. Transfer the bread batter into the pan and spread evenly. Using a spatula lift the edge of the bread after about 5 min to check on progress. When the bread has a brown mottled crust carefully lift the bread and quickly add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and flip the loaf.

Be careful as you can splatter oil. To avoid the risk of splatter you can also make individual little loaves (see above, opanisik). Cook until the second side is mottled brown and thumping the top produces a hollow sound. Eat slathered with butter alongside Traditional Wabanaki Corn Soup. For a dessert bread slather with molasses butter made by mixing equal amounts of softened butter and molasses.

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Luskinikn 2 cups all purpose flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon sea salt ¼ cup sugar (optional) ¼ cup melted butter 1 cup milk Place a medium cast iron frying pan in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. You want the pan to get hot before you add the batter. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the milk (and butter if using) and mix with a wooden spoon until just blended. Do not over mix.

Carefully take the hot cast iron frying pan out of the oven and transfer the batter into the pan and spread evenly in the pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and brush the top with melted butter for added flavor.

Serve with additional butter and/or molasses.

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Hitting the mark As Cynthia Kennedy of Axe to Grind tells us, spicing things up should be easy

WORDS BY SARA SNOW PHOTOS BY DAVE SNOW

A

bowl of sea salt or a pepper grinder, a jar of chili flakes or turmeric, a sprig of rosemary or some cinnamon—commonplace on our kitchen counters or in our spice drawers—ingredients we rely on to add flavour, aroma and colour to our food. The spices and herbs we use in nearly everything we eat are at once mundane and extraordinary, some so woven into our lives while others hold unexpected, and often untapped, promise. Creating a perfect combination ourselves can feel like the ultimate win. Let’s be honest, who among us hasn’t raised our hands, fist bumping the air, when we taste something we’ve made ourselves and realized we’ve hit that flavour mark? We may not always hit it but every time we try we get a little closer to that joy.

For Cynthia Kennedy, spice mixologist and champion axe thrower, hitting the mark is something she strives for daily, and something she wants everyone to enjoy.

Kennedy worked for years as a butcher and buyer for Toronto’s Healthy Butcher while studying culinary arts at George Brown College. Preparing cuts of meat and other foods, working with suppliers and helping establish the company’s online business, Kennedy gained great appreciation for the role of spice in cooking.

“Nose to tail butchery,” she explains, “requires some

innovation in the kitchen to cook every piece properly and to season it nicely.”

In 2013, she and her husband Bob Kennedy, a Torontoborn and raised film editor, moved to Nova Scotia.

Kennedy had grown up in the Maritimes and the pair had decided it was time to move back. As they reestablished themselves, Kennedy took a job in industrial tools.

“Food, though,” she explains, “was always at the back of my mind.” It was when she started throwing axes that she found herself circling back to her culinary background.

Kennedy is part of the Nova Lumberjacks Society and a member of Team Canada's double bit axe throwing team. In 2019, she captained the team at the World Championship in Sweden where they placed fourth.

Kennedy swings the axe effortlessly over her head and just as the blade drops down towards her shoulder blades, she swings it back over her head again toward the target. Kennedy’s stance is solid, and every element of her throw appear as one fluid motion. As she pushes forward, she releases the axe and it sails, spinning forward, across the twenty feet and lands close to the bullseye. She makes it look easy, but her skill has come

Left: Axe to Grind Spud blend with make you love potatoes even more than you already do.

Above left: Kennedy prepares a caesar with her Spicy Caesar blend. Local designer Tom Crilley of Visual Communication Source who has designed a series of post-consumer resealable packaging that highlights each line of her spice blends.

Above right: Kennedy setting up to hit her mark.

from practice, competition and her love of the sport.

She is keen to share that love. “I am always so excited to introduce people to the joy of axe throwing,” she says.

Kennedy’s axe throwing career started at Darren Hudson’s Timber Lounge, a warm, inviting axe throwing space originally located on Halifax’s Agricola Street and now on Portland Street in Dartmouth. Hudson, a world champion log roller and a fifth-generation sawmill operator from Shelburne County, clears the bar so that Kennedy can mix some spice for us. “I love supporting our local axe throwers,” Hudson says. “And what Cynthia is doing with her spices is very cool.”

“When I started I was horrible, but I kept throwing and eventually improved,” she says with a smile. “I got a little more confidence and then the competing at the Worlds in Sweden came up. That’s when I started making spice blends.” Kennedy prepared packets of blends, sharing them with teammates to sell as a fundraiser. Not only did these blends get the team to Sweden, when she was laid off at the outset of the pandemic her spice-making fundraiser provided a springboard to launch her new career.

Kennedy spends days to months perfecting her spice blends. “I am very particular about ingredients,” she says. “It’s important to me that these blends offer a long shelf life,” she says, “as well as quality and flavour with no artificial additives, fillers or MSG.” Most importantly, for Kennedy, she creates spice blends that any home cook can use with delicious results. “Most of my blends are ‘add to meat, fish, or poultry’ or ‘add to veggies’ making it easy for anyone to get great results,” she explains, “adding spice should be simple.”

She opens a container of her poultry brine mix, which comes as part of a brining kit, and the smell instantly transports us to big gatherings around a festive table.

“For the holidays,” she says, “the markets are saying ‘send us your brine’”.

Kennedy has taken her spice mixing to a whole new level with a line of drink rimmers (think spicy caesar or tangy margarita) as well as sweet rimmers that are just as dreamy with a soda or a milkshake as they are sprinkled on sugar cookies or cupcakes. “I came up with these during one of the lockdowns,” she says. Her Axe to Grind blends also include a line of popcorn seasonings

Above: Kennedy serves up caesars.

Left: Roasted potatoes with Axe to Grind Spud blend.

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and a gluten-free and sugar-free line—her keto blends.

In her keto blends, she has carefully matched the taste of her original blends without those ingredients that rely on sugar or gluten.

Kennedy is thorough and dedicated but she is clear that she couldn’t do what she does, without her community.

Bob helps with everything from bookkeeping to deliveries, and recipe testing and trials. Her son is also a recipe tester, using her spices in his homecooking.

She contributes a portion of her sales to the Nova Lumberjacks Association, in Barrington, and sponsored an axe thrower from Saskatchewan to participate in 2022’s World Double-Bit Axe Throwing Championship held in Barrington, N.S., in August, 2022.

Kennedy says “the rockstars in my business are the folks at Flower Cart Group's What's Cooking? Commercial Kitchen and Co-Packing Services. Their whole team have made my company's growth possible.” Flower Cart Group, in New Minas, employs people with barriers to employment and have a full CFIA-certified facility. “They take my recipes and make my blends to my specifications,” she says. “They have been such a valued partner and I love how they do what they do.

More than that, they enjoy what they do, they have community, so I feel my blends are made with joy.”

As her business grows, Kennedy wants to support primary producers by sharing her joy of spice. “Some local foods, such as kohlrabi or sunchokes,” she says, “are a mystery to a lot of market goers. I want to show that there are fun and delicious ways to support our farmers and introduce folks to the wonders of seasonally available foods, with support materials like recipes.”

