Annie Leroux is a firm believer in love at first sight. So when she first set eyes on a cozy two-storey Victorian-style house in the small rural community of New London on P.E.I.’s North Shore, just across the street from the birthplace of Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery, she was immediately smitten and sure that it would be her forever home.

“When I saw it, I didn’t even have to go in,” says Leroux. “I said, ‘Oh, wow.’ I fell in love with the little house on the outside. It was so charming. Just the whole area really spoke to me.” She would soon discover there was more history to her little house than first meets the eye.

Situated halfway between Kensington and Cavendish, New London was formerly known as Clifton, and prior to that it was called Graham’s Corner. Leroux’s house was the second structure built on the property, which was once home to the family after which the area was named.

“From what I understand, this house was built in 1868,” she says. “It’s not the original house that was on the property. There was one house before and I have a sketch of that. It was the house that the Grahams lived in, so the original family that Graham’s Road was named after. Their descendants still live here, in fact, just two doors down. So that’s really, really neat…they gave me copies of the sketches of the original house that stood here in the early 1850s and copies of diaries. And I have been informed by three different people who lived in the area that the midwife who delivered Lucy Maud lived in this house,” she says.

Annie says when she first saw the house she fell in love with it on the outside. Photo: Rachel Peters

When Leroux bought the house in 2011, it had been vacant for more than three years. Prior to that, it had been operated for about a quarter century as a summer gift shop. “When I bought it, it didn’t have a kitchen,” she says. “It wasn’t insulated. It wasn’t livable as a house. There was no heating system. The electrical had to all be redone.” Leroux interviewed three different local contractors and was quickly sold on Shane Andrew, owner of Andrew Building Company in Kensington.

The list of wants and needs was extensive, starting from stripping everything down to the studs, while saving the original moldings and floors, addressing some structural work in the basement, adding a heating system, wiring and energy-efficient insulation and windows, and then rebuilding the interior from scratch, including the kitchen and two bathrooms. “Redoing a house like this is huge,” says Leroux. “It’s even more work than building a house.”

The impressive vaulted ceilings, which were created by removing the attic, are the crowning glory of the house. Photo: Rachel Peters

All of the original door casings were removed and reinstalled later in the renovation. Photo: Rachel Peters

A common theme throughout the house is the chandeliers, including this one in the living room. Annie calls the lighting her “bling.” Photo: Rachel Peters

Annie didn’t want a formal dining area, so she had this eating area created that is within the kitchen, so she can interact with guests while she’s cooking. Photo: Rachel Peters

“It took them a couple of months just to take all the plaster down and to get the electricians and the plumbers in,” she says. “I wanted a bathroom downstairs. I needed a kitchen. It was a massive, massive project. They were here every day at 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m. every morning and I was here with them. I stripped the banister myself. I did some painting. I loved every part of it.”

It was just the beginning of Leroux’s introduction to her new community, and it turned out there was still room in her heart for more structural love when she learned the local United Church nearby was also for sale. “I just couldn’t not buy the church; it’s like it fell in my lap,” she says. “It was like it was meant to be for whatever reason.”

“I went to the church decommissioning services and they asked me to speak to the congregation, and they wanted to know what I was going to do with it…I didn’t know…but it would be something special because I’ve always loved churches,” says Leroux. That something became Annie’s Table Culinary Studio, which tapped into her love of experiential cooking classes (which she had done previously as an add-on to her antiques business in P.E.I.).

Construction on the house began in September 2011. The exterior, including the cheery yellow paint, remained pretty much the same, with the exception of the addition of an upper deck off the upstairs landing so Leroux could enjoy the expansive view of the New London harbour. A second dormer was added to match the existing one on the opposite side of the house.

Structural elements, such as new custom sills and window inserts, were added, but Leroux kept the original architectural integrity of the house intact. Inside is where the real changes took place. All of the original baseboards and door and window casings were carefully removed and reinstalled later. “A lot of the challenges in dealing with any old home is just basically the old structure—the old lumber not being all the same size,” says Andrew. “The walls [are] often in and out [of line]; the floors are often not level. There’s usually a variety. Nothing is usually too square or level in those old houses.”

The downstairs bathroom, which is off the sunroom in the back of the house, is an entirely new feature, with a twist of the old tossed in for memorable measure.

The home has two bathrooms, one upstairs and one down. This downstairs bathroom is a completely new room. Photo: Rachel Peters

The old exterior wooden back door of the house was salvaged and is now a fun and funky entry point to the bathroom, which also doubles as the laundry room. “I love anything old, so I told them, ‘Save the door!’” Leroux says. In fact, the bathroom cabinet is an antique washstand that was adapted to house a modern vessel sink.

