Edible Newfoundland & Labrador Issue #1

edible ne wfoundl and & l abrador

the land ~ the sea ~ the people ~ the food

Wild Finds NO. 1 SUMMER 2023 Member of Edible Communities

“ A one-of-a-kind culinary

tour through the tastes of Newfoundland ”

Chris Nuttall-Smith, MacLean’s Canada’s Best Places to Eat Now, 2023

8 Barrows Rd, St. John’s, NL @mallardcottagerestaurant

RESTAURANT. OYSTER BAR. BREWERY. Great food, fresh oysters, and beer brewed in our on-site brewery.

With our stunning view of the harbour, top-tier East Coast hospitality, and delicious food & drinks, we hope you feel right at home.

135 HARBOUR DRIVE, ST. JOHN’S

GAHAN.CA

Please enjoy responsibly.

Love at first sip.

Available at Gahan House Harbourview and NLC outlets throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

HELLO FROM US

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IKALUJATSIAVAIT

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FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA(WEED) Terrence and Courtney Howell shift to the shore

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SEAFOOD ÉTOUFFÉE A recipe from Grates Cove Co.

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GATHERING TOGETHER Picking berries and connecting with one another

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PICKLED FIREWEED A wild recipe from Food Culture Place

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A FESTIVAL FOR A FISH Makkovik celebrates trout, summer and community

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A STRAWBERRY RHUBARB GALETTE Summer fruit in pastry, simply

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NATURE IN A BOTTLE Karen and Roger Dewling create food for your skin

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LORI HAD A LITTLE LAMB Lori McCarthy on her “wild” inspiration

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“I LOVE THE WIND” Heather Kennery of Newfound Picnics and dining on the edge

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GREAT NORTHERN PENINSULA FLAVOURS Connie Boland explores cooking, and photography, outside

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ELLA JOSEPHINE CAMPBELL A poem by Douglas Walbourne-Gough

On the cover: Wild Blackberries by Marsha Tulk This page: Forest view by Dave Snow Page 5: Fin and Fern by Dave Snow

edible

hello from us

ne wfoundl and & L abr ador

from our editor...

We arrange our lives a round food—when we will eat, where we will eat, what we will eat. Food brings joy in celebration, comfort in grief and fuel in action.

But behind every table spread w it h d ishes is a butcher, a baker, a farmer, a fisher, a forager. Our lives may be arranged around food, but it is the people who work passionately to provide the food that we are truly celebrating with each bite.

I’m honoured to help tell the stories of these remarkable people in the pages of this magazine. I hope this beautiful first issue of edible Newfoundland & Labrador inspires you to pause and be grateful for our hardworking food producers each time you pick up your fork—whether it’s during a family gathering, at a local restaurant or, my personal favourite, al fresco on a cliffside after a long day’s hike immersed in our province’s wild beauty.

Here’s to delicious finds, everywhere,

Danielle from our publishers...

Thank you for picking up this first issue of edible Newfoundland & Labrador. As you know, this wildly beautiful place is renowned for its storytelling and we are excited to help share those stories of the land, the sea, the people and the food.

EDITOR Danielle Steiner CONTRIBUTORS Holly Andersen Connie Boland Lori McCarthy Ritche Perez Gabby Peyton Danielle Steiner Marsha Tulk Douglas Walbourne-Gough 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!

SUBSCRIBE edible Newfoundland & Labrador is published 4 times a year. Subscriptions are $32 and available at ediblenl.ca REACH OUT ediblenl.ca @ediblenewfoundlandlabrador hello@ediblenl.ca ADVERTISE WITH US Brianna Young sales@ediblenl.ca EDITORS-IN-CHIEF, DESIGNERS / 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. © 2023 Steadii Creative Inc. All rights reserved.

edible Newfoundland & Labrador and its sister magazine, edible Maritimes, bring together local writers, photographers, artists, entrepreneurs and food enthusiasts in an effort to support, sustain and nourish our many and diverse communities throughout our extraordinary North Atlantic region.

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

This issue is all about wonderful finds—in the woods, on the shore, from the dock or around a campfire—and we hope you enjoy every page as much as we do.

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

Wishing you wild stories and local eats wherever you find yourselves this summer,

Sara & Dave 4

edible NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

Read it, love it, share it!

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

iKalujatsiavait What a nice catch! (fish) From UKâlalautta Inuttitut (Let’s Speak Inuttitut!) a daily Labrador Inuktitut lesson provided in partnership by the Nunatsiavut Government, the OKâlaKatiget Society, and the Tradition & Transition Research Partnership.

To learn more visit, https://soundcloud.com/user-623280927

We respectfully acknowledge that these lands are the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, whose culture has been lost forever and can never be recovered. We also acknowledge the island of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) as the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq. We acknowledge Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut. We stand with all of them in their efforts for land and water protection and restoration, and for cultural healing and recovery. edible Newfoundland & Labrador Summer 2023

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From sea to shining sea(weed) 10 years after Grates Cove Co. opened, they’re shifting the menu and the mindset

WORDS BY GABBY PEYTON PHOTOS BY RITCHE PEREZ

C

old, wet and windy. October in Newfoundland isn’t exactly the season this easterly province attracts tourists, but the first time Courtney Howell visited her partner Terrence’s hometown of Grates Cove (population 133) in the mid-2000s, she loved it instantly.

Just two hours from St. John’s, Grates Cove feels like it may as well be 1000, with its jagged coastline, windswept rocks and houses haphazardly scattered along the shores. For Courtney and Terrence, it was also the ideal place to start their restaurant business, Grates Cove Studios. But after more than a decade, the tides are turning and washing ashore a new focus for the pair.