Speaking of joy, Kennedy says “there’s nothing more satisfying than throwing an axe across a room, whether you hit the target or not,” Kennedy explains. “It’s all about the letting go, on so many levels, so it’s irrelevant if I’m hitting the target. In competitions it definitely matters, but when I started I just wanted to throw an axe across the room.”

For Kennedy, hitting the mark is just about the joy of trying. Whether it’s mixing a new blend of heat to sprinkle on popcorn, or meeting friends for some double bit throwing, it’s all about the joy doing it.

Axe to Grind Foods axetogrindfoods.com @axetogrindfoods WINTER 2023 17

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Shop Local 18

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Seafood stories Hana Nelson and Philip Docker, innovators in our local food supply chain, inspire us to go further

WORDS BY SARA SNOW PHOTOS BY DAVE SNOW

WINTER 2023 19

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B

ig Island, N.S., is connected to the mainland by a long sandy causeway—a beach that stretches for two kilometres to an island tucked in along the Pictou County shores of the Northumberland Strait.

In the early hours of September 24th, Hurricane Fiona made landfall with reported wind gusts of 179 km/h at nearby Arisaig. The Canadian Hurricane Centre reported the central pressure dropped to its lowest measurement on record for a landfalling storm. Massive waves washed out the road—knocking the breakwater, and the beach, onto the road—and in some areas ripped the pavement up into chunks, making the road impassable.

Two weeks later, on a morning where the wind is little more than a breath and the sea is gently rolling up along the sand, the causeway road is clear and the rocks that serve as the breakwater are piled high once again. Along Big Island, as through much of Pictou County, the clearing of fallen trees, piles of newly cut wood, debris and twisted siding, remain as evidence of Hurricane Fiona. The sound of chainsaws is now commonplace throughout the region.

Just before we turn down the road to the farm where Hana Nelson and her husband, Philip Docker, live with their children, we pass a crew clearing the remains of an old barn. Nelson knows the one. She tells us of her neighbours who are mourning its loss, like the loss of an old friend. Big Island residents are no strangers to big storms, or washouts, but this one was especially fierce.

Nelson describes the wind coming out of the north as something long-time locals, people who had weathered many storms, had never experienced.

“We had a line of pines and they’re all gone,” Nelson says as she points toward the edge of their property.

Thousands of trees were knocked down throughout the region. Fortunately, Docker and Nelson had put ties on their solar panels for Hurricane Dorian in 2019. They are completely off-grid and maintained power through the storm. Their oyster farm infrastructure, on the other hand, did not fair as well. The powerful winds and waves swept oyster nursery cages down the bay and tossed oyster equipment and an entire building into the bay. Over the past two weeks, their team has recovered a lot but some will be irrecoverable.

ShanDaph Oysters is Nova Scotia’s only solar-powered

oyster farm. Docker’s grandparents helped to reestablish the growing and harvesting of oysters along these shores, setting native oyster seed through the ‘60s and ‘70s.

These matured into productive oyster beds and in 1999 Docker established ShanDaph Oysters, a name derived from his grandparents’ names—Shan from the WWII pilot flight name of his grandfather Everett and Daph for his grandmother Daphne.

With a degree in marine biology, Docker returned to Big Island and has been farming oysters here for nearly twenty-five years. He picks up a couple of oysters from a load that will be going back out to the water and traces the lines on the oyster shell with his fingers. “These lines are weather damage,” he explains, “a storm maybe.

Like a tree,” he adds, “I can track how much growth by the markings. This is year one for this one,” he says as he picks up another, “born in June or July, the next year it put that much growth on.” Docker is clearly at one with the ecology of this place. “Philip,” Nelson explains, “is really good at knowing the water and what species are setting. He places indicator shells in the water, checking them every day.”

“ Mother nature controls food and feed,” Docker adds, “ all we control is access.”

The conditions oysters grow in is key for Docker. “It’s their merroir,” he says, “like terroir.” Merroir, a term Seattle Times food writer Greg Atkinson coined in 2003, like terroir, refers to the local conditions where seafood is raised. For an oyster, merroir can include tides, local food sources, growing techniques, salinity, climate and the seasons. Here, on the Merigomish Harbour side of Big Island, Nelson says, “rivers feed fresh water into the bay providing for a high level of nutrients, well-suited to oyster growing. The shallows get a higher water temperation,” she adds, pointing to the bay, “so we have great conditions for growing.”

“Mother Nature controls food and feed,” Docker adds, “all we can control is access.”

The work of growing and harvesting is ongoing in the oyster business. This morning, in addition to post-storm clean up and recovery, the ShanDaph crew is tending to the oysters. Alex Bouchie, who has worked for Docker

Previous page: Hana Nelson with a handful of growing oysters Top Left: Alex Bouchie tending to a line of BOBRs, with a row of conventional grow-out units and a row of BOBRs in the foreground Bottom left: Amy Hill and Nelson survey the recovery process on shore WINTER 2023 21

for several years, is pulling into shore to pick up a load of oysters for the growing units that float in the bay like buoys.

Conventional oyster growing in the Maritimes typically involves off-bottom culture, floating bag systems called grow-out units. Rows of floating units­­—long, rectangular buoys—is a familiar site along the coasts of this region. While capital costs are higher up front, than bottom growing, the grow-out suspension system helps avoid predators and pests, provides lower risk of siltation, and better access to nutrition and tidal flow in the water column.

After working with these grow-out units for years, Docker became concerned with the challenges of oyster farming—from the heavy lifting that limits who can do the work, to the defouling process (removing barnacles and other organisms that restrict water flow and access to nutrition), sorting, tumbling and sinking cages. He began experimenting with different sizes, shapes, and materials, working on a system that would improve

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efficiency, quality and worker experience. Local professional engineer and oyster growing enthusiast, Ernie Porter, took an interest in Docker’s work and the two partnered to create a new mechanized system that involves a smaller, cylindrical cage, called the BOBR. The timing was perfect. Bouchie had just returned to the region with a degree in aeronautical engineering from Carleton University and the skills needed to get Docker and Porter’s designs to a manufacturer. Docker and Porter formed Dockport Ltd. and launched BOBRs commercially along with a custom work platform, which their team affectionately refers to as “the boat”.

Like grow-out units, the BOBR units are used on static lines or as intertidal tumblers. Because they are smaller they are easier to handle. Their cylindrical shape makes rotating them from the side of the boat to defoul in fresh air and sunshine easier. The BOBR work platform mechanizes the process, drawing the BOBR cages from the water on a conveyor belt simplifying defouling, tumbling, harvesting and resinking. Their shape gives the BOBRs a lower profile on the water providing for a

clearer view and less availability for bird landings.

