#FoodwaysFriday - What is your favourite type of baked bread?

Bread making workshop. French bread before going in the outdoor oven, Conche, Newfoundland.
Photo by Lisa Wilson. 2010.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos from a bread making workshop in Conche from 2010. The French Shore Historical Society has an outdoor oven where they bake French style bread. The loaves are served hot, right from the fire, a traditional way of baking bread that very few people practice today. In the spring, 2010, the FSHS held a bread baking workshop for members of the community. From mixing and kneading dough, to monitoring the fire's temperature, every part of the process was explained and demonstrated.

If you want to learn more about French bread baked in Conche, NL click here to view the photos from the workshop!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

Nora Hunt making bread. 1970. Conche, NL.
A Pictorial from the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland.
Virtual Museum of Canada.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - How do you fence your garden?

Beach and gardens in Oliver's Cove, Tilting.
Photo by Gerald Pocius, 1989.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos taken by Dr. Gerald Pocius in Oliver’s Cove, Tilting in 1989. The photos are of the gardens and picket fences found in the now abandoned community. Oliver’s Cove was once inhabited by William and James Hurley and their families but no houses exist there today, instead, you will find fenced gardens, root cellars, and a hay house (Mellin, Robert. 2008. Tilting.).

Looking over these photos of these fenced-in potato and cabbage gardens reminded me of this great video titled Wrigglin’ fence done by the MUN extension service in 1977. In the short film the Paddy Brothers of Port Kirwan build a traditional wrigglin' or riddle fence around their garden.

If you want to learn more about fence styles in Newfoundland and Labrador check out this document from the Heritage Foundation which features paling, longer, picket, wriggle/riddle, and wattle fences. Or if you want to see the full photo collection from Dr. Pocius on Memorial's Digital Archives click here!

Let us know how you fence your garden!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

Cabbage growing in Oliver's Cove, Tilting.
Photo by Gerald Pocius, 1989.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Sealing Vessel Memories

Unidentified sealing vessel in ice. PF-323.048. Donor: John Connors, 1998.
Maritime History Archive - International Grenfell Association Lantern Slides.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring an interview with Mr. Mark Johnson of Little Catalina. It was recorded in 1999 in Port Union for the Sir William F. Coaker Heritage Foundation and digitized by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The interview focuses on Mr. Johnson’s work experience and his time in the seal fishery.

Mr. Johnson shares stories about his time as a wheel master on several sealing vessels, memories of hunting on the ice, and the conditions of the sealing vessels as well as stories about William Coaker and Port Union, boat building, cod fishing on the Labrador, sailing, and World War Two. This audio interview also includes a full transcript which is key word searchable.

If you want to learn more about Mr. Mark Johnson’s working life click here to read the transcript!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Goats Galore

Trinity. Goat cart. (30 01 078) Rev. Edwin Hunt Photographs - Trinity.
Geography Collection - Historical Photographs of Newfoundland and Labrador on DAI.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring an interview from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation interviews in 2005 with Mr. Carl Smith of Hant’s Harbour. In this video interview Mr. Smith talks about growing up in Hant’s Harbour, the games he played, going to school, and the traditional work in the area. He also discusses picking berries and growing vegetables. Tune in around 24:00 minutes to listen to Mr. Smith talk about keeping goats and telling the story of his sister’s surprise when she noticed the goats were missing only to be told they had eaten them!

If you want to learn more about Mr. Carl Smith’s life in Hant’s Harbour click here to watch the full interview!

Have you kept goats? What are you memories about keeping them?

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - What is your favourite game meat?

Assorted meat pies from Bidgoods Grocery Store in the Goulds. Photo by Sharna Brzycki.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that often comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring an interview from 1986 with Mr. Arthur Boyd. Mr. Boyd was 81 years old at the time radio broadcaster, Hiram Silk, interviewed him about growing up in the area of Little Bay Islands and Petries where he was born. Mr. Boyd discusses hunting rabbits and caribou, farming and selling veggies by the barrel and pound in Little Bay – potatoes, turnips, cabbage, the whole works.

If you want to learn more about the area of Little Bay click here to listen to the full interview!

What is your favourite game meat? Are you setting potatoes this year?

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett

Abir Zain's Baklava for #FoodwaysFriday

Finished product!

Abir Zain leading the baklava workshop.

Today on the blog we feature Abir Zain's baklava recipe and share the results of last month's baklava workshop. This workshop, which sold out overnight, was led recent immigrant Abir Zain, who is new to province and has recently started making baklava. Abir explained that when she lived in Syria she never learned how to make baklava as she was easily able to purchase the sweet pastry in many local shops. Since her move to Newfoundland Abir has been unable to find the dessert and has created her own recipe based on family recipes from her mother and mother-in-law. Abir's baklava uses homemade cream cheese in addition to chopped pistachios and syrup.

Heritage Foundation Executive Director, Jerry Dick, measures and cuts the phyllo pastry for baklava.

In early March the Heritage Foundation worked with Abir to offer a baklava workshop to showcase this traditional pastry which is being baked and shared in the province today. Twelve participants came out to learn how to make their own baklava and were joined by a video crew from CBC.

