TRADITIONS OF NEWFOUNDLAND
TRADITIONS OF NEWFOUNDLAND, Canada’s easternmost fiefdom of Newfoundland and Labrador has a wild natural beauty and a noway – ending bank. The region is as far east as you can go in Canada but you wo n’t have to travel far to experience Newfoundland food once you get to the capital, St John’s.
From foraging for wild foods to keeping traditional crafts alive, experience cool and authentic Newfoundland food and traditions right there in and around the capital. One of the provinces of Atlantic Canada, Newfoundland is one of the world’s largest islands and is known as The Rock. One of the top experiences in Newfoundland is to see the icebergs floating past along Iceberg Alley.
With a sweep of her arm that expansively takes in the meadows above Blackhead, Newfoundland, chef, cultural foods ambassador, and wild-plant forager Lori McCarthy said:
This is what’s going to get lost. I’m afraid of that. So, I’m continuing the tradition.
NEWFOUNDLAND FOOD CULTURE
NEWFOUNDLAND BOIL UP
The Newfoundland food tradition she’s talking about is what she learned from her mother: gathering local plants and other foods from the wild, then preparing fresh meals or otherwise preserving what’s harvested.
It could be codfish moose, or wild berries such as partridge, crow or blueberries.
Lori McCarthy is a cultural ambassador, focused upon keeping the “old ways” not only alive but flourishing.
So on one chilly day an hour-and-a-half drive northeast of St. John’s, I found myself with her and a small group of curious guests.
All were eager to start foraging and to assist Lori in preparing a typical Newfoundland “boil up”.
Traditionally, these meals happen on the beach but if it’s pouring with rain or cold outdoors (as it was this day), cooking our meal inside a cosy kitchen worked rather splendidly.
LIVYER’S CULTURAL ALLIANCE
Lori’s passion for preserving traditional foods inspired her to create Cod Sounds, her business which focuses on recognizing, using and promoting locally sourced foods and cuisine.
No wonder, then, that she’s a proud member of the Livyers Cultural Alliance, which she describes as: ‘A group of people who gather to cook and eat together to embrace our cultural food, our traditions and our way of life.’
What exactly is a livyer? Lori’s website explains:
Livyers are permanent settlers of coastal Newfoundland or Labrador with a history of living off the land through fishing, trapping and trading.
FORAGING FOR BLUEBERRIES AND PARTRIDGEBERRIES
After the short drive, I found myself in a meadow overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, where the scarlet, gold, and yellow palette of autumn-coloured vegetation.
Plump, dusky blueberries adorned their scarlet-leafed bushes.
Gleaming crimson partridgeberries snuggled into the silvery-grey caribou moss.
This feast for the eyes would soon be in our tummies, I reflected with considerable delight.
Lori brought containers and soon everyone was bent over, bottoms skyward, gathering the deliciousness.
And I admit to sampling, too.
Soon containers were full and we drove to the cottage of one of her colleagues, to prepare a “boil-up”.
Demonstrating each step of the way, Lori showed us how to transform what we’d picked, as well as how to cook other traditional foods.