“And that’s what was so wonderful about working with a young crew like that,” Leroux adds. “Anything that I wanted they would make it for me. They really went out of their way to do what I wanted and they gave such beautiful results as well.”

Another unique adaptation resulted in the creation of an actual secret door—an ingenious spring-loaded panel to the basement that blends seamlessly into its under-the-stairwell surroundings. “Originally, in the plan that Annie had, the door to the basement was coming from the kitchen where the refrigerator is now,” says Andrew. “But because of the kitchen being the size that it was, we needed that space. So I didn’t really want to add a conventional door stuck in the hallway because it would take a little bit away from the staircase, so we tried to camouflage it as best we could. A door is a door, it just gets you from Point A to Point B…it’s not that much more work to make it look like part of the wall.”

Ingenuity abounds in the kitchen, which was built from the original spruce floors up.

When Annie Leroux, pictured, bought the home in New London, P.E.I, it didn’t have a kitchen. The room was reconstructed from the floors up with help from local folk artist Kerras Jeffery, who built the cupboards with new pinewood, but added a finish to give them an antique look. Photo: Rachel Peters

This original Moffat stove that Annie purchased at an auction years ago gives the kitchen a historical feel. Photo: Rachel Peters

Leroux wanted an old-style kitchen. After checking out the manufactured cabinetry route, she came across P.E.I. folk artist Kerras Jeffery, whose creativity ran wild. He built the cupboards with new pinewood, but gave them a finish to make them appear as if they’d witnessed multiple generations of meal-makings. However, the true character of the cabinets comes from the salvaged items that Jeffery finds clever uses for, such as an old piece of machinery that becomes an under-the-sink grate, and actual twist closures for cabinetry hardware. “And this is an old cash drawer (from a retail store) and these are sewing machine drawers,” Leroux says of Jeffery’s clever concept for cutlery and knickknack storage.

Leroux wanted an island in her revamped home, so the P.E.I. artist added some true character by insetting an old butcher block into it. For a little bit of funky fun, he also inserted a metal stove lid and lifter from an old-fashioned wood stove next to the butcher block. This acts as a clever cover for the hidden compost bin that is directly underneath. “So when I’m chopping away, I just lift this cover and slide my compost right in,” Leroux adds.

Mostly known for his amazing and quirky folk art, this is the third full kitchen for Jeffery. “I do incorporate old stuff into both,” he says. “It’s very rarely that I leave with the truck that I don’t come home with something,” he says of his sizeable collection of antiques both large and small, including furniture, tools, household appliances, farm equipment and more that he stores at his Back Roads Folk Art Workshop in Lauretta, P.E.I.

And he only needs to climb the stairs to his shop’s attic to find inspiration. “Everybody thinks it’s hard to do this kind of stuff but you just keep an open mind and scan everything and you’ll find something that will work,” says Jeffery, who also built a matching china cabinet and kitchen hutch, the latter of which is an open-faced storage area where Leroux has artfully arranged her spices and other dry ingredients, as well as a handy library of cookbooks. “I love open kitchens,” she says. “I’m not the type of person who likes a formal dining area. I never have. I’m a real kitchen person, so having a nice eating area within the kitchen where you can cook in front of people and interact with them.”

An original Moffat stove that Leroux bought at an auction years ago rounds out the historical feel of the kitchen. “Moffat is a company from Ontario that made stoves,” she says. “And this is an original electric stove that works from the 1920s.”

“I had them build the kitchen cupboards and everything so this would fit,” she adds.

This hutch was built to match the cabinets. In it, Annie stores everything from spices to cookbooks. Photo: Rachel Peters

Sometimes, the perfect fit for a home design comes in the middle of the renovation process.

“There were three bedrooms upstairs and a very tiny little bathroom and they said, ‘Let’s take all the walls down and then you can decide what it is that you want. You can put the bathroom wherever you want,’” says Leroux. “So I decided I wanted two bedrooms and one bathroom.”

Then there’s the crowning glory of the house, the impressive vaulted bedroom ceilings. “Upstairs there was an attic and someone said to me at one point, ‘Have you ever thought about taking the attic down and making cathedral ceilings?’” says Leroux. “And the more I thought of it, the more appealing it became.” Andrew was onboard with the idea immediately.

The interior ceilings were gutted and refinished, and structural support beams were also installed, boxed in and finished to match the floors. “I love the height, and it’s the last thing you expect to see in a little house like this,” says Leroux. “When you have the height it makes it seem almost grand. It just opens it right up and makes it seem a lot larger than it is.”

Because there was already a new standalone shower downstairs, Leroux went with an old antique clawfoot tub that she had redone in her second-floor bath. “This is the bathroom I can really relax in and have a bath,” she says. “It’s very calming.”