Terrence and Courtney met in April 2004 in Ulsan, South Korea, where they were both teaching English and fell in love with the food, as well as each other. When Courtney’s contract ended a few months before Terrence’s, she headed home to Louisiana with the aim of entering the Peace Corps—a plan soon derailed

by Hurricane Katrina. She became the executive director of a non-profit hurricane relief organization and Terrence soon joined her in Louisiana.

The pair decided to make the move to Grates Cove in 2008 and in the summer of 2009, when their daughter Phoenix was seven months old, they bought a home where Terrence could focus on his artwork and wood design. They then entered the culinary world with the launch of Open Studio Restaurant in 2013. The restaurant has become renowned for its unique style of cuisine, with a menu that is representative of the couple’s gastronomic history, drawing from their time together in Korea, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Open Studio is called that for good reason, as recent renovations mean Terrence can be found working away in the open art studio that literally sits in the corner of the restaurant.

Some dishes on the menu are decidedly Asian, like the Koreanstyle vegetable pancakes, while the Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya is a star of the Cajun culinary cannon. Others are a unique mix of Creole methods paired with Newfoundland ingredients like the Snow Crab Étouffée which shows off the bounty of the province by swapping in one of its more prized seafood into the Louisiana stew that’s typically made with shrimp—the boulettes, which are meatballs usually made with pork in the Cajun style, but made with cod here.

Terrence and Courtney, along with their daughter (and current chief tasting officer) have now been operating Grates Cove Left: The Howell family gathering seaweed This page: Crispy seaweed dish at Grates Cove Next page top: The Howell family on the shore Next page bottom: A view of Grates Cove from the shore Page 9: Seaweed and seafood dinner

Studios for more than a decade, which consists of the restaurant, several accommodations and an artists’ studio, gripping to the shoreline of the most northerly tip of the Avalon Peninsula.

During this time, they also started a skincare company, 7 Fathoms Seaweed Skin Care line, which uses local seaweed they harvest as the primary nourishing ingredient.

But businesses change like the tides, ebbing and flowing with culture shifts, economic upturn and in most recent years, a global pandemic.

“I’m finally looking back on this time now, and the pandemic helped us get to the point where we’re seeing what we’ve done.

Now, when we look back on the last 14 years, I can see we were just laying the foundation. Just trying to build a structure for us to build and thrive in out here,” Courtney explains.

Courtney says it was the pandemic that shifted their perspective on their business and on their own well-being, explaining that it helped them step back, slow down and realize what’s important to them: Seaweed.

As Terrence and Courtney age, their own health has become more important to them, and they wanted to integrate that into

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their business by creating more health and wellness experiences for their guests. Much of that is based on the seaweed foraged and harvested in and around Grates Cove.

not a big part of our history with consumption. So, our goal is to make it approachable, palpable, enjoyable. That’s one of our big missions now,” Courtney says.

The pair want to promote the health properties of seaweed not only for skin care but for consumption as well, as seaweed is incredibly sustainable when harvested correctly. In addition to the seaweed baths they offer with their 7 Fathoms skincare line—enjoyed in two side-by-side outdoor tubs with a view of the ocean—they are turning to seaweed as a functional health food product. “We have to make these businesses about our health, and in turn providing health for our customers,” explains Courtney. “It’s about the experience of taking care of yourself.”

Because the businesses are so intertwined (like a pile of seaweed), they rebranded this year to Grates Cove Co., which encompasses the many facets of the business—from the restaurant and the accommodations to the health and wellness side of things. They also just purchased a boat and plan on doing more boat tours and retreats. “We’re encouraging people to come for the food, but don’t just come for the food. This is about so much more.

The food supports the experiences you’re going to have here,” says Courtney. “We feel like we’re in a second stage of our lives out here in Grates Cove.”

Alongside some menu changes at the restaurant (Courtney says some will be disappointed the touton burger and fries that may be nixed), they have started to include more seaweed-based dishes.

“It’s not going to just be seaweed salads, although we make an excellent seaweed salad,” she says. They are focusing on using more broths and drinks made from seaweed extraction. “This extraction is incredibly bioactive, incredibly healthy,” explains Courtney. “The focus on that whole business is to use acquiesce extract. We’re not creating products from dried seaweed, we’re making a product from an acquiesce extract that we protect as much as we can so that we are not destroying the compounds, and the goodness, in the seaweed.”

The pair imagine guests being able to sip on hot seaweed broth while hiking on the barrens or enjoying a meal in the restaurant made with seaweed stock they’ve made themselves. “Seaweed is

Grates Cove remains cold, wet and windy like it did when Courtney first visited—but now when you visit, you can take a seaweed bath or sip some broth to warm up the body and the soul.

Grates Cove Co. 27 Main Road, Grates Cove, NL gratescoveco.ca Gabby Peyton is a food and travel writer and author, based in St. John’s, NL. gabbypeyton.com Ritche Perez is a photographer based in Portugal Cove, St. Philips and St. John’s. inbetweendays.ca

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Seafood Étouffée A recipe from Grates Cove Co.—a delicious way to enjoy local seafood and summer garden finds Serves 4 6 Tbsp butter ½ cup flour 4 cups chopped onion 2 cups chopped bell pepper 2 cups chopped celery 2 tablespoon garlic 14.5 ounce can tomatoes 2 bay leaves 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons Bayou Bay Cajun Seasoning 1 quart seafood or seaweed stock 3 pounds seafood Melt butter over medium heat in large pot.

Add flour, stirring continuously to make a roux (wooden spoon works well). Continue to stir until roux becomes the colour of peanut butter (7–12 minutes).

Add onions, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.

Cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft, but not browning.

Add tomatoes, bay leaves and Bayou Bay Cajun Spice and salt. Cook for 15 minutes.