Both the BOBR and the new work platform are game changers in the oyster farming industry. A 2016 Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (a producer-driven, decentralized competitive grants and education program in the U.S.) study that compared cylindrical-shaped cages with other experimental shapes, found that a cylindrical design dramatically reduces manual cleaning. Evidence of this is not only in the increased efficiencies, it is the experiences of the ShanDaph team itself. Bouchie and co-worker Amy Hill agree BOBRs are easier to work with. Amy Hill, who started working with ShanDaph in 2021 says “it’s easier to grab the BOBR.” Hill is a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Agricultural College in Truro, N.S.. She explains that most of the students in the agriculture and aquaculture programs at the school are women. These fields are transforming, partly because of the women, like Hill, who are digging into them.

“I majored in animal science and aquaculture,” Hill explains, “and my professor told me about the work Docker was doing and suggested I contact him.” Docker partners with the school and providing internship opportunities to students. “Last summer, two of our three interns were women,” Nelson says. “The BOBRs make a huge difference, making it possible for more women to take up this work.”

Hill started working with Docker on DockPort’s BOBR cage project in 2021 to help other oyster farmers transition to this new technology. “Farmers don’t change technology overnight,” she explains, “but these are designed to make it easier.” The BOBRs are designed to fit the bags that are used in conventional grow-outs providing for a smooth transition.

Nelson and Docker share a passion for sustainable food systems and processes. They met at Halifax farmers’ markets where Docker was selling his oysters and Nelson local seafood. Nelson grew up on her family’s farm outside of Ottawa and when her parents moved to Switzerland for work, Nelson followed them to Europe and did a masters in agro-ecology in Norway and France.

“My interest was food systems,” she explains, “and this program provided a multidisciplinary approach. I did my thesis on food insecurity and rising food prices and how that affects the poor in Sri Lanka, examining how people were responding to economic challenges.”

Nelson brought her economic lens to the food supply chain in Nova Scotia and took a position as a Food Transition Officer with the Government of Nova Scotia. It was a one year contract and just long enough for Nelson to “learn there is a bounty of agricultural producers here to do business development with, or to call for a local event,” she explains. “But when it came to seafood,” she adds, “there was nobody to call. There were very few seafood stories in our local food system.”

She was curious about the appetite for local, traceable and sustainable seafood and opened a small fresh fish counter at Halifax’s Local Source Market in 2014. It turned out there was a big appetite. “I had two employees at that time and I thought let’s take all of this interest and make it easier to access,” she remembers. When faced with the decision to open her own retail space, “ She bought a one-way she landed on a delivery model, inspired partly by ticket to Montreal... and a refrigerated truck she came back... with a new found online. She bought way of getting local a one-way ticket to Montreal to pick it up and seafood to the people.” came back with the truck and a new way of getting local seafood to the people. She launched Afishianado Fishmongers with a fish subscription program where customers could sign up for a Big Fish Box or a Little Fish Box and a wide selection of local, sustainable fish and seafood; along with the stories behind them. “In the first week I had a hundred people,” she says.

As Nelson engaged with sustainable and traceable seafood suppliers she developed a relationship with Sustainable Blue, a salmon fishery in Burlington, N.S., that raises salmon without antibiotics or growth hormones in a unique land-based ecosystem. “They are doing something different and they want people to share their story with their wider audience,” she says.

“To process their salmon I started a processing plant in 2016 and I realized that if you want any traceable, sustainable seafood,” she explains, “you have to buy the whole catch, piecemeal doesn’t work for seafood, it's perishable.”

The demand for sustainably-raised salmon continued to grow and she partnered with Chad Poirier, artisan fish smoker, to set up Afishianado’s salmon smoking facility in Bedford. When we visited Afishianado Fishmongers'

Far left: Bouchie sorts oysters to put back out in the water Left: Docker pulls out a BOBR for defouling WINTER 2023 23

newly renovated space in Bedford, product development manager Peter McChesney and processing specialist Dave Lewis, were setting up the brand new slicer.

McChesney, a geologist and self-described largesystems enthusiast, grinned as he took us back to the large, gleaming slicing machine. The size of it suggests they slice a lot of salmon in a week. “We do about 140 pounds a load, five days a week and until now,” McChesney said. “This machine will be 60 to 80 times faster,” he adds. With a background in fishmongering for large retail chains and five years of processing at large fish and seafood company, Lewis started here in 2021 and explained he’s enjoying being part of a smaller company. “I’m seen as a person here,” he said, “and I really like working for a smaller, local company.”

At the front of the shop, Sam Bartol, Afishianado’s director of consumer fulfillment, was stocking shelves with local and sustainably-caught or -raised seafood.

When he first started with Afishianado he was making deliveries and said “I liked the interactions I had with everyone - people are excited about what we do.”

Afishianado’s operations director Laurie Starr joined the company early on. In a post on Afishianado’s blog at her five year anniversary, she wrote that “Afishianado has provided me with an outlet for my contribution to the sustainable seafood movement.” “The fate of the human world,” she added, “depends on the ocean’s persistence to thrive with life and abundance.”

It is impossible to talk about seafood sustainability without aquaculture. “When you look at the 2.6 billion that we brought in for seafood in Nova Scotia last year,” Nelson says, “and then look at the world where 60% of seafood is from farmed sources. If we’re not farming now, this won't last, that 2.6 billion will be gone.”

The development of oyster aquaculture in Nova Scotia has lagged behind other provinces. “Farming like this is huge in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island but hardly anybody does it in Nova Scotia,” Nelson explains. The Government of New Brunswick estimates oyster leases cover 2,700 hectares and P.E.I. estimates 2,953 hectares of oyster leases. Nova Scotia’s oyster production is a fraction of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island’s, something Nelson suggests shouldn’t

Top: Ben Zavitz, heads up Afishianado's processing and delivery Bottom: Afishianodo smoked salmon for sale at the Warehouse Market in Halifax

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be the case, considering the “length of our oystergrowing appropriate coast line here.”

So what’s the hold up in Nova Scotia? There are several possible answers. One might be a resistance If we're not farming now... to aquaculture in the “ this won't last.” province. In 2016, the Nova Scotia government placed a moratorium on any new aquaculture leases while they did a regulatory review. The moratorium was lifted a year later but new leases have been slow to come. “In Nova Scotia, we tend to be more open to farming the land, than farming the sea,” Nelson says, “maybe because we are more likely to be connected to a farmer.” Or perhaps it's partly the optics of it. While we are familiar with, and value, views of grazing sheep or rows of corn or kale, floating rows of oyster cages may be startling to those who are unfamiliar. For those of us who have grown up along coasts where aquaculture is a familiar site, the floating symmetry of oyster cages is often a beautiful reminder of the work that goes into growing our food.

Just as agricultural farmers are engaging innovative, sustainable and ecologically sound farming techniques, some aquaculture farmers are as well. And, in the case of oyster aquaculture, science backs it. In their 2007 “Habitat Management Qualitiative Risk Assessment: Water Column Oyster Aquaculture in New Brunswick” for the Oceans and Science Branch of Fisheries and Oceans, Bastien-Daigle, Hardy and Robichaud concluded that water column oyster aquaculture is of low risk to the productive capacity or the ecological integrity of fish habitat. In fact, they suggest that “oysters in aquaculture can potentially be of significant benefit to these estuaries and can help to restore many important ecological functions which were reduced following the historical decline of natural populations.”