The home originally had three bedrooms upstairs. The renovators took all of the walls down and created two bedrooms along with a larger bathroom. Photo: Rachel Peters

The home has two bathrooms, one upstairs and one down. The upstairs bathroom has an antique feel. Photo: Rachel Peters

One common theme throughout this floor, in particular, is the lighting, as there are quite a few chandeliers. “I do love chandeliers and my daughter said to me, ‘Mom, this is a really girly-girl house!’ and I thought here I am, I’m alone so why not design a house just for me and that I will be very comfortable in,” says Leroux. “And I am very comfortable here. It is very cozy and yes it does have some bling. I love the wow factor. In any project that I’ve undertaken I’ve always believed that you’ve got to have that…splash of ‘Wow!’ I think we’ve succeeded with this house.”

The house was completed in January 2012 and work began the next month on the decommissioned church that she had purchased. Annie’s Table Culinary Studio opened that June, and since then it’s garnered attention from local and national media.

Another unexpected find in the walls of the little yellow house also elicited loads of media interest; it was the discovery of a human bone in the wall upstairs. After some sleuthing by the local RCMP and some forensic testing, it was determined there was no foul play involved. “They were able to determine it was [from] a male in his 30s and the bone was well over 100 years old,” says Leroux. “The tiny pinpoint holes in it led the experts to believe it was from an educational skeleton typical of one found in a medical school or old time doctor’s office. But what was it doing upstairs in the wall, who knows?” The bone and its documentation are now in a shadow box in the living room of her fully renovated historic home, which so far has been toured twice for local fundraisers.

Annie stands in the hallway of her home, which was completed in 2012. She says the renovation was a “massive, massive project” and more difficult than building a new home. Photo: Rachel Peters

“I kept the wonderful shell that it is and I just built from that,” says Leroux of her home. “It had really good bones to work with,” she adds with a smile.

homesense.ca

Talking with steak connoisseurs is like talking with wine fanatics. There are endless variables, arguments over farming practices and even discussions around the concept of terroir, the idea that the flavour of a place can come through the finished product. But the key to a good steak is only limited by one key ingredient: knowledge.

The team at Getaway Farms’ Butcher Shop in Halifax, N.S. can help you select your steak and even show you which part of the animal it came from. Stick around long enough and you can probably watch them take the animal apart. Ben Andrews, butcher at Getaway Farms’ Butcher Shop, has been well-versed in taking apart cows, pigs and lamb for years now. You want a cut, he’ll know where it is. Just don’t walk up to the counter and ask for a steak.

“Steak is the term for a lot of different cuts,” he says. “A piece of meat is a steak.”  Andrews breaks it down as easily as he breaks down a whole cow. “You’ve got grilling steaks, you’ve got stewing steaks, you’ve got off cuts like skirt steaks and stuff like that,” he explains. A flavourful steak is more than a question of names—it’s about anatomy. “If you really want to get serious about steaks, you have to know about different muscles and how they work, and the different cooking techniques that are recommended for different muscles,” he says.

When grilling steaks this summer, dress them up with rich flavour. Try this ribeye with Asian steak marinade, grilled and topped with Sriracha chili butter. Photo: Kelly Neil

Here’s where the real carnivorousness in talking about steak comes in: blood. Cuts like tenderloin (a grilling steak) have less blood flow to them, hence less flavour, Andrews says. Marinating steaks like flank or skirt get more exercise and more blood flow, so they tend to have more flavour. Keeping in that vein (pun unintended), Andrews suggests a happy medium with top sirloin steaks. “It is the tougher of the grilling steaks, but it is also the most flavourful steak because it has more blood flow going through it,” he says. “It’s not too worked so that it’s so tough you have to marinate it.”

Knowing how to cook a cut in a manner that suits it is important, as Kim Steele from East Coast Bistro in Saint John, N.B. will attest. Steele is the chef and co-owner of the bistro that serves what she calls contemporary Maritime cuisine. “I can cook a tenderloin and it will be tender, because it has tender in the name,” she jokes. When cooking one of her favourite cuts, the flatiron, Steele uses a little more finesse. “Cooking a flatiron will require a bit more technique to showcase what we can do and why we have a restaurant,” she says. “It can go tough if you overcook it or undercook it. Some of the sinews and that need a little bit more attention to break down. If you cook it properly and treat it with respect, you get this beautiful, flavourful tender cut of meat.”

Also think about where that cow is from and what it was fed. A cow’s stomach and digestive system are designed to digest and break down grass to provide sustenance for the animals. But we don’t eat cattle that sustain themselves. We eat cows that are healthy, hearty and weighty. Bringing cattle to slaughter weight on a diet of grasses takes a while. So, some farmers feed cattle grains such as corn, which fattens up or “finishes” them faster. Since cattle can only eat grass when out in the pasture, grass-fed cattle can mean a summer of sowing, seeding and harvesting a variety of grasses to feed them. Grain-fed cattle can mean fatter cows in less time than grass fed: more meat for less work.