Stir in stock. Bring this mixture to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Stir occasionally to ensure sauce is not sticking to bottom of pot. Stir in steamed lump crab meat. Add salt to taste. (Your crab meat may already be salty.)

Serve over steamed long grain rice and garnish with sliced green onion (and basil).

Dig in!

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HAND

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Inspired strategies

CRAFTED FOR YOUR

HAND

for enduring brands

steadiicreative.ca

Summer 2023

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Gathered together

Connecting to people and places with traditional food gathering

WORDS BY CONNIE BOLAND PHOTOS BY MARSHA TULK

I

remember the smell of my grandparent’s root cellar, the pungent aroma of dirt and potatoes dug by hand from their garden on a chilly fall day. I can still see my grandmother, bent over at the waist, yanking weeds that dared to grow in her flower garden.

When I peel the carrots my children will eat for dinner, I hear the thud of root crops tossed into a five-gallon bucket as I follow my grandfather down the long rows of his vegetable patch. And I fondly recall picking wild red raspberries, warmed by the sun, fat and ripe, juice trickling down my chin.

Dirt under my fingernails reminds me of sunshine, black turf and childhood memories. It smells like home.

Lori McCarthy, of Food Culture Place, understands

exactly what I’m talking about. The cultural food ambassador, educator and storyteller remembers berry picking in much the same way that I remember it.

“From a child’s perspective, it was out running around eating berries all day with your mom and your nan and your aunt. It was a normal part of life,” she says.

A space for connection Berry picking is practically a rite of passage in Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s a tradition passed down from generation to generation that, alongside other types of foraging, is currently seeing a rise in popularity. Foraging includes searching, identifying, and collecting food from nature, including herbs, fruit or mushrooms. There’s a bit of research involved to ensure that what you’ve found is edible, but at its

Summer 2023

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core, foraging is about connecting to nature, being selfsufficient and supplementing food sources.

For those who grow up traipsing through the woods searching for wild edibles, the practice often falls by the wayside as we grow older, have families, and move away from our hometowns. “I hear that from people all the time,” McCarthy says. “My perspective now is that being in the woods was about spending time with people. It didn’t matter what we did, where we went, or what we picked. When I look back at it now, it was about the time I spent with my nan and my aunt, because you never get that time back.”

To help keep the tradition alive, McCarthy makes it a priority to spend time in the forest with her children.

“They won’t understand until they’re older,” she says.

“But as much as they might complain about the trip or the flies, the heat, the sunburn or whatever, they won’t remember any of that when they get older. What they will remember is that it was special.”

Special—like how I remember sitting down with my large extended family to a supper of cod fish, caught by my grandfather, and the potatoes we pulled from the garden. There was homemade raspberry pie for dessert, the berries picked under the majestic Blow Me Down Mountains. On the day that Elvis Presley died, back in August 1977, I was trudging over bogs and sitting on brambles with my grandparents when news of his death came to us on the wind, broadcast over the car radio that was turned up so that we could hear the weather.

Bucket perched at my feet, I was squat in a berry patch, eating as many raspberries as I could. “Don’t eat more than you pick,” my grandmother reminded me. “We need berries for the winter.”

Shifting mindsets What many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians refer to as “going in the woods,” a new generation of nature lovers call “forest bathing.” What we call “berry picking,” they call “foraging.” Either way, the result is the same—a sense of connection to the people and places around us.

“I think we are trying to reconnect or connect for the first time in some circumstances. I think we want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and foraging is a part of that,” McCarthy muses. “I think the shift is global, and it has a lot to do with people who are in my age demographic. I see people who grew up the same

way that I did, people who are experiencing a kind of disconnection from what they knew.”

As a cookbook author and passionate promotor of wild Newfoundland cuisine, McCarthy leads workshops to pass along the knowledge she’s learned. She works tirelessly to preserve the province’s food culture, and she lectures about sustainable, traditional food gathering. She believes the shift toward foraging reaches beyond Newfoundland and Labrador, and that it has an interesting catalyst.

“The pandemic played a role,” she adds, referring to the increase in food foraging. “I think COVID really solidified how it was for us to be out on the land, and in nature. COVID brought a new appreciation for slowing down. A lot of wretched, horrible things happened during the pandemic, but I also find that we all did slow down, and we started to see things differently,” she says. “It’s like we started to appreciate things more. We started to want to have that human connection, and I think spending time in nature with people you know is a part of that.”

Food Culture Place foodcultureplace.ca @foodcultureplace

Connie Boland is an award-winning freelance journalist, creative writer, and Adult Basic Education Instructor from Corner Brook, NL. Marsha Tulk is a photographer, recipe developer and award-winning author of Food Culture Place. foodcultureplace.ca | @foodofgeneration

Page 12: A tray of wild rosehips Page 13: Foraged tea-making with McCarthy and friends Page 14 top: Foraged sea salad Page 14 bottom: Foraged clover pre Page 15 top: Wild cranberry coastline view Page 15 bottom: Foraging kit—basket, knife and furry friend Page 16: Pickling fireweed Page 17: Frosty morning foraging

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Pickled Fireweed A great addition to a charcuterie board or a moose pastrami sandwich A recipe from Food, Culture, Place: Stories, Traditions, and Recipes of Newfoundland

by Lori McCarthy & Marsha Tulk Boulder Books 3 pounds fireweed shoots, about 6 inches long 3 cups pickling vinegar 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 cup water 1/4 cup sea salt 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 teaspoons black peppercorns 4 garlic cloves, sliced

Bring a large pot of water to a boil to sterilize your jars. Bring a smaller pot of water to a simmer to heat your lids and soften the rubber seals.

Wash and trim the fireweed. Trim in half lengthwise to fit into the jars.

Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, and water in a stainless-steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the salt and sugar dissolve. Reduce the heat and simmer until ready to fill the jars.