While the provincial moratorium on aquaculture leases was lifted, Bouchie, who has worked for Docker for years, applied for his own license in 2019 and is still waiting for a response. “Alex is the kind of person,” Nelson explains, “that we should be giving licenses to.

He’s young, he grew up here, he’s smart and he wants to do this. Plus, he works for us so we can help. It would be awesome,” she adds, “but how do we get young people to do this if the licensing process is so slow.”

Top: Dave Lewis preps a box of seafood for delivery Bottom: Peter McChesney packing Nova Lox, their cold smoked salmon

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For Bouchie, an application process that claims to take three-months has been a years-long wait.

Another factor that contributes to the slow uptake of aquaculture in the province might be, as Nelson points out, the lack of “accessory industries”. “While oyster farming is an industry with all of the necessary accessory industries in N.B. and P.E.I.,” she explains, “such as seed selling, distribution, welders, none of that is available here. You do it all yourself.” As more people take up sustainable farming, this must change.

Where will your next move take you?

Docker and Nelson and their teams at ShanDaph and Afishianado are creating a space for people to engage with sustainable techniques and local growing. Whether it’s through signing up for a Big Fish Box or employing DockPort’s BOBR technology to increase efficiencies, their teams are providing important opportunities for approaches that our planet needs now.

As it swept through the region, Hurricane Fiona highlighted the urgency of community-based sustainability. While people in Port aux Basques, N.L., are forced to find new homes, and the Cape Breton community of New Haven pick up the pieces after their fish plant was nearly destroyed, it is clear we are in the midst of a climate crisis. Their commitment to innovation and sustainable systems place Docker and Nelson at the forefront of much needed change making.

As the Conference of the Parties, or COP, convenes in Egypt, one of the key issues they are discussing is our collective ability to adapt to climate change and build resilience. Docker and Nelson and their incredible teams are teaching us just that. Through their stories we might learn how to live on and with our changing planet in a more sustainable way.

Afishianado Fishmongers afishianado.ca DockPort Ltd. dockportltd.com ShanDaph Oysters shandaph.com

Lucas Haughn Exit Realty Inter Lake

luke.haughn@exitinterlake.com 902.212.2558 list_with_lucas

Become an Ecology Action Centre member today!

Join a growing movement for a better future Since 1971, the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) has been taking leadership on Atlantic Canada's most urgent environmental issues. Help us protect the communities and natural spaces we all love and rely on.

How to join?

Call or email Emma Moore of EAC’s membership team.

Call: (902) 429-2202 ext. 107 Email: membership@ecologyaction.ca Or sign-up online: ecologyaction.ca/become-member

Top left: Nelson discusses sustainable seafood on the shore Bottom left: Docker at home in the bay

Winter Comfort Katharine MacDonald revels in winter coziness and shares a special recipe

WORDS AND PHOTOS

BY KATHARINE MACDONALD 28

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I

n the Maritimes there is little that is so predictable and yet unpredictable as our seasons. At the time of writing, here on Prince Edward Island, having just passed the halfway point between the beginnings of fall and winter, we are experiencing unseasonable warmth. Halloween saw trick-or-treaters merely wearing their costumes, unencumbered by the begrudged-butnecessary snowsuits of years past. As we approach the closing of the year, the weather still smacks of patio drinks and citronella candles. What gives away the approach of winter is the light. Shadows grow longer along with the night. Sunset and sunrise intrude deeper into daytime. Soon enough, the cold will follow.

While there are nuances to the seasons from one Maritime province to the next, there are some shared experiences. The long, niveous winters; the slow ascent into muddy, yet cheerful springs; the short but intense summers; and the similarly brief but beautiful autumns. Growing up on Prince Edward Island, I would characterize our winters as such: prone to excessive albeit fluffy snow, and of generally milder temperatures with cold, damp, persistent wind. Somehow, I find myself looking forward to it immensely!

Not everyone enjoys winter. Aside from the cold (and the resultant home heating costs), many people resent the slowness that comes with winter. Contrasted with the Maritimes’ on-season, the bustling and vibrant latespring-to-early-fall, the expanse of winter (especially post-Holidays) can feel… quiet. Some might say dreary. The long nights, the theft of daylight, can also be wearisome. People might reluctantly feel inclined toward inactivity. Acknowledging seasonal changes, however, can help to mentally reframe the season, and embrace uniquely wintertime experiences. Take what you like about winter, and do even more of it. Boost your sense of hygge — a Danish and Norwegian word describing a state of coziness and contentedness. Hygge doesn’t require buying new or spending more – just tweak old habits and shift some attitudes.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to see the slowness of winter as a much-deserved break. Research suggests our circadian rhythms change with the seasons, with more sleep needed in the winter. Rather than feeling guilty about wanting to curl up under a blanket when the sun goes down in the late afternoon, I’ve come to see it as an indulgent winter comfort. To truly commit to indulging properly, consider a few small adaptations to your snuggly setup. In our living room I like to have a basket of blankets and throws of varying weights and

materials. Next, consider lighting options in every space: keep things low-Kelvin in winter. I like a mix of lamps, candles, and sometimes string lights - whatever enhances coziness. In the absence of a wood stove, I put on “crackling fireplace” ambient sounds to listen to while I work. I cut fresh branches of cedar and pine for vases, since fresh flowers feel a bit too out-of-season. I always have crafts (I prefer embroidery, you might go with a knitting project) and books nearby, so that I can relax and be cozy without being completely idle.

Aside from recalibrating our living spaces, one of the best ways to embrace winter is to adapt one’s diet.

Honouring and celebrating the seasonality of food and drink isn’t just for the harvest seasons - there are so many ways to enjoy the comforts of winter dining.

Follow the lead of your local farmers market: bring home root vegetables, leeks and onions, hardy greens, squashes, and apples. Make hearty, comforting foods like stews and soups, pastas, risottos, savoury tarts and galettes, pot pies, shepherds’ pies, and warm grain bowls with heaps of roasted winter veggies. When you’re craving something fresh and light, keep salads seasonal with ribbons of carrot, crisp apple, or thin slices of beet and radish.

Winter offers no shortage of sweets. To infuse wintery comfort into everyday foods, take cues from Yuletide (an ancient Germanic name for that time that stretches from the solstice through to midwinter, and often associated with celebration and feasts) and make use of candied citrus rind, chocolate, warm spices, cranberries, nuts, dried fruits, and jams. To mugs of drip coffee, add steamed milk spiced with nutmeg and frothed in a French press - or better yet, steamed eggnog. In a morning bowl of warm oatmeal, combine chopped candied orange with melty dark chocolate chips. Make bread pudding with panettone or gingerbread, and pair it with a rummy brown sugar sauce. Perfect your favourite warming winter drinks, like a Brandy Alexander, Gluhwein, a Victorian-era Milk Punch, a Hot Toddy, or hot buttered rum. (Or one of my favourites, eggnog with Jagermeister - “Jag Nog.”) If you’re alcohol-free, try hot milk with honey or maple butter and spiced with nutmeg and clove.