Most commercial steak comes from feedlot cattle. Feedlots are large spaces where cattle are housed and fed a steady diet of grain. Some say feeding cattle a steady diet of grains causes painful bloating, as corn can ferment in the rumen. And E. coli bacteria are known to be more present in cattle that are fed grain instead of grass.

That’s why farmers like Getaway’s Chris de Waal stick to grass. Located in Baxter’s Harbour in the Annapolis Valley, Getaway Farms, which supplies its namesake meat shop, prides itself on being a grass-fed operation, with the cattle fed year-round on a mix of fresh grasses and dried silage. de Waal thinks the extra work is worth it. “By and large, industrial cattle are fed barley or corn, so they end up tasting like barley or corn,” he says. “Cattle that are properly grass fed, they are young and complex in their makeup. So when we seed a field of grass, we don’t just put one type in, we’ll do a mix—alfalfa, clover and rye grass—because variety is the spice of life. It does make the meat taste better.”

Mark Schatzker wrote Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef. He spent months travelling the world eating steaks from all sorts of cuts, prepared in various techniques, with varying degrees of doneness, and fed various diets. He knows what he likes. “My ultimate steak is grass fed, good grass fed,” he says. “There is also terrible grass fed, it can be dicey. I like if cattle are fed a little bit of grain, that can also produce good beef, if it’s done slowly or gently, and they’re eating a lot of hay or grass alongside.”

Schatzker views steak as a perfect vehicle for expressing “you are what you eat,” or rather, what the cow eats. “I would argue that steak is a better expression of terroir than wine, because we keep moderating the terroir by adding oak and stuff like that,” he says.

He believes that, like wine, consumers should have access to information. “It’s right there on the label, you know the grape, you know where it’s from,” he says. “With beef, you don’t know where it’s from, how old it was or what it ate. Although there is a pretty good bet that the beef you’re buying [from] the supermarket was fed a tremendous amount of grain in a feedlot.”

But we don’t just look at wine bottles or steaks and imagine what they taste like. We enjoy them on a much more primal basis: through cooking and eating. Back in Saint John, Steele is a fan of cooking her steaks in a hot skillet. It helps her achieve a nice sear on both sides. Then she finishes it off in an oven.

Steele has simplified cooking steak to one simple mantra: repetition. “I use the same pan, I get it to the same heat. It’s just going through the same motions each and every time,” she says. “It becomes a routine.” If repetition is her mantra, the goal to reaching steak nirvana is to bend to its will. “You have to learn to function around when your meat is ready, not when you’re ready for your meat to be ready,” she says. “You’ll be able to hear them calling to you, ‘I’m medium-rare right now.’” That’s sound advice.

So, after feeding the animal, breaking it down into cuts and knowing how to put it on the plate, steak as a culinary object is more than the sum of its parts. As Schatzker wrote in his book on the subject, “Steak remains a mystery. Its greatness is, at best,
only dimly understood.”

The right cut

Choosing a steak is not only a question of what to cook, but how to cook. Ben Andrews of Getaway Farms’ Butcher Shop reminds his customers “cows aren’t just made up of tenderloin and T-bones.”

Andrews gave a primer on steak cuts to East Coast Living. “Definitely the easier ones to cook or start with are grilling steaks,” he says. “You have tenderloin, the most tender, but it also has the least blood flow, which also means least flavour. So ribeye, my recommendation, may come second in terms of tenderness, but it has more marbling and a lot more flavour because there is more blood flow through it around the neck and shoulder area. After that, you can go to striploin, which is on par and the same price point.”

“After grilling, you can call them marinating steaks,” he says. “Things like skirt, flank, round steaks, or sirloin tips. They work a bit more, so if you don’t marinate it you can be chewing on it for a while. Thin skirt steaks are used for fajitas because it marinates very quickly and you can cut it very thinly.”

He also mentions what he calls “off cuts,” such as spider steak as well as hanger steak and flatiron. These cuts are often forgotten or neglected, or sometimes kept for my savvy butchers who know how to get the best out of a less attractive cut. Hangers have large amounts of blood flow but very little fat on them. Spider steak is one of Andrews’ favourites. “Within the muscle itself are strands of fat running through it, so as you grill it and cut it, you’re getting delicious bits of fatty juiciness within it,” he says.

When in doubt, ask. “Engage the butcher straight away,” says Andrews. “What that shows me is that they trust my opinion as a butcher. If you go to a sustainable butcher, they have to work their way through the entire animal. You as a consumer can help them in succeeding in their business by trusting them and what their opinion is.”