Divide the spices and garlic evenly between the sterilized jars, then pack tightly with the fireweed.

Ladle the hot pickling liquid into the jars to cover the fireweed, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe the mouths of the jars with a clean wet cloth. Lay the softened lids over the mouths of the jars and screw on the bands until just finger tight. Using a jar lifter, place the jars in the boiling water bath and process for 15 minutes.

Remove the jars from the water bath and let stand on a cooling rack, undisturbed, at room temperature until all the seals have popped. If a seal does not pop, you can reopen and process again or keep that jar in the refrigerator to use immediately. Store jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Refrigerate after opening.

FRENCH CUISINE E T CULTURE

Exploring the Intersection of Acadian, Cajun & French Cuisine &Culture

Voyagez au cœur des cuisines et des cultures Acadiennes, Cajuns et Françaises

OCTOBER 23-29 OCTOBRE 2023

WOLFVILLE, NOVA SCOTIA / NOUVELLE-ÉCOSSE

Enjoy!

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A festival for a fish Makkovik celebrates the mighty trout— and summer—with community and food

T

hroughout the polar rivers, lakes and coastal waters of Nunatsiavut, along the north coast of Labrador, swims a fish whose silvery brown scales are often spotted with colours ranging from yellows to blues, greens and reds. Considered by many to be the most beautiful fish, the brook trout—part of the char genus of the salmon family (Salmonidae)— has thrived in the cold, clear waters of this region for thousands of years.

Every summer, in a sheltered bay along the coast, the community of Makkovik celebrates this beloved fish with its annual Trout Festival. We spoke with Barry Andersen, Makkovik’s AngajukKâk (mayor), and the festival’s founder John Andersen about the annual event, and community.

“The Trout Festival started 35 years ago,” John tells us, “in 1988, during the first week of August and it runs for five days.”

AN EDIBLE NL COMMUNITY FESTIVAL FEATURE PHOTOS BY HOLLY ANDERSEN

“The May 24th weekend has always been a big weekend in Newfoundland but here everything is still covered in snow in May,” Barry explains. In fact, in parts of Newfoundland, trout fishing historically began mid-spring with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans often setting fishing season dates based on the Avalon Peninsula climate. “There was a blanket policy then,” Barry says, “but while the ice melts along the Avalon Peninsula in April, we’re still surrounded by ice until July.”

“It’s still full of ice up in the Bay at that time,” John adds. So fishers along the Nunatsiavut coast, and much of Labrador, wait out the ice. “And when the ice melts,” John says, “we can catch fish right off the dock.”

“July 1st is typically when we see open water and people get their boats ready,” Barry says. “We’d be having Canada Day festivities then and fishing for trout and char and along the way, John Andersen, the recreation director at the time, suggested we have our own festival.

That’s how it all started.”

The festival quickly grew to a near-weeklong event that

is as much about summertime and community as it is about the fish. Activities throughout the week include a fishing derby with fishing contests right off the dock, and swimming races that see adventurous contestants jumping from the dock. People come together for cribbage tournaments, a parade, barbecues, a sand castle contest, sing-alongs and a dance.

“People plan their holidays around the festival every year,” John explains, “and we always have a big bingo.”

“And then there’s the dance at the end of the week,” Barry says, “and the community dinner.” The dinner is an opportunity for community members to share in a meal and to share their favourite ways to prepare and eat trout—smoked, dried, pan-fried, boiled or stuffed.

It’s a potluck of sorts and, in addition to trout, people bring char, chicken, caribou, ham, turkey, bread and lots of salads.

Barry tells us Makkovik has a population of 380 and the summer festival brings Makkovimiut and visitors from near and far together. “Over the years,” John says, “we’ve gotten long letters from fishers and from other people about how much they enjoyed the evening.”

The festival may be named for the trout—a fish as grand as Nunatsiavut itself—but it’s clear it’s all about community. If you’re lucky enough to be in Makkovik in August, you are lucky indeed.

Makkovik, Nunatsiavut makkovik.ca

Facing page: A water fight begins This page top: Swimmers take the plunge for a big win This page middle: Community members line up for a harbour photo This page bottom: Kids in costume at the 2013 Trout Festival

Holly Andersen is a photographer and filmmaker from Makkovik, Nunatsiavut. This spring, her documentary Hebron Relocation - Still healing from the trauma premiered at the 2023 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.

To learn more, visit nfb.ca/film/ hebron-relocation/

A Strawberry Rhubarb Galette The pairing of strawberries and rhubarb is a classic summertime treat and putting them both in buttery pastry is a family favourite. We use wild strawberries when lucky enough to find a bunch, but this recipe works equally well with any sort of berry­­­, wild or garden-grown. The beauty of the galette is that it’s a free-formed pie, which means no need for a pie plate or fancy lattice-work. Bake your galette in any baking dish, in the oven or on the barbecue.

For the pastry: 2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour 2/3 cup cold, salted butter, cut into small cubes Pinch of salt 1/3 cup very cold water Pour flour into a large bowl and add cubed butter.

With two butter knives (or a pastry cutter) cut butter into flour by holding a knife in each hand and cutting across the butter until the mixture looks like coarse peas. This process helps give your pastry that fabulous flakiness. Add cold water by the tablespoon until the dough can be shaped into a ball. Put the dough in a bowl, covered, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

For the filling: 3 cups chopped rhubarb stems 2 cups sliced strawberries 1/4 cup flour or corn starch 2/3 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon sweet clover tincture or vanilla A dash of cinnamon Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Heat oven to 400°F. For one large galette, take 2/3 of your pastry dough and roll out to a large circle about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a pie dish, cast iron pan, cookie sheet or pizza pan. Add strawberry–rhubarb mixture to center of pastry so it creates an 8- or 9-inch diameter circle. Fold remaining pastry over berry mixture as if a pouch of berries. Crimp at folds with wet fingers to help dough to stay in place. Use remaining pastry to add a decorative touch to your galette or for a second, smaller galette, or wrap and freeze for later use. Sprinkle your galette with sugar or cinnamon and place in heated oven. After 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F and bake for another 35 minutes until the dough is golden brown.