Phyllo pastry with homemade cream cheese - ready to be folded!

Abir started the workshop by explaining how to prepare the phyllo pastry with melted ghee and how to properly cut the squares necessary to create the traditional triangle shaped dessert. Abir then went through the process of making homemade cream cheese and whipped up a batch to cool in the freezer. While the cream cheese was cooling Abir demonstrated how to make the syrup which is spread over the pastries as a finishing touch. The participants then placed a dollop of cream cheese in their pasties and shaped the baklava into triangles.

Abir showing two participants how to shape the pastry.

Michael Philpott and Dale Jarvis of the Heritage Foundation trying to lit the propane oven.

While there were a couple of technical difficulties lighting the propane oven once these were taken care of the baklava was placed in the oven at 350' F for 20 minutes. During this time folklorist Dale Jarvis sat down with Abir to discuss traditional Syrian food, what food she remembers from her childhood, and the types of food she cooks and bakes for her family of seven.

Abir Zain talking food with folklorist, Dale Jarvis.

Once the baklava had baked for 20 minutes it was broiled for a short time to colour the top of the pastry. Then the syrup was spread over the pastries and crushed pistachios were sprinkled on top! The finished product looks beautiful and tastes amazing! Abir has been taking orders for her baklava and is hoping to soon sell the pastry at the local St. John's Farmer's Market.

Abir Zain with several baklava workshop participants.

If you would like to see the full recipe please click here to download the recipe!

Or if you want to see CBC's video clip from the event and watch Abir in action see below!

Be sure to let us know in the comments what other traditional workshops you would like to see in the future.

A huge thank you goes out to CBC for coming out to the workshop and filming this video of Abir! ~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep067 Cod Sounds

Lori McCarthy grew up in the small fishing community of Bauline, of about 200 people, on the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The traditional foods of her childhood feed her passion to tell the stories of her province through its people, culture and food. Out of this passion she started Project NL Food, a province-wide endeavour to visit various communities and speak with generations of people that hold their culture close to their heart. Lori also owns and operates Cod Sounds, a company which is devoted to celebrating the province’s unique foods with travellers and locals alike through hands on experiences like beach boil-ups, mussel picking and berry picking.

In this interview, we talk about how the Project NL Food got started, traditional recipes, family foodways, the barter system, hunting, teaching, workshops, and food tours.

photo: https://www.instagram.com/codsounds/

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/703/rec/1

#FoodwaysFriday - Name that meal!

Photo by Meghann Jack.

Last Thursday Dale, Kelly, and I drove to Marysvale for a series of oral history interviews as part of the Collective Memories project. The interviews took place at the Heritage House which functions as a museum and tea room during the summer. The community has received some funding to have the interviews fully transcribed and these first four interviews were sent to a transcription company in central Canada over the weekend.

We received the full transcripts this week and noticed something a little curious. During the interview with Patricia Whalen and Shirley Ryan, the pair discussed garden parties in the community. They were talking about a particular food which was eaten at the party as well as taken away. The transcribers in mainland Canada were unable to figure out what food was being discussed. Read the excerpt or listen to the clip below and let us know what food they were talking about!


Shirley: And when I first moved down here we had garden parties. I'd never seen a garden party, I mean we had fairs up in the mainland, but garden parties, oh my gosh … Oh it was marvellous.

Dale: So what would happen at a garden party?

Shirley: They'd have little boats for the children and they spin wheels for numbers and they had boats and … Oh it was grand … In the churchyard … Either that or in the hall … On the hall. It was great, oh my gosh. And they had a big meal. [Unintelligible 00:32:12] plates, everybody would go in the hall and sit down and pay for their [unintelligible 00:32:17] plate and have it … Either that or takeout.

Patricia: Take it home.

Shirley: Either one.


Name that meal!
~Terra Barrett

#FoodwaysFriday - Berries with Bridget Jacobs

Local blackberries - also called black crowberries, heathberry, earthberry, and curlew berry in some locations.

When we discuss foodways of Newfoundland and Labrador the first food that comes to mind is the codfish. Cod has played a major role in everything from the province’s economy to its culture. It is featured in many traditional dishes however it is not the only food tradition in the province. Seafood and fish, caribou, seal, sea birds, berries, root vegetables, and imported products such as molasses and tin milk all play a part in the province’s food traditions. In celebration of the diverse foods harvested, grown, cooked, and eaten in Newfoundland and Labrador we will be doing a #FoodwaysFriday feature on the ICH Blog.

This week we are featuring a series of photos and videos taken by Maureen Power with Bridget Jacobs of Joe Batt’s Arm. The collection features a number of local berries including blackberries, marshberries, tea berries, blackcurrants, goose berries, raspberries, partridgeberries, poison bush, blueberries, crackerberries, and blue herts. Maureen takes short video clips of Bridget showing her the location and type of berries. Bridget also gives little stories about the berries including the clip below where she describes how blackcurrant cured her niece when she was sick.

If you would like to see the full collection click here!

Share your stories and knowledge of food with the hashtag #FoodwaysFriday.

~Terra Barrett