Top: Ribeye Left: Flatiron Right: Flank Photo: Kelly Neil

How old is your steak?

As meat ages, natural enzymes break down the proteins that give the animal’s muscles structure. The longer they break it down, the more tender it gets. “Aging is a non-negotiable,” says Chris de Waal of Getaway Farms. “You have to hang it up.”

Butchery schools recommend you hang the front quarter for two weeks, and the hind quarter, which gets more exercise, for an extra week. But you can go much longer. Dry-aged beef is beef that is left to age under specific humidity controls and often viewed as being very desirable, especially the longer it’s allowed to age. “When it comes to steak, the more moisture you lose, the more flavour and enjoyable it is because the enzymes are breaking down on the palate,” says deWaal. “The concentration of flavours per square inch has increased because the steak is shrinking.”

Certain butcher shops and steak houses will dry age their beef anywhere from 14 to even 60 days. But Mark Schatzker thinks that sometimes dry-aged beef isn’t always worth the wait. “A lot of so-called aficionados think that the key to a great steak is dry-aging it for 60 days or something like that,” he says. “I find that after a while, beef starts to taste rancid if you hang it for too long. People talk about this kind of cheesy funk that it gets. I just don’t think beef is supposed to taste that way.”

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try aged beef. “You don’t have to age it for very long for it to have those aged qualities,” says Schatzker. “I think people on the whole make too much of a fuss about aging.”

A grilled ribeye topped with fresh herb butter and paired with Hop Yard Pale from Garrison Brewing Co. makes for a savoury summer meal. Photo: Kelly Neil

Recipes featured in this article:

Asian Steak Marinade

Demi Glace Veal Stock and Jus

Fresh Herb Compound Butter

Earth and spice

Claire and Nick weaved together neutral colours and natural elements to highlight the brilliant colours of the fruit. Burlap, jute and stone tiles, all from Home Depot, create an “earthy look” perfect for summer lunch. This elegant and delicate spicy soup with yogurt is a more formal way to enjoy summer’s bounty of fruits, Mike says. Pair with Benjamin Bridge’s Nova 7.

Decadent dessert

Claire and Nick aimed for a tea party look by using glass, silver and red blooms. The place card holder and coaster are available at Bellissimo, cake stand from Thornbloom and napkin ring from Bombay. The saucer and creamer are from Claire’s personal vintage collection. Mike says this “retro style” cake is made not only with simple techniques but the best elements of summer, including fresh berries and peaches, all sweetened with lemonade. Pair this dessert with iced coffee for a refreshing twist.

Fresh and simple

This setting uses clean lines and a minimalist simplicity to highlight the fresh summer ingredients. The contrast of the all-white plates against the dark grey countertop makes the greens and red pop, Claire says.  Mike says he was looking for a fresh taste and a stripped-down presentation to really showcase the halibut and the clean, refreshing flavour of the citrus herb vinaigrette. Pair with Tall Ship Amber from Garrison Brewing.

Backyard banquet

Family gatherings and potlucks were Claire and Nick’s inspiration for this setting. The reds in the beer bucket and napkins play off the red tomatoes, while the oiled grey stone tiles from Home Depot serve as inexpensive platter and coasters. The beer caddy is from Thornbloom and napkins from Duly Noted. This ricotta tart, with its few ingredients, can easily be made before guests arrive but still packs big flavour, Mike says. The natural elements of the décor showcase the simplicity of the dish. Pair with London Style Porter from Propellor Brewing Company.

Recipes featured in this article:

Summer Fruit Soup

Summer Peach and Raspberry Scone Cake with Sugar Glaze

Grilled Halibut with Summer Peas, Vine Baked Tomatoes and a Cilantro, Lime and Ginger Vinaigrette

Baked Ricotta with Sea Salt Potatoes and Cherry Tomato Salsa

“I never would have thought of moving to the East Coast,” she says. “It wasn’t on my radar. If you want to call it kismet or serendipity, I don’t know.”

When she first started creating functional pottery almost 25 years ago in Ontario, first in Hamilton and then in her studio in Muskoka, her work was brightly coloured and decorated with florals and prints. Painting bold glazes over white glaze was her signature style. She now believes it was a reflection of her then busy, and often chaotic, life with a young family.

Pottery by Linda Wright

While her work is still functional, she has spent the past few years experimenting with glazes. The result is tones of muted and earthy blues, green and apricot. The colours, she thinks, reflect a mature and calmer life in Cape Breton, where she works out of a studio at Big Hill Retreat, a getaway of cabins in the Highlands owned and operated by her partner Terry Henderson. “I think they are calmer and there is a simplicity in my work now that wasn’t there before,” she says.