Cool for 2 hours. Dig in!

RECIPE BY SARA SNOW PHOTOS BY DAVE SNOW

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Nature in a bottle Karen and Roger Dewling bottle up nature to benefit your skin

WORDS BY DANIELLE STEINER PHOTOS PROVIDED BY KAREN & ROGER DEWLING

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“

N

ecessity is the mother of invention” is a timeworn proverb woven into the fabric of our entrepreneurial society. It’s certainly an apt phrase to connect with Karen and Roger Dewling, the owners of East Coast Glow, a business born of necessity as they became new parents. When their first baby came along, they expected the infant’s skin to reflect another common phrase—“soft as a baby’s bottom”; but instead, they found themselves at war with eczema, which was leaving their precious baby’s skin raw and painful.

They were concerned about having to use steroids and over-the-counter products on their sensitive baby, but that’s what the doctors told them was necessary. When those products didn’t work, Karen and Roger decided to take matters into their own hands.

Karen, as an adult educator and life-long student of the world, began to research alternatives and make products with natural ingredients, starting with a balm that worked wonders on their baby’s ravaged skin.

Nunavut, Karen’s career brought them back to Clarenville, where the pair had grown up (and in fact met while slinging burgers at the local McDonald’s while in high school in 1997). Meanwhile, Roger found work teaching at a culinary program in Bonavista, about an hour and a half commute from Clarenville. He connected well with the people and the area, so when an opportunity arose for them to open a small shop in Bonavista, they decided to take it and hang their shingle in the quaint seaside town.

They dubbed their company East Coast Glow, a name tucked in their back pocket even before the first products became an idea. “When my wife was doing adult education, she flew into Whale Cove, Nunavut, and was picked up by

“From there, she made more and more products…though even Karen would admit she made a lot of awful soap at the beginning,” Roger recalls with a laugh. “Just like developing a recipe in cooking, you’re not going to master it the first day; it’s perfected through time and tweaking things and research.”

And Roger would certainly know all about the trial and error involved with creating new recipes; as a lifelong foodie and a career chef, he’s spent his entire life arranging ingredients in new and flavourful ways. So between the couple’s expertise in education research and menu creation, starting up a natural skin care line wasn’t much of a leap.

After years living away from Newfoundland, with work and education taking them to Ontario, Nova Scotia and

an Elder at the airport,” Roger says. “She got into the car and he said, ‘You must be from the east coast; you’ve got that ‘east coast glow.’”

Karen and Roger had no idea that the business would grow as quickly as it did. Local support and tourist interest meant they soon outgrew the small space, and by their second season they had moved to a space almost quadruple

Left: The Dewlings on the porch of their Clarenville home and workshop Above: East Coast Glow iceberg soaps Page 24 top: Bottles of herbs and oil Page 24 bottom: Harvesting lavender Page 25: Iceberg view Summer 2023

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the size to accommodate more production. “We’re in it, our heads are down, so sometimes we don’t even see the idea happening around us, but we’re impressed with the growth that has happened,” Roger says. “Now it’s a matter of keeping up and making sure we’re always putting out the best product that we can.”

Despite the growth, they have stayed true to their ideals, keeping the ingredients natural and sourcing them as sustainably as possible. “We pick through various regions and don’t focus on one area,” Roger explains. “We like to leave as much as possible; we want to make sure that next year there will be another group of flowers or river mint.” They’re also particular about the details of how they forage; for instance, they don’t pull Usnea (“old man’s beard”) off growing trees, but take it only from the fallen.

As a true Newfoundland and Labrador company, they also incorporate ingredients from the sea—specifically, from the icebergs that pass by each spring. In the beginning, as a small company, they collected “bergy bits” themselves from the shore. “It’s a fun story, kind of romantic,” Roger says, fondly recalling how his family would bundle up and wade into the water to get the pieces. And while they still do it occasionally for fun, they now outsource most of

the collection to professional iceberg harvesters to procure enough iceberg water for their increased production.

From soaps to hair care, scrubs to salves and so much more, their products, jacketed in sleek black branding, have made their way onto dozens of shelves across Newfoundland.

And Roger and Karen don’t plan to stop there, with plans to sign contracts off the island and expand throughout Canada and the US. And while necessity may have sparked the origins of the brand, passion carries them forward, perhaps making yet another age-old saying appropriate to their life: “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

East Coast Glow 82 Church St., Bonavista, NL eastcoastglow.ca Danielle Steiner is a freelance writer and editor with a BA in psychology and anthropology and an editing certificate, giving her unique insight into sharing engaging, meaningful stories of the people and communities she interacts with. willowtreewords.com

Lori has a little lamb My love story of “wild” Newfoundland spring lamb

WORDS BY LORI MCCARTHY PHOTOS BY MARSHA TULK

I

have always had a love for the lambs of Newfoundland. Recently, however, that love has grown into a purpose all its own.

I come by this love honestly; as my mom would say, “It was born in her.” I grew up with lambs. My grandfather reared sheep, and then my dad picked up where he left off. We lived in the same yard, so for as long as I can remember, I was surrounded by animals and gardens.

Growing up in the tiny town of Bauline, I can say with certainty that barn life (and a bit of a feral life) shaped me, from building shelters in the woods as a child, nipping baby carrots from the garden and devouring handfuls of wild berries whenever we were hungry. From the time the dandelions began to grow in spring to the cooler days of fall, I remember picking blueberries with mom and my aunts, with a cuppa tea boiling over a fire not far away. (Of course, as child, they picked and I ate!)