For wintry weekend brunches, I’ve enjoyed substituting eggnog in many recipes, including eggnog french toast, eggnog pancakes, eggnog Dutch babies, and eggnog crepes. It adds a richness and flavour that turns any breakfast food into a distinctly wintertime treat. For me, a perfect winter brunch would include my German-

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Canadian grandparents’ crêpes, switching out the milk for eggnog, with raspberry jam and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar, then rolled up and cut into coins. To fully commit to our family’s German-Canadian traditions, I’d serve these crepes with mugs of coffee, cheeses and cured meats, a plate of sliced radishes and cucumbers with salt and pepper, bowls of pickly things, a selection of mustards, halved boiled eggs topped with anchovies, and toasted caraway rye bread with salted butter or liverwurst.

Of course, not all winter blues can be cured with pinches of nutmeg or beeswax candles, and there are many reasons why folks find winters challenging. It’s a season that can feel isolating for many. In the Maritimes, it takes a certain resilience to weather the cold season together. More than any time of year, we need to marinate in togetherness. It’s the perfect time to get to know neighbours, invite a few friends over for an impromptu kitchen party, and follow through on those plans to go for hot chocolate and a hike through snowy woods. Reveling in winter comforts means acknowledging our needs as they shift through the seasons and honouring them with a balance of rest and activity, of introspection and indulgence. Give yourself the chance to appreciate what winter has to offer.

Before you know it, the crocuses will be blooming amidst the snow.

Egg Nog Crêpes

My grandparents immigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1950s, eventually becoming farmers on Prince Edward Island. While they weren’t able to find certain German foods until they were later imported in the 1980s and ‘90s, they were able to make many foods at home with what was available. They would bake homemade rye bread with caraway seeds, make their own sour cream and yogurt, grow vegetables like cauliflower and cabbage, and of course, make pfannkuchen for breakfast for my mom and her siblings.

Nanni’s crêpe recipe is comprised of “ones and threes,” so it’s pretty easy to remember. It’s a heartier crêpe, more substantial than the ultra-thin pancakes you might see at European crêperies - ideal for a long day working on the farm.

In the winter, I’ve taken to using eggnog for a richer crêpe with that extra hint of holiday flavour.

Combine all ingredientsn (see left) in mixing bowl, sifting flour to avoid clumps. In small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter, keeping warm on the stove. In a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat, pour a small amount of melted butter and swish around the pan to coat. Ladle out approximately a half cup to a cup of batter into the pan, depending on the size you’d like. Swirl the pan around to allow the crêpe batter to coat as much area as possible, creating a large thin crêpe. Fry until the batter becomes matte on top and lightly browned underneath. Flip and allow to cook through, for approximately 15-30 seconds or until lightly browned. Replenish the pan with a bit of melted butter before starting each new crêpe. Depending on the size and thickness, this batch should make approximately 6-10 crêpes.

To serve, lay one crêpe on a large plate. Spoon a generous amount of jam (ideally raspberry or black currant) and spread evenly over the crêpe. Sprinkle cinnamonsugar (or nutmeg-sugar) over the jam. Roll the crêpe and cut into coins.

For Eggnog Crêpes: 1 cup AP flour 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup egg nog 3 eggs Optional: a pinch of nutmeg, clove, or cinnamon Melted butter for frying Jams and spiced sugars for serving

Katharine MacDonald is a freelance researcher, content creator, writer, and crafter. She lives in Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island with her husband and pets.

Masstown Market masstownmarket.com 10622 Nova Scotia Trunk 2 Masstown, Nova Scotia

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Local provisions Ambre Devolpi gets us thinking about serendipity, community and what it means to be a chef

WORDS BY SARA SNOW PHOTOS BY DAVE SNOW

F

rom Ambre Devolpi’s left bicep, flowers grow out of a human heart — “an homage to how we are all organic and mechanical,” she says. The tattoo is based on a drawing she did when she was younger, tattooed on her arm by a friend when she was eighteen, her first tattoo. For Devolpi, a woman constantly in motion and ever-focused on her own evolution as a chef, this heart fits.

Cheese and plans Devolpi is the manager and chef behind Spice Box Comestibles, a cozy shop filled to the brim with fresh and local bounty, and pulsing with energy from the centre of Water Street in St. Andrews, N.B..

Devolpi’s path to the kitchen hasn’t necessarily been a straight line. She fell in love with the art of the sandwich at a young age, imagining she'd open a sandwich shop some day. She worked at the Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market through high school, among other jobs, alongside fellow vendors and experts in cheese and meat from across the province. “At 15,” she explains, “I was working at the market between Ferme du Diamant and Fromagerie au Fond du Bois, tasting great charcuterie and meat and cheese.”

Food was central at home too. She refers to her mom as “Mama Lasagne”, because she welcomed everyone to the table. “My friends always knew they could stop in,” Devolpi remembers. “My mom would say ‘There’s food in the fridge, help yourself and stay for dinner’. The more the merrier. Everyone just gets a smaller piece of lasagne and a bigger salad.”

Despite the centrality of food in her life, she set her sights on nursing after high school. “I was fascinated with science and health and the human body,” she explains, “but I wasn’t sure I had the grades. So, after graduation, I thought I’d move to France and eat cheese for awhile.” She did apply to several health services programs before she left. When submitting her application to NBCC’s St. Andrew’s campus she had to pick a second program. “I had gone to an open house,” she explains, “and watched a class in the large, shiny kitchen. Students were flambéing things and I thought that’s what I want to do.” She put the culinary arts program down and went to France.

Not long after arriving in Paris, while sitting at a café, her phone rang. “I looked at it and thought I can’t answer this,” she says, “I don’t have roaming.

Then it rang again.” It was the NBCC and they had Left: Water Street in St. Andrews waking up on a summer day.

one spot in their culinary arts program. But there was a hitch—the program started in three days. “I flew home the next day,” she says with a smile, “and drove here for orientation and I loved every single minute of the program.”

The education of a chef NBCC’s Culinary Arts program brings students from around the world to develop culinary skills and experience. “It was a very immersive program that gave me the opportunity to experience so much,” Devolpi explains. “I got to work with very cool chefs who inspired me to be creative with food, to treat food like art and see where it goes,” she adds. Throughout the program and outside of class, Devolpi ate up every opportunity to work at local restaurants including the Rossmount and Europa. St. Andrews covers the gamut of food experiences and Devolpi embraced all of it.

After graduation, Devolpi set out to see where her culinary skills could take her working in restaurants in Fredericton, then Montreal with its endless culinary possibilities. She returned to Fredericton. “I was looking for a kitchen where I could be creative,” she explains. On a weekend visit to St. Andrews she walked into the local whole food shop to find owner Elaine Stewart serving up hot soup. “I thought, If I could run a shop like this,” she says, “that’s what I wanted.” Stewart, who was turning her attention to other projects, had just hired someone to run the shop but the possibility stayed with Devolpi and months later, at Fredericton’s midwinter Shivering Songs Festival, the stars aligned.

Devolpi ran into that person Stewart had hired and learned she hadn’t taken the job after all. She emailed Stewart right away and within days had a new job.