Originally from Scotland, Wright says much of Cape Breton, in particular its coastline, reminds her of her homeland. She also adds the island has “a sense about it unlike anywhere else.” She says the community of artists is always supportive, especially the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design in Sydney, which she calls a “gem of a place.”

This season will be her fourth creating and selling her pottery from her Baddeck studio. The response from visitors and clients, she says, has always been positive. And she expects her work will continue to evolve and be shaped by the sea, sand and rocks that surround her every day. “It feels like home here,” she says. “I’ve never felt so at home.”

bighillretreat.com

When you think cheese, you might think of France. But maybe you should think East Coast, where artisanal cheese making has moved well beyond a craft. From Cape Breton sheep cheese and Prince Edward Island clothbound cheddar, to New Brunswick raw milk cheese and Newfoundland’s own camembert, our cheese scene is full of surprises.

Often described in wildly poetic terms—milk’s leap toward immortality, the soul of the soil, and the purest, most romantic link between humans and the earth—cheese is a vital, versatile and much-discussed element of our cuisine. There are more than 1,000 varieties of this ancient food, with well over 300 from France alone. “It’s so much part of the culinary culture of a country,” says Jennie Dobbs, owner and manager of Morris East Restaurant in Halifax. “Artisanal cheese has made leaps and bounds here. There’s a growing appreciation.” Dobbs buys cheese from various sources, including New Brunswick’s Bergerie aux 4 Vents, where she discovered a Tomme le Champ Doré that “punches with flavour.”

Dobbs thinks presenting a cheese plate is the best way to show off local cheeses. “Our guests want to know what the cheese is, where it’s from and the flavour profile,” she says. “They love being talked through the cheese; they want to know every single detail.” The enthusiastic restaurateur has always been passionate about cooking with cheese, whether it’s gooey brie in a mushroom omelette, or a grilled cheese sandwich with sharp cheddar, layered with bacon and tomato chutney. Dobbs uses quark cheese from Fox Hill Farms in the Annapolis Valley for rich and flavourful cheesecake (see recipe link below). She even uses it in gnocchi, along with Old Growler Gouda from That Dutchman’s Farm in Upper Economy, N.S. (see recipe link below). “I think people are passionate about cheese because it’s so flavourful,” says Dobbs. “I think it is just really a beautiful food product to enjoy.”

This gnocchi, prepared by Morris East in Halifax, is chock-full of local cheeses, including Old Growler Gouda from That Dutchman’s Farm and Fox Hill quark. Photo: Dennis Evans

After working internationally as a chef, cheese lover Ron Muise returned to his native Cape Breton, N.S. to start a sheep cheese business called Wandering Shepherd Cheese. He says ewe milk is popular because of its flavour and its easy-to-digest proteins. He makes a range of cheeses including blue, which has a strong flavour some people traditionally find difficult.

“I’m surprised with the amount of blue cheese people like,” he says. “I started making it just for myself, but people wanted it.” He has an imaginative use for blue cheese by mixing it half and half with butter, rolling it in wax paper and storing it in the freezer for later use on lamb burgers, roasted vegetables, under chicken skin or mixed into pastas (see recipe link below).

Muise has started a small industry, as he has two other farms producing ewe’s milk that he then buys for his cheese. Business is good and he consistently sells out. He enjoys the process, particularly taking note of how flavour varies depending upon what the animals eat.

Indulge in some local cheese such as Geai Bleu, in back, Tomme le Champ Doré, left, and Old Growler. Photo: Dennis Evans

On Prince Edward Island, Cows Creamery’s cheese-maker Armand Bernard is involved in a business that was important to the island historically. “Traditionally, there were lots of cheese factories on the island,” says Bernard. “If you had milk, you’d make cheese from it. They were groups of farmers, co-ops, independent groups.” Older people, he says, will come in looking for cheddar similar to what they ate years ago. Bernard creates Extra Old Cheddar, Applewood Smoked Cheddar, and Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar that has won several national awards. The recipe for the Clothbound Cheddar is from the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. “The clothbound is a little bit drier and has a more complex flavour,” says Bernard. “It’s like a five-mile cheese. When you have a good cheese, take a bite with your first snack and down the road five miles, the flavour is still on your tongue.”

“I love trying different cheeses,” he says. “I am not much of a cook. I just love it the way it is.” Bernard says the reputation of East Coast cheeses is growing and that he’s often amused when he does samplings in Ontario. “The look on some people’s faces is priceless. They think they’re just grabbing a piece of cheese and walk away. Some stop and turn around and come right back,” he says. Access to good cheese is what makes a meal special, Dobbs says. “What blows my mind is quality cheese judiciously tastes a thousand times better. Even if it’s a bit more expensive, it doesn’t take much to transform an ordinary dish to the extraordinary,” she says.