While many of the wild edibles I’ve come to love were not a significant part of life back then, the foundation of love for Newfoundland food was laid with a simple rural life and upbringing.

Now, let me get back to the lambs.

Local lambs roam the wild fields and woods of Newfoundland, with many reared on small islands off the coast.

Small flocks make the short boat ride to these little islands just off our shores, and that’s where they spend the warm summer months. They are left alone there, with no predators, until autumn, when they make the trip back again. Their entire diet consists simply of the ocean-sprayed wildflowers, grasses and shrubs that come from the land.

This is how we should cherish and care for the incredible foods that nourish our souls; we seek the right conditions and opportunities and then sometimes, the rest can take care of itself. I believe with all my heart that because of this, our lambs stand on a world-class stage of spectacular food.

I want them to hold a place in our hearts and on our plates for generations to come.

But I’ll never forget the words said to me

by my dad when I shared my excitement after butchering my first lamb back in 2014. “Why would you do that when you can buy good meat now?” I was taken aback.

Now, just to be clear, this was not discouragement. My dad is one of my biggest supporters; he keeps up on all my latest food adventures and truly loves hearing all about my travels in search of them. After all, the sharing of stories is certainly something I learned from him.

Butchering lambs, however, is not something I learned from Dad; as a child, I don’t ever remember how the meat got to the table. There were lambs in the field, then there was lamb on my plate.

We reared our own meat for the table, grew vegetables, preserved, hunted and ate from root cellars for nine months of the year because we had to, but when, as Dad puts it, we “could afford to buy good meat,” we did just that. We went to the grocery store and bought “good meat” and vegetables, often leaving little space for our very own grown and reared cultural and important foods of this island. When I was 12, Dad gave up the lamb

farm (and all the farming), the work load not worth the return as cheap, readily available meat became a regular meal on our table.

After some consideration, I have come to realize that the foods we grow up with hold an important role not just on our table but in our lives and the lives of future generations that will inherit it. This understanding, combined with my love of lamb, stretches beyond Newfoundland, and has led me in search of other cultures where their love of lamb has a deeply rooted connection to who they are as a people. After 15 years of dreaming about visiting the Faroe Islands to experience the air-dried fermented lamb that is so much a part of their culture, I had the opportunity to do so last year—and words can’t wholly describe this experience.

Planning to make this culinary moment happen was something I gave up on early in travel preparations, deciding to simply go to the islands and find it when we got there. I searched a full three days. Alex (my cousin) and I went to tiny towns looking for the drying huts. After a quick chat with a local, I was told, “Next time you see someone out in their yard, just ask them to take you to their hjallur (faroese drying hut) and show you.” I was delighted and felt right at home, as this is the same kind of advice I would give back home on Newfoundland. At the next man we saw, Alex jumped out of the car and ran up to him, explaining how we came all the way from Newfoundland to taste this lamb and learn about the drying process. Just like we were told, he invited us back behind his house and there it was, the drying hut I had come so far to see—and inside, the fermented lamb I had waited 15 years to taste. That first taste, that gentleman’s hospitality, and truly that entire trip, brought so much joy to my life.

Inspired, I travelled home, bought eight lambs from Bonavista and created my own salting and drying technique using sea water that is just a two-minutes walk from my doorstep. It’s a technique I haven’t found to be used anywhere else, different from the Faroe Islands and from traditional Italian, Spanish and French methods.

Page 26: McCarthy with lamb prosciutto oceanside Left: Leg lambs in cure This page top: Lamb butchery This page bottom: Lamb prosciutto table spread

Unique to this island, the air-dried lamb creates the opportunity for me to share the moment that was shared with me: the lamb of this island with people who visit from all over the world. I share the culture of this place, the love I have for it, and of course, the lambs. The intention for those that visit, be it folks of home or those that visit from afar, is to make deep connections and leave with the understanding that the foods of the past still hold a cherished place in the present and a strong promise in our future.

Lori McCarthy is the founder of Food Culture Place, a company dedicated to sharing a sense of place in Newfoundland, offering Cultural Food Residencies. foodcultureplace.ca | @foodcultureplace Marsha Tulk is a photographer, recipe developer and award-winning author of Food Culture Place. foodcultureplace.ca | @foodofgenerations

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“I love the wind” Heather Kennery of Newfound Picnics connects people to the joy and beauty of outdoor dining around St. John’s.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY HEATHER KENNERY

“

I .

love the wind,” sighs Heather Kennery. “I love the feeling of being swept away.” It’s something a dreamer would say—and Kennery is someone who dreams big and lives bigger. The founder and owner of Newfound Picnics leads a bold, unapologetic life. She sees opportunities in hardships and possibilities in challenges, finding beauty where others find it lacking—like within the battering wind that is a constant companion to residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The wind is just one of many things that drew Kennery to the eastern-most province in 2018. She and her husband, Josh Allen, were living in Ontario when she embarked on a four-day “girl’s trip” to visit a friend in St. John’s. By the time she returned, she was smitten with the beauty, kindness and pace of the island. “I fell in love with the people. From cab drivers to people working in restaurants, bartenders, even people on the street…there was this immense joy,” Kennery recalls. Coming from the bustle of Ontario and feeling like she spent half her time on the 401 highway, she immediately felt a sense of calm on the coast.

“It felt like taking a step back to a place and time still kind of untouched. Modern, but magical,” she explains. “It just felt like home.”

She returned to Ontario with dreams of moving to Newfoundland, and she showered Allen with photos and regaled him with her colourful memories. Despite having

never been to the province himself, Allen agreed that it was time for an adventure. “We’ve been together 11 years, so we have a trust and love baked into our relationship,” Kennery says. So together, they decided: “Let’s do something new.”