“That was the first week of the pandemic, March 2019,” Devolpi recalls.

Tidal flows and inventory tracking Behind the counter at the Spice Box, Devolpi slips easily between english and french as she talks to Lena, her prep cook, and answers a call from a supplier in Memramcook. Devolpi sources products and ingredients locally, bringing in produce from local farms, fish and seafood from local fishers and growers, as well as from across the province, and throughout the Maritimes.

Running a shop in St. Andrews requires an innate sense of the near tidal transitions of life in a seasonal seaside town, one that can grow to thousands in the summer and drop to hundreds in the winter. “When I came to work here,” Devolpi explains, “It was like going

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back to school—learning how to receive product, track inventory, order product, and dealing with different suppliers.” Devolpi says she has learned from the best.

“Elaine is my mentor,” she says of Spice Box founder and owner, “I could not have asked for a better person to teach me the ropes of how to run a business.”

“My history is fine dining,” she says. “I wasn’t a home cook. I didn’t make lasagnes and potato salads. Now I can, Elaine has taught me. When I went to culinary school I thought my sandwich shop idea was silly,” she adds, “but a sandwich is such a glorious thing.”

Her heart on her sleeve St. Andrews has always been a special place for Devolpi.

She grew up in Fredericton, about 130 kilometres north, spending time as a child in this seaside town. “This place has always been really special for me because my parents met here, by chance,” she explains. Her dad, who grew up outside of Montreal, had driven his Westfalia across the country and found himself here where Devolpi’s mom, who was from Edmundston, was visiting friends with her sister. “It all just perfectly tied together here,” Devolpi says with a smile.

Devolpi met her partner here as well. He works in navigation on tankers that travel between Canada and Europe, with long stretches at sea followed by long stretches at home. Dropping in to the local general food shop for a sandwich can be just the thing to recenter oneself after a long time away. This is how they met.

Devolpi was behind the counter and, for two weeks, “he stopped in every day,” Devolpi says, “He disappeared for another few and reappeared.” It didn’t take long for the two to acknowledge their mutual interest in each other and it is not surprising that a sandwich brought the two together. The two live in the ebb and flow of a life on the ocean merged with a life serving up goodness from a shop by the sea.

Come into my kitchen Devolpi’s heart tattoo is her first tattoo but she explains her favourite tattoo is one that reads “NB Pour Toujours”.

She is one of a generation of inspired creatives in this province, and throughout the Maritimes, who have embraced their local full-on.

Devolpi is committed to sustaining that home-kitchen feel Stewart has created at the Spice Box while challenging

WINTER 2023 35

herself as a chef to offer the community a delicious and inviting whole foods experiece.

In addition to stocking provisions of all kinds and offering fresh prepared foods daily, Devolpi and her team make custom charcuterie and grazing boards on order for groups of all sizes. Devolpi has also catered intimate seaside fine-dining experiences and is curious about where this might take her.

Just as any chef is constantly developing and adjusting recipes, Devolpi is always rethinking and experimenting.

“There’s more to come,” she says. “It’s a transition but the idea is more food.”

Over the winter, she makes a different soup every week.

“I don’t think I made the same soup twice last winter,”

she says. Which means, if you happen to be in town to stop into the shop in the middle of winter, or any time of year for that matter, you are in for a treat.

“Spice Box offers community to people,” Devolpi says. “We offer a warmth that greets you at the door, like coming into my home kitchen. We give you some sustenance.”

Spice Box Comestibles 171 Water St, St. Andrews, NB www.spiceboxcomestibles.com @spiceboxcomestibles

Above: Devolpi getting ready to greet the first customers of the day Page 32: Devolpi in the Spice Box kitchen garden and selecting oysters Page 33: Devolpi with her heart on her sleeve

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Inspired strategies for enduring brands www.steadiicreative.ca

Masstown Market masstownmarket.com 10622 Nova Scotia Trunk 2 Masstown, Nova Scotia

A noodle is more than a noodle Ross Patterson and The Noodle Guy team serve up comfort food and community in Port Williams, N.S.

WORDS BY SARA SNOW PHOTOS BY DAVE SNOW

C

hef Mel Roche effortlessly tosses soba noodles in a sizzling hot pan while sous chef Mackayla O’Brien emerges from the back with a tray of raviolis. Laughter and the clatter of forks on ceramic mingle with the sound of knives on cutting boards and the call of a new order. Gord Downie’s voice trickles through conversation, as The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead

By A Century” plays on the stereo. It is, like every day, a busy Thursday afternoon at The Noodle Guy, an unassuming restaurant in a century-old clapboard building in the heart of Port Williams, N.S..

Following culinary school in nearby Kentville, Roche worked at a local winery until she found her way to The Noodle Guy six years ago. She has been head chef and kitchen manager for three years and when asked what she likes best about working here she says “we have an amazing crew, it’s incredible.” O’Brien, also a local who recently graduated from culinary school in Dartmouth, seconds this emotion. She says her favourite thing about working here is “the good vibe and getting to see regulars”.

For owner and chef Ross Patterson, the story of the artisanal pasta business he and his wife Erin started in 2010 is all about people, one that has criss-crossed time and geographies. When asked where or when the story began, Patterson might say it was a tapas bar in Spain or a grandmother’s kitchen in Toronto, a game of shinny or a bike ride, but definitely around a table with friends and family, and food.

Inside the warm, homey restaurant, the day’s menu— like art—is detailed on chalkboards, while photographs, news articles and memorabilia is sprinkled throughout.

Patterson points to one photograph, a long exposure of The Noodle Guy’s original location up the road, punctuated by the light trail of a passing car. “You gotta remember where you came from,” he says before turning to greet a customer. “How are you feeling?” he calls to another. “Okay, I’ll catch up with you in a minute!”

Hot dogs and hockey cards Patterson has a deep appreciation for connections. He easily recalls hot summer days on Montreal’s west island, heading to the neighbourhood pool with his brothers and cousins, or riding their bikes down to La Roulotte for steamies, Montreal-style steamed hot dogs, and a bag of fries for under fifty cents. Patterson is one of five brothers and part of a large extended family with a big appreciation for hard work, humour, sports and, of course, food.

Left: Ross Patterson with dinner guests in the dining room at The Noodle Guy, with kitchen in view

Patterson’s father, who grew up playing fast ball in Verdun, was a sporting goods buyer for Eaton’s. “They had a line of hockey equipment,” Patterson remembers, “the guy that endorsed it was in town for a game and he asked if he could come over for dinner. So my dad calls my mom and asks her to ‘Get the boys all home but don’t tell them who’s coming for dinner’. By the time my dad and Gordie Howe get there, there are 300 kids lined up at the house.” For those 300 kids, the highlights of the day were most likely meeting Gordie Howe and getting a signed hockey card. For Patterson, how Howe took the time to meet each child and sign each card may have been the thing that stuck with him.