Recipes featured in this article:

Pulled Lamb Shoulder Po’boy with Lauchie’s Tomme
Oven-dried Tomato, Local Herb and Cheese Gnocchi
Roasted Garlic Aligot
Jalapeño Poppers
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Gorm Ailig and Pears
Fox Hill Quark Cheesecake with Strawberry Cranberry Compote
Gorm Ailig Butter
Gorm Ailig Tart

Here’s your chance to win a $50 spring bulb package from Scott’s Nursery in Fredericton, NB. The package includes a variety of dahlias, gladiolas and lilies, along with a new pair of gardening gloves.

To enter, simply email your name, phone number and address along with the name of your favourite garden flower to srent@metroguide.ca.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

Suzanne

Editor,

East Coast Living

“I think rugs are what pull a room together,” she says. “It’s an expression of one’s personality. You can be all dolled up, but if you don’t have shoes, the look is unfinished.”

Beyond beauty, area rugs provide practical functions, too. They absorb sound and reduce echoes, especially in a room with hardwood floors. AuCoin says they are necessary in open-concept spaces.

This rug, designed by Aimee Wilder and available at Zephyr, is hand-tufted and has a cotton foundation. It’s also low maintenance, requiring only a weekly vacuum. To remove stains, just use a mild dish soap. Its design includes yellow, which is a hot colour for 2013. But AuCoin says the grey in the pattern helps give it a classic combination, which will help make it work with your décor. “Yellow can be a difficult colour to work with,” says AuCoin. “When mixed with grey, it softens and neutralizes it.”

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Atlantic Canadians have become part of a wave of people who crave local foods, but their bellies have become used to global flavours. It leaves you to wonder if it’s possible to reconcile a desire for international tastes while using what is found in this region. The answer to that lies rippling under the water and anchored to the shores: seaweed.

The folks at Acadian Seaplants Ltd. may know this better than anyone else. For years, they have been supplying Japan with what’s known as Hana-Tsunomata, a very specific blend of Irish moss seaweeds developed by the company. Its rich and vibrant yellows, reds and greens, as well as its distinctive texture are prized in Japan, Korea and other parts of Asia. “The Japanese are so knowledgeable about seaweeds as food,” says Robert Sperdakes, director of sales and marketing at Acadian Seaplants. “People look towards the Asian world for many things: medicine, food trends, healthy eating.”

In the case of Hana-Tsunomata, the product is found as an ingredient in pre-packaged seaweed or kaiso salad mixes throughout Japan. But salads aren’t the only place that seaweeds are found. Kombu, a type of dried kelp, is used in Japan in the making of dashi, a stock base used in myriad Japanese dishes. Kombu is rich in glutamic acids, an amino acid that provides rich savoury notes in foods. The Japanese named this meaty and satisfying flavour as “umami,” what has become known as the fifth taste. These are the same flavour profiles found in Parmesan cheese, aged beef and mushrooms. And seaweed has it in spades.

Popular seaweed varieties include, from left, wakame, hijiki and Acadian Seaplants’ Hana Tsunomata. Photo: Jeremy Tsang

Although most people think of Japan when they think of people eating seaweeds, people in this region don’t bat an eye when you mention dulse. The dark red flakes of the dried seaweed have been eaten as a snack in coastal regions on both sides of the Atlantic for centuries. Some people have been known to eat dulse in its fresh form, when it’s still very young and tender.

For generations, East Coast Canadians have used seaweeds for agricultural needs as well, from fertilizing gardens to animal feed. During the 20th century, people in coastal areas would harvest various types for processing in food products, mostly to be made into gelling agents, such as carrageenan.

But the tradition of culling and using seaweeds has become somewhat forgotten over the years. Goldie Gillis and her husband Gilbert know this very well. The duo gather Irish moss on the coast in Point Prim, P.E.I. Gillis, who grew up in Sydney, N.S. wasn’t used to cooking with seaweed. “I didn’t grow up with the Irish moss fishery,” she says. “I was introduced to that by Gilbert who has harvested it since a boy with his dad. We harvested the storm-tossed moss with handmade, long-poled scoops from the shores of Point Prim. It was a great supplement to our income in the early years of married life.”

Fast forward to years later, and the couple now host “Seaweed Secrets” during the tourism season in P.E.I. It’s a tour-cum-cooking class where people learn about harvesting Irish moss and its uses, such as fertilizing gardens, commercial food production and even home cooking. “The Gillis family used an old recipe for a dessert,” says Goldie. “It’s an Irish Moss Blanc Mange, which was a pudding dessert. I still use that recipe and also do a variation of it, the Irish Moss Pie.” Goldie also cooks with whole kelp and flakes of dried dulse.

