ISLAND INDULGENCE
Island Indulgence - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Island Indulgence | |||||
| By: Ute Junker, Issue 46 – Autumn 11 | |||||
| (Prince Edward Island, Canada) | |||||
| UTE JUNKER SAMPLES THE FARE ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA’S FAMOUS GOURMET GETAWAY DESTINATION. | |||||
| It’s 10.30 in the morning and we’re drinking moonshine. This is not what I expected from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada’s smallest province. This tiny island – 140 miles long, and ranging between four and 40 miles wide – is known for its bucolic scenery and as the setting for the classic children’s book Anne of Green Gables. It’s the sort of place where life moves at a slower pace and traditions are respected. One of those traditions, as I’m discovering, is moonshine. “On PEI, you grow up with moonshine,” explains Ken Mill, co-owner of the Myriad View Distillery, the first distillery to get a licence to produce legal moonshine. “Every celebration, you’ll see people pulling moonshine out of their pockets. When you’re a child, you’re usually not aware of it. Your parents will use code words – maybe they’ll say they’re going to check on the furnace, when they’re actually visiting the still in the basement.” According to Ken, the highest compliment one islander can pay another is to ask him to provide the moonshine for his wedding. PEI’s thirst for moonshine was born during Prohibition, which lasted longer on this island than anywhere else, from 1901 to 1948. Although Prohibition has long gone, the island still has only 19 bottle shops, compared with 30 golf courses and 52 lighthouses. Products such as Strait Lightning – a clear double distilled over-proof spirit with a smooth finish and just a hint of caramel – say as much about PEI’s tradition of do-it-yourself as its fondness for hooch. Locals have always appreciated the island’s natural bounty, harvesting the superb seafood from the clear waters surrounding its crenulated coast. Eighty per cent of Canada’s cultivated mussels come from here, as well as fish such as halibut, mackerel and blue fin tuna. All along the coast, small producers harvest the local Malpeque oysters. Stop in at the various oyster farming operations and pick up a dozen shellfish straight from the sea, each with its own unique flavour, depending on which stretch of coastline they are farmed. The Sinners in Heaven oysters have a clean, crisp finish, while the superb Colville Bay oysters, with their pretty green-tinged shells, mix sweetness with just a touch of brine. Quality produce draws quality chefs, and PEI is home to some superb dining experiences. Lot 30 in the capital, Charlottetown, is a sleek diner with a sophisticated menu of dishes such as roasted garlic and panko baked oysters and caramelised sea scallops with potato pave and red wine black currant reduction. The island’s best-known restaurant is located in The Inn at Bay Fortune, a charming retreat on the east coast. Chef Warren Barr ransacks his smokehouse and his impressive vegetable garden to create dishes such as a tartar of PEI scallops with strawberry and balsamic salsa, accompanied with a salad of roasted beets with garden sorrel. Lobster caught in the harbour outside the Inn is grilled and served with an intense lobster broth, accompanied by wilted spinach and a parsnip and lobster ravioli. A recent addition to the local dining scene takes a more rough-and-ready approach. Ship to Shore is the opposite of flash – it’s essentially an overgrown shack, with tarpaulin walls that can be rolled up or down depending on the temperature, long tables and benches. Drop by any night of the week, however, and you’ll find it packed with diners savouring the superb no-frills seafood. Whether you order a hearty clam chowder, a fantastically flavoursome halibut fillet or a big bowl of mussels (steamed in wine and garlic, white beer and citrus or even with mushroom and bacon) you’ll find yourself hankering for seconds. If you’d like to learn the secrets of preparing sensational seafood for yourself, sign up for one of the one-day Culinary Bootcamps offered by the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown. Working in a professional kitchen, wearing your own set of chef’s whites (yes, you get to keep them), small groups of students are assigned recipes at random, given the necessary equipment, and told to get cooking. My recipe - mussels in chilli, tomato and basil – seems easy enough. Chop some herbs, clean some mussels, steam the lot together: I can manage that. It seems everyone else is equally comfortable with what’s required of them except the poor chap who’s been assigned the butter-poached lobster. He’s quite happy until one of our instructors carries in the live lobsters. He pales a bit, but carries on regardless, and next time I risk glancing over, the lobsters are no longer of this world. In a couple of hours, we have assembled an impressive seafood banquet. And yes, the lobster is just fabulous. | |||||
| Getting there | |||||
| Air Canada operates daily flights from Sydney to Toronto, with onward flights to Charlottetown. Low season fares start from A$2,577 including taxes. Executive First (business class) all year round 50 day advance purchase, starts at A$9,055 including taxes. aircanada.com. | |||||
| Where to Stay | |||||
| The Inns on Great George offers rooms scattered through 15 historical buildings in the heart of Charlottetown. Rates start from A$189 during shoulder season (May and October) and A$219 during peak season (June to September). +1 902 892 0606, thegreatgeorge.com For a more rural retreat, The Inn at Bay Fortune has 17 individually-configured rooms, 14 with fireplaces. Rates start at A$135 during shoulder season and A$150 during peak season. +1 902 687 3745, innatbayfortune.com | |||||
| When to Go | |||||
| Pick of the Crop Myriad View Distillery | |||||
| 1336 Route 2, Rollo Bay +1 902 687 1281 straitshine.com | |||||
| Colville Bay Oysters | |||||
| 83 Lower Rollo Bay Road, Souris +1 902 687 2222 colvillebayoysterco.com | |||||
| Lot 30 | |||||
| 151 Kent Street, Charlottetown +1 902 629 3030 lot30restaurant.ca | |||||
| Ship To Shore | |||||
| 2684 Route 20, Darnley +1 902 836 5475 shiptoshorelounge.com | |||||
| Inn At Bay Fortune | |||||
| Bay Fortune +1 902 687 3745 innatbayfortune.com | |||||
| The Culinary Institute Of Canada | |||||
| 4 Sydney Street, Charlottetown +1 902 566 9305 hollandcollege.com/bootcamps | |||||
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