Nonas and recipes When Patterson’s family moved to Toronto he instantly found himself immersed in a new food culture. “Everyone was Italian,” Patterson remembers, “my friends were first generation Canadians and when I’d go to their houses there was always pasta, for everyone.” Early on, a new friend invited him to her house for dinner. He recalls her grandfather teaching him how to prepare a rabbit for the kitchen and, when he walked into that kitchen, her Nona, or grandmother, was making homemade pasta. That moment planted the seed of a lifelong love of fresh pasta.

Patterson also remembers his own grandmother’s recipes fondly. She had been a one-room-school teacher and a librarian, while raising a family. “I spent two weeks with her every summer,” Patterson says, “and she made the best date squares in the world. She died at 67 so I hadn’t had those date squares in so long and then,” he continues, “at a family reunion, my Aunt Buel, walks in with a green and white Tupperware container of date squares. And they taste just like my grandmother’s,” Patterson says. “It was the same recipe because they’re sisters, and that’s the beauty of it.”

Patterson’s own recipes are written on a wall; recipes he’s developed through trial and error, tasting and re-tasting.

“Tasting food is key,” he explains. “Right now we have five or six thousand pounds of frozen roma tomatoes so that our sauce is Nova Scotia tomatoes all year long,” he says.

“Through the growing season the tomatoes will have a higher or lower sugar count so I’ll also freeze cherry tomatoes as well to add that bit of sweetness when needed.” Patterson sources local ingredients as much as possible, making Italian-style sausages and burgers with local meat from Martock Farm, serving perodies with Seven Acres Farm and Ferment's sauerkraut, and creating a quark cheese to “pipe into raviolis like a wet ricotta”. “I believe automatically that we should use everything local,” he explains. “I can’t say Above left: Chef Mel Roche serving up soba dishes Bottom left: The Noodle Guy's signature ravioli Right top: Cooks in the kitchen Right bottom: A view from the kitchen

it’s all organic but I can say that the dirt on the floor is from the boots of the people that grew your food when they brought it in here, before they sat down to eat.”

Big kitchens and the art of comfort food In addition to teamwork, chef Roche says she apreciates “the number of things you can learn here is incredible —whether it’s cooking, front of house, the business side of it, Ross will teach you anything.” Patterson, cut his teeth working for large roadhouse-style restaurants in Michigan and Ontario. “That’s where I learned a lot of the things I do today,” he explains. Patterson and his wife, Erin, have long paid their employees a minimum of $15 per hour, more than the provincially-mandated minimum wage of $13.60. “People freak out when minimum wage goes up ten cents but you can do it,” he says.

While working for large roadhouse-style restaurants, Ross Patterson’s longing for that quintessential gathering place grew. “In Montreal, we’d go out for roast chicken and in Ontario it was roadhouses but they don’t quite do it the same way as say a pub in Ireland.” The “it” he’s referring to is the ease of a familiar meeting place, that table to gather around. Years ago, when Patterson and his wife were travelling in Spain, he was struck by the way the Spanish tapas bar functioned in the same way as the Irish pub. The simplicity of the format combined with the comfort of familiar and delicious food made for perfect gathering spaces. “It wasn’t just about the food,” Patterson explains, “it was about that perfect combination of food and atmosphere.”

This stuck with him and when Erin’s career brought the Pattersons to the Annapolis Valley over twenty years ago he set out to find the perfect recipe for such a place. He started with something he knew well. “I knew how to make pasta and pasta is comfort food,” he says.

A market is more than a market Patterson first brought his noodles to the masses at the Wolfville Farmers Market. He and Erin prepared noodle dishes on the spot, soon serving 300 meals in a morning.

“I wouldn’t believe it either,” he says with a laugh, “I just know it’s true because it was me.” Overwhelmed by the demand, he realized he could provide the noodles people wanted while other vendors provided the other ingredients. For Patterson, this was slow food at its finest. “I’d rather have a smaller percentage of a bigger number,” he says. “I’d say to customers ‘here are my noodles, you can go to Long Spell Farm and get your cherry tomatoes and Stewart Farm for garlic, or pesto.

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edible MARITIMES

All I really wanted to do was sell my pasta.”

In making it all about the noodle, Patterson learned that farmers markets are more than just a place to pick up groceries. People were buying his raw, fresh noodles and hanging out at the market. While connections were being made, noodles were turning into glutenous masses before they made it to the table. He realized had to tweak his recipes to match the phenomenon of the market. He did, blanching his noodles off and adding extra virgin olive oil, and his sales went up 600% in four months and soon he was looking for a restaurant space.

By meeting his customers where they needed him, he was rewarded with the community support that made The Noodle Guy restaurant—a place for people to gather over comfort food—possible. From marriage proposals to celebrations of life, community has unfolded around the tables of The Noodle Guy. “If you met here,” Patterson says, “I’ll host your rehearsal party. If you’re pregnant,” he adds, “let us know, and we’ll bring you noodles.”

Community is key for the Pattersons. Erin Patterson, known to many as Mrs. Noodle Guy, has an academic librarian at Acadia University and is the Head of Research Services. She is a labour activist and advocate for community-generated energy, a topic on many people’s minds in the wake of Hurricane Fiona and lengthy power outages people have endured throughout the Maritimes.

“Our community has been like a great big blanket wrapped around us,” Ross Patterson says, “Once you’re comfortable it feels good to do something for other people.”

Last August, Patterson partnered with Ryan Massiah to launch My Home Now Festival, a celebration of immigration. The Noodle Guy transformed into a setting where people prepared foods from around the world, bringing new Canadians together. Massiah immigrated from Barbados twenty years ago and now runs an organization that is building a not-for-profit school in his home. Patterson sees the My Home Now Festival

as fostering a much-needed spirit of inclusiveness and hopes other communities will take it on as well.

The noodle in The Noodle Guy “This place is run by amazing women,” Patterson says about the restaurant. “I know it’s called The Noodle Guy but it’s not always going to be the ‘guy’ and it’s not really about a guy, so we’ve changed the logo a bit so that it’s really all about the ‘noodle’.”

For Patterson, it is ultimately all about the noodle as a vehicle for community. “Noodles are more than noodles,” Patterson says. “They are a metaphor for how we make community—we make comfort food for people, to be part of the community,” he says. The Pattersons and their restaurant team have brought people together around a simple bowl of noodles and, in return, their community has wrapped itself around them.

The Noodle Guy 64 NS-358, Port Williams, N.S. @valleynoodleguy

Left: Patterson in the top floor of his historic building, where the biggest treasure he's found is community.

Above: “Port Williams, Nova Scotia”, Richard McCully, 1931; Nova Scotia Archives, McCully, accession no. 2012-010/005 no. 27.

The Noodle Guy is the third building on the right of the road that heads into Port Williams (left) from the bridge.

WINTER 2023 43

Stoking the community fire One farm woman’s part in resilience, knowledge keeping, and connection in Margaree

WORDS & PHOTOS

BY JODY NELSON

I

t’s hay season on the Coady Road, and the weather couldn’t be better for it. There has been a heat wave holding on for days. The air is heavy with a haze from the dust off the fields, and the heat rising off the land.