This willingness to dive into new experiences comes from a self-awareness that was awakened in Kennery seven years ago, when she lost her mom to mental illness. “When you lose someone pivotal in your life, you realize that life can be so short. It may be the longest thing we all experience, but it goes by in a flash,” she muses. The loss of her mom forced her to think about her life and happiness, to live life on her own terms.

So they packed up their life and headed east. When they arrived in St. John’s, Kennery found work in tourism with Destination St. John’s. Her background in journalism, marketing and public relations was a great fit for the job, but when the pandemic hit and tourism became practically non-existent, she was laid off for several months. During that period, she found herself wondering once again if it was time to embark on a new adventure. She had time to question: “Am I truly happy? Can do I this forever? Where am I going with this career?”

These introspective questions kept Kennery company even as she returned to roles in communications. She sought freedom from the mundane of her work life by setting out on hikes with Allen, where they basked in the beautiful landscape and breathed in the salty wind. They found innumerable places where they wished they could just settle down for a picnic along the seaside and soak up the balm of nature. She began to wonder, “Why couldn’t you have a picnic here? Something more special than just out of a backpack?” With some research, she found a sister team in San Francisco who were thriving in a luxury picnic business, planting the seeds for what would become Newfound Picnics. The timing was perfect, too, with the pandemic still weighing heavy on the restaurant industry and eating al fresco becoming more popular.

“One night, I was working and I texted my husband and said, ‘Let’s host a picnic, in a local park, tonight.’” Within a couple of hours, they put together a charcuterie picnic, grabbed a rug and an outdoor bench and made their way to the park, with a plan to take photos to start a buzz around Page 31: A Newfound Picnic with a coastal view This page: Kennery and her husband Josh Allen Next page top: Charcuterie with a view Next page bottom: A balcony picnic

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the new business. A local journalist happened by them, and a few months later, featured Newfound Picnics in a community news segment. It wasn’t long before the aspirational duo became known as “the picnic people.”

“If you don’t take the first step, you won’t take the rest,” Kennery says simply. That first impromptu picnic paved the way for opportunity and growth, and in August 2022, the couple made the decision for Kennery to take on the business full-time. She makes all the charcuterie herself, and for things outsourced, they work with other women-owned businesses in the region, operating on the tenet that “When women shine, it makes the whole community shine.” And Kennery’s luxury picnics certainly shine—a stark difference from the picnics of her youth. “We had KFC picnics,” she laughs. She fondly recalls heading to the park with a picnic meal from the fried chicken food chain to fuel their playground escapades.

“We weren’t a family that came from a lot,” she explains, so they always looked for ways to feed the family within a tight budget.

The food Kennery offers in her luxury picnics feeds the soul, both with local flavours and aesthetic presentation. Whether it’s a brunch menu with croissant sandwiches, breakfast pastries and fresh fruit, or a lunch/dinner charcuterie with artisanal cheeses, traditional meats and pickled vegetables, the spreads she creates are as beautiful as they are delicious.

But it’s not just delightful food Newfound Picnics offers— as a luxury picnic business, they make picnics as stress-free as possible, setting them up with beautiful décor in parks, backyards, fields and trails. After the picnic, they leave the location as they found it—with just the ghost of flattened grass hinting at their presence. They use classically beautiful props and can cater to colour and style preferences for any occasion. Some of her favourite set-ups have been for engagements and elopements. “It’s fun to be a part of people’s biggest day,” Kennery says. “I never take that moment for granted.”

As the success of Newfound Picnics grows, Kennery continues to dream of ways she can add to the magic of the province she’s grown to love. One day, she hopes to have a lavender farm that overlooks the ocean, a “home base” on which to stage idyllic picnics and host intimate events, and where the wind she loves so dearly will eternally play at her doorstep.

Newound Picnics newfoundpicnics.com Danielle Steiner is a freelance writer and editor who also loves the wind, and any chance to eat outdoors.

Great Northern Peninsula f lavours Food and photo tour offers a “Taste of Gros Morne”

WORDS & PHOTOS BY CONNIE BOLAND

F

ull disclosure: I don’t, can’t, won’t cook. When I do manage to cobble together a meal, it’s usually as tasteless as I imagine a rubber boot would be. I once even nuked a hamburger wrapped in aluminum foil. The microwave lit up like the Northern Lights. Left to my own devices, I will choose a sandwich every single time.

And so, when I was invited to participate in a food and photo tour hosted by Taste of Gros Morne and local photographer Tom Cochrane (in partnership with Go Western Newfoundland’s Winter in Western NL initiative), it wasn’t the food that captured my interest initially; I was just excited about a perfect afternoon hiking the Tablelands in majestic Gros Morne National Park to hone my photography skills—and pepper Tom with questions, of which I had many. I took both my iPhone 10 and my recently acquired Canon Rebel, determined to use the Canon but knowing the iPhone would be my first choice.

Images captured with my iPhone have been published in magazines and by local media; it’s as comfortable as my grandmother’s homemade quilt.

From Tom, I hoped to learn more about photographing landscapes, adjusting apertures, and using natural light.

The last time I did a photography course was in the late 1980s, as a journalism student. I did take photos when I was a print journalist, but the daily Western Star (now the weekly West Coast Wire) employed a staff photographer.

Back in the day, we processed film in a dark room. We made photos from negatives. Small, enclosed spaces conjure up the aroma of stop baths and fixers. I remember watching grainy images gradually come to life. Suffice it to say photography has changed, a lot.