But there are people in the area who are bridging both the Asian and Canadian uses of seaweeds. Chris Aerni, who runs Rossmount Inn in Saint Andrews, N.B. is a big fan. The Swiss-born chef had never really been exposed to sea vegetables until he spent some time in Australia during the 1980s. “In Australia, you get an Asian influence, so you see seaweed products on the market, so that’s where I started exploring,” he says. Those explorations continued when Aerni moved to New Brunswick, and he soon found suppliers who could provide him with beautiful seaweeds. “In spring, we get fresh, young and tender kelps,” he says. “We use them in soups, cut into small strips, or sometimes to wrap things, such as salmon tartare, or something like that.” Aerni, whose menu changes with the seasons, mentions that when the kelps become too large, he tends to go to dried kelps. “For instance, if we produce a stock we would use it to give additional flavour,” he says. “When we make sauces or stocks for a clear seafood soup, we would use a little bit of it, very thinly sliced, together with other vegetables to finish it off.”

As for its flavour, “it’s a question of quantity,” says Aerni. “You can make delicate stocks with it if you have the right quantity, or you can overpower it. If you use it in a fine way, like in a Japanese kitchen, it feels very clean on the palate.” As for his attraction to it, Aerni jokes that in Switzerland, seaweeds weren’t exactly commonplace: “It’s a unique product, really,” he says. “Obviously being a wild product makes it attractive.”

Miso soup is a staple in Japanese restaurants, served at any meal, including breakfast. Luis Clavel with Seasons by Atlantica in Halifax created this miso soup with wakame seaweed, as well as baby corn for texture, and a bit of foam for visual effect. Photo: Jeremy Tsang

Over at Seasons by Atlantica, executive chef Luis Clavel says that for him, seaweed has a texture and flavour that is underappreciated. For him, the challenge is to make it as accessible as possible. “With seaweed, it’s all about play,” he says. “It’s about discovering other options other than what it is meant for.” In his case, Clavel uses seaweed as flavouring agent in sesame-flavoured choux pastry that he then deep fries into the shape of French fries. “Atlantic Canadians love fish and chips,” he jokes, “so why not play with it, and not bring the two together?”

When chefs around the world are looking everywhere for new flavours, techniques and textures, it’s surprising what you can find in your own backyard. For Aerni, using seaweeds in his food is not just an easy way to eat locally, or stand out from the crowd. It’s part of his philosophy of using as much of what’s around him as he can. “If you don’t like nature,” he says, “you can’t be a good chef.”

Types of seaweeds

Although there is a long history of seaweeds being used in kitchens in the West, most commercially available seaweeds come from Japan and other parts of Eastern Asia, and are sold using Japanese names. 

Irish moss: A leafy seaweed found in many parts of the Northern Atlantic. It has small fronds, similar to parsley, and can be found in many colours. It’s a major source of carrageenan, a gelling agent used in ice creams, toothpastes and medicines. It has very little flavour, but is appreciated for its texture.

Dulse: Occasionally eaten when very young and tender, dulse is generally sold dried, either in small pieces or as a powder. It’s red in colour and has a delicate minerality in flavour.

Kombu: Made from a type of kelp that is found in Japan, it’s the basis for making dashi, a simple stock made from slowly simmering the dried kelp in water.

Wakame: Small strips of seaweed that are most often added to soups or salads. Sold dried, it has a tendency to reconstitute easily. One small strand often quadruples in size, if not more.

Hijiki: Strands of seaweed that are sold dried, then reconstituted and used as a textural component in dishes. High in iron, it stands up to long cooking, unlike most other seaweeds.

Nori: Perhaps the most well known type of edible seaweed, it’s used to wrap rice and fish in the making of sushi. It can also be cut into small shreds and placed on top of dishes. It’s very rich in umami and has a crisp texture.

Recipes featured in this article:

Dashi
Seaweed Salad
Seaweed Pie
Miso Soup
Seaweed Fries with Soy Mayonnaise

The fifth taste

In the early 1900s, a scientist named Kikune Ikeda worked for Ajinomoto, a Japanese food product company. He discovered that the salts present in kombu were high in glutamates—an amino acid. This flavour was not just salty, but more flavourful, leading ingredients to taste better with a richer, almost meaty flavour. He dubbed this savoury flavour “umami,” and looked to find a way to commercialize this compound. One hundred years later, chefs and food scientists argue that umami is a fifth taste, recognized in all kinds of foods, such as ripe tomatoes, anchovies, fish sauce, dried mushrooms, certain cheeses and more. Ajinomoto would go on to produce the first commercial available form of glutamic salts for food preparation. It’s known as monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

Simon Thibault accepted a position as a consultant with Acadian Seaplants after this story was written.

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