Kim Tilsley pours a special iced concoction – sweetened rhubarb juice from the farm with a hint of vanilla. It is just what the day calls for. We find some shade under an arbour laden with Arctic Kiwi vines. Tilsey hands me a few ripe kiwis that have fallen. They are the size of grapes, but they are all kiwi in the mouth – tart, sweet and exotic. The deck looks out over an oasis of fruit trees, run wild with an understory of rhubarb, walking onions, and other treasures planted over the years. This is what 30 years of lovingly tending a piece of land looks like.

Tilsley and her partner, Glen Covey, are pioneers.

Tilsley would blush at the suggestion, but any of the young farmers tucked along Coady Road would confirm it. “Kim has a very kind, patient, and warm soul,” says Peter LeBlanc, a young pioneer in his own right. “She gathers others and inspires them to take on projects and get involved. She keeps old traditions of homesteading and community going.”

Covey bought this piece of paradise in the late '70s. A few stories later he met Tilsley, and together they made their way home to Cape Breton in 1988. They couldn’t have imagined what this land had in store for them.

At first, they were just homesteading. When their two children were born, they needed to get creative about making a life in Margaree, the spark of necessity and resilience that is a common ingredient among Cape Bretoners. That spark, alongside a good read of the famously inspiring Joel Salatin (known for his ethical and profitable pasturing techniques) and their little homestead began to take on new life. “We thought, we’ve got the land, so what can we do with it?”, remembers Tilsley. “Big animals are intimidating.

Chickens aren’t.” They first tried raising just a few for themselves, but they soon decided to get serious. They got their free-range licence, built an abattoir and dove in. “25 chickens became 50, became 100, became 400, became a 1000. At our largest we were doing 5000 a year!” says Tilsley. So Glenryan Farms was born.

There were no other poultry producers on the island when they started. Back then, they sold through

Left: Kim Tilsley with bread fresh from the community oven.

farmer’s markets and the local Co-Op store. After 25 years, they still operate the only government inspected poultry abattoir on the island. And they continue to sell out every year. This business, however, is not for the faint of heart. “Government regulations, predators and weather. So much weather! Too cold, too hot, too windy, too wet!” Tilsey says. “And everybody likes chicken - foxes, coyotes, weasels, fishers, crows, ravens, eagles, hawks, owls… you name it - they’ve tried to dine here!” says Tilsley. These days, the farm has scaled back a bit, selling ‘hyper locally’, filling many Cape Bretoners’ freezers for the winter.

Kim Tilsley is driven by a love of learning. The addition of sheep to the farm awakened a deep passion for wool fibre; first, as a garden mulch, then for spinning and knitting. “I dabbled a little,” shares Tilsley, humbly.

“It’s in my genes. My mom, my sister and grandmother were all fibre people in one way or another.” She pins her technical curiosity on her Dad. “I was channelling my inner Jack! He was a mechanical whiz. He was fascinated with the way things work,” recalls Tilsley.

“I’ve found it cool trying to figure out the structure of knitting. This made it stick for me.” Eventually the entire family had cable knit sweaters. Tilsley’s daughter, Briana, lovingly calls hers her “Gordon sweater”, named after their old ram, Gordon, who contributed his fleece.

Tilsley shares her wonder for learning and growing beyond her household. “I am a teacher at heart. I learn best when I am teaching”.

“When I think of Kim, I think of someone with a lot of knowledge, like a wisdom keeper,” says Peter LeBlanc.

“Her wisdom will live on in all those who have been fortunate enough to spend time with her.” For years Tilsley led kid’s programming at the local library and now runs “Kim-dergarten” for a group of neighbourhood children. She also coordinates a fibre group and the Margaree Folk School. Of all her many contributions to the community, the most extraordinary has been the cocreation of Margaree Cooks, a community wood-fired oven.

Tisley had long been curious about clay ovens, dreaming of having one in her backyard. Park Oven, Dartmouth's volunteer-run, wood-fired community oven located in Leighton Dillman Park on the Dartmouth Common, caught Tilsey’s eye, and curiosity grew to an obsession.

Why build one in my backyard when I can create something for the whole community to enjoy? That’s

how they used to be. Once you have the fire going, you may as well share in the heat,” says Tisley. She jumped at the chance to participate in a ‘rebuild’ project at the Dartmouth oven. She got to learn first-hand, all of the steps and techniques involved, but followed this experience with meticulous research, and some hard core community rallying. It took many hands and hearts to make the community oven a reality, but like many things Tilsley sets her mind to, it has become more than a reality; it is a dream come true.

“One day at one of the work parties during the oven build, there were several families with members of three generations in attendance, working side by side by side,” Tilsey recalls. “If we never lit a fire or managed to cook a pizza in the oven, we accomplished something special that day.” Many of the kids that were a part of the build are now growing up alongside the oven. They can’t remember a time when they didn’t get to spend any given Sunday cooking, laughing and eating with their families and communities. It is a part of their lives, their landscape, and their mindset around what a community

looks and feels like. “Knowing that gives me hope for what the oven can be in the years to come,” says Tisley.

“We didn’t just build an oven, we built ownership and pride.”

It is hard to imagine how one woman can make space for so much around the hard work of running a family farm, but for Tilsley, it all fits together. It all comes back to the farm. “This place is home. I can breathe here. I feel grounded. The people…they celebrate together, but they really show up for you in the hard times. This is community”.

Jody Nelson stewards a piece of land on Hunter's Mountain, Unama'ki, where she invests her heart in her farm, her two boys, and her community.

Above: Kim Tilsley tending to the oven with Finlay Mullins.

Right top: Kim Tilsley at her Coady Road farm.

Right bottom: Community gathering at the oven.

WINTER 2023 47

Oyster accompaniments

by Sam Bartol Sam Bartol appreciates an oyster on its own, with no accompaniments but says that, on occasion, a mignonette can complement the subtle and unique flavour of an oyster nicely. A classic mignonette is made with equal parts finely diced shallots and red wine vinegar with a dash of salt and pepper.

Bartol also finds mignonette inspiration in what he has on hand. Instead of shallots and vinegar, try diced pear and champagne, he suggests, or chopped apple and rice wine vinegar. The key is subtle so as not to take away from the flavour of the oyster.

Sam Bartol is Afishianado's director of consumer fulfillment and has been known to add cuttlefish ink to his kimchi stew.

Kim Tilsey's Rhubarb Cordial

Pour yourself a glass of summertime into your winter day with Kim Tilsey's cordial recipe. Equally delicious with fresh or frozen rhubarb, Chop a kilo or so of rhubarb into chunks. Place in a large saucepan with a cup of water. Simmer until very soft. Strain through a jelly bag.

Refrigerate juice in a glass jar.

To serve: Pour about 1/4 c of juice over ice in a tall glass, add vanilla simple syrup to taste, and fill the glass with sparkling water or club soda. Enjoy!

Kim Tilsey and her husband, Glen Covey, run GlenRyan Farm and share in cooking with community in Margaree Harbour.

Oyster by Dave Snow

Spectacular views and local brews Explore beautiful St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, the perfect spot to take in ocean views, while enjoying delicious local fare.

visit explorestandrews.ca explorestandrews