So I packed up my gear and made my way to the Tablelands, which are located on the Great Northern Peninsula in the heart of Gros Morne, between the towns of Woody Point and Trout River. During the summer, tourists visit in droves, eager to walk on the earth’s mantle. During the winter months, there is less foot traffic. Our group of business owners, tourism operators, foodies, and foragers had the Tablelands to ourselves. Blue sky caressed snowcapped mountains.

“First lesson,” Tom said as we adjusted our snowshoes.

Left: The perfect s’more Right: Outdoor chefs and photographers Next page top: Scallops over the fire Next page bottom: Campfire bisque Page 37 top: Cochrane getting the shot Page 37 bottom: Dipping marshmallow

“Always bring a ‘wander babe.’”

His partner, Olivia Ball, laughed and walked away from our group. “How about here,” she called over her shoulder.

“A little further,” Tom said, pointing at a pile of rocks.

“Wander over there, babe.”

We laughed. We joked. We became everyone else’s ‘wander babe.’ It was a brilliant day.

Tom led our merry band to Old Trout River Road, which descended to Gros Morne Inn, located in Shoal Brook.

Prior to the tour, I didn’t know anyone in the group, but by now we were chatting like old friends. Old, hungry, friends. We had been told to expect a mug-up. I anticipated a cup of tea; I hoped there would be full-fat cream. I had a cereal bar in my pocket, but could see smoke rising from a fire pit.

The fire roared as we rounded the back of the eco lodge, which overlooks scenic Bonne Bay. We met Ian Stone, co-owner of the Inn, and Chef Samantha Culleton, who was spooning something that smelled hot and spicy into bowls. The lobster bisque soon warmed my heart and my

belly. I love cooked crustacean, though my experience to that point was limited to eating lobster straight from a pot of boiling salted water, cracked open with a kitchen knife, and laid steaming on my plate. The bisque was a new world of coconut-infused goodness.

I had scarcely scraped the bottom of my bowl when Chef Culleton began handing out plates of what looked like beef stew. Bite-sized pieces of meat mashed together with root vegetables smelled like my childhood. “Moose Bolognese,” Ian said. “Made with locally sourced moose.”

During the hike, Ian’s business partner Rebecca Brushett had explained that staying local is important to Taste of Gros Morne, an Ocean Wise certified sustainable restaurant that provides culinary experiences and events, as well as its sisters operations, Tour Gros Morne, which provides year-round single and multi-day experiences, and Gros Morne Inn. When Chef Culleton fired up the frying pan, I was thrilled to watch her expertly sear a pan of Atlantic sea scallops.

They were seasoned to perfection. Meanwhile, tour participants with allergies were treated to a grilled cheese that looked as delicious as they said it tasted—and has forever changed my idea of a sandwich.

I was contemplating a nap when dessert came out. “Boozy s’mores,” the chef announced. Roasting sticks were handed out, followed by marshmallows, chunks of chocolate, and homemade cookies. “Dip your sticks in here first,” Samantha said, holding aloft a mason jar. Giddy as children at summer camp we eased the marshmallows into sparkling liquid. We held our sticks over the fire like a parent holds a newborn.

“Everyone’s so serious,” Tom said, snapping more photos.

“Because s’mores are serious business,” Olivia said.

The entire experience, from the hike to the photography tips to the feast at the Inn, was phenomenal. Ultimately, while I went for the photo tour and the hike, I stayed for the gourmet food.

(And yes, there was even tea, with full fat cream.)

Taste of Gros Morne tasteofgrosmorne.com Connie Boland is an award-winning freelance journalist, creative writer, and Adult Basic Education Instructor from Corner Brook.

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Douglas Walbourne-Gough is a poet and mixed/adopted Mi’kmaq from Elmastukwek (the Bay of Islands), Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland). His poetry and reviews have been published throughout Canada, and his poetry has garnered several awards and grants, most recently the 2022 Riddle Fence poetry prize and a Professional Projects grant from ArtsNL. Douglas has also won the NL Arts and Letters Award four times and has twice served as the Award’s adjudicator.

A regional celebration of the natural gifts of Newfoundland & Labrador Food, Culture, Land & Sea September 15 & 16, 2023 Elliston, NL rootsrantsroars.ca

His first collection, Crow Gulch, was published with Goose Lane Editions in 2019, has been nominated for several awards, and won the 2021 EJ Pratt Poetry Award. His second collection, Island, centres around the Newfoundland Mi’kmaq experience in the wake of the Qalipu enrolment process and is forthcoming from Goose Lane. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing (UBC Okanagan) and is a PhD candidate in English/Creative Writing (UNB Fredericton).

“Ella Josephine Campbell” was originally published in Crow Gulch copyright © 2019 by Douglas Walbourne-Gough. Reprinted by permission of Goose Lane Editions.

PHOTO BY DAVE SNOW

Ella Josephine Campbell

by Douglas Walbourne-Gough

Slim, slight. Sinew and bird bones.

Cords of her hands like spruce roots.

Came from Ship Cove to Crow Gulch with little more than the child inside her, landed in a small shack flanked by an outhouse, train tracks. Made it work, had to. No surviving a place like this without some acceptance, some yield to the blunt force of what must be done.

Lived for a dance on the weekend, game of Bingo during the week. Draped in her favourite sweater, blue-green swirls on black, three times her size. Costume pearls, earrings to match. Heading to the Palace, all tobacco smoke and last week’s gossip. Nights she won, she dropped by the Padarnac Lounge to chat with her brothers, a quick rum ’n’ coke — warms the blood for the walk home.

Get her in the woods, she was all business.

Frantic flick of the rod whipping the hackle off the fly long before trout ever could. Peals of laughter against the far shore. No smooth arcs or figure-eight false casts, just enough line in the water to get wet. A woman most at home without ceilings, without walls.

You know the old saying ‘it’s not the destination, it’s the journey’?

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