HUNGRY GERALD

The sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny September day on Prince Edward Island was marked (So, what else is new ?) with some very good eating.. A favorite breakfast: Corn (from the Blum’s truck in Montague) pancakes gilded with extraordinary maple syrup from Nova Scotia. Then, off to the southeast shore of the Island to inspect a variety of properties developed by Jeff Klein, a former New York investment banker who fell in love with Prince Edward Island and its breathtaking shoreline. (HG/BSK are trying to have restaurateur daughter Victoria and chef/partner./husband Marc M. consider PEI for a vacation home). Jeff recommended 21 Breakwater Restaurant in the town of Souris for lunch. Turned out to be a winner. It’s in a lovely old house and faces Souris Harbor and the ferry that leaves daily for the Madeleine Islands. Splendid view and splendid food. BSK had the house salad (local mixed greens, tiny tomatoes, goat cheese, red onions, green onions in a red wine vinaigrette) with an addition of spicy Portuguese Piri Piri chicken. HG had a big bowl of creamy and buttery sea chowder filled with hake, lobster, potatoes and smoky bacon. Drank good Pinot Grigio. Restaurant is owned by chef Pedro Pereira (he’s from Portugal) and his wife, Betty Macdonald, a native Islander. Many of the house specialties have a Portuguese flavor. HG/BSK intend to be back there for dinner next week and try some more Piri Piri chicken, Portuguese fish and chips and special nachos made with PEI potato chips and aged cheddar. Stopped off at MacPhees Market in Souris and the young female butcher cut HG a 2-inch thick New York strip steak (local beef). Brisk walk on a beach near HG/BSK’s north shore home. For dinner, BSK pan broiled the steak to the proper degree of rareness. Served it with buttery orzo mixed with shallots and chantarelle mushrooms (the mushroom were a gift from neighbors Molly and Peter E.) An onion and tomato salad plus a simple green salad. Drank a good red wine from Newman Estate, a local winery. A tasty day.

Yes, as HG has enthusiastically attested, Prince Edward Island is filled with very good things to eat. Sweet corn (Blum’s is the best); Colville Bay and Malpeque oysters; mussels, strawberries, blueberries; mustard pickles and condiments, jams and jellies (all natural and unsurpassed); Fenugreek flavored Gouda cheese. Breadworks provides baguettes and rustic loaves that rival anything in Paris. What has been overlooked is the excellence of local spirits, wines and beers. Gahan’s beers and ales have an extraordinary depth of flavor and rival any of the better known craft brewers in either Canada or the US. Newman Estate Winery and Matos Winery produce award winning reds and whites. HG (often to BSK’s dismay) enjoys strong spirits before and after dinner. And, here’s where PEI really shines. Myriad View Distillery provides three cocktail hour (or hours, in HG’s case) delights: Strait Gin (unique taste of botanicals); Pastis (a true taste of Provence); Vodka (smooth and pure). These three liquors are some of the best of their kind that HG has ever imbibed; HG believes that Myriad View would be much better known if they invested in proper graphic design so that their label’s beauty would match their product’s quality. Now, HG has discovered a great after dinner tipple (with a fine label to match!). It’s Bagaco, distilled by the Matos Winery. Colorless and potent, it’s distilled from pomace, the solid remains of grapes after pressing for juice. Pomace contains skin, pulp, seeds and stems of the grapes. Italians use pomace to distill Grappa, the French distill Marc and Portuguese distill Bagaco. HG’s favorite is Bagaco, smooth and strong. Provides a pleasant ending to a meal. Jaime and Heather Matos run the eponymous winery and distillery. Both were born on the island of Pico in the Azores (Acores in Portuguese). Their heritage is reflected in their delicious Bagaco.

Days of family feasting and then everyone departed, leaving HG/BSK in a suddenly quiet home with not a kiddy toy, book or article of clothing in sight. HG/BSK are left with many happy memories as Prince Edward Island gently segues into early autumn. On a more mundane (but tasty) level, the family feasts have left HG/BSK with a refrigerator nicely stocked with lush leftovers. HG/BSK’s lovely neighbor, Lesley F., dined with the duo and was fed Marc Meyer’s incomparable brandade and savory clam-corn-potato stew. A great meal redux. (Marc’s leftover pasta with broccoli and chickpeas has been reserved for a future lunch). Yesterday was a day of unrelenting rain so HG spent time indoors with his two favorite Canadian women: BSK and Alice Munro. Few writers have received as many honors as Munro (Nobel, Man Booker, etc.) and, surprisingly, these have never been the subject of controversy in the usually rancorous literary world. It’s simple. She is universally acknowledged to be the greatest contemporary master of the short story.(This may be literary heresy, but in HG’s opinion, Munro surpasses Chekhov in the scope of her imagination and her ability to shift past and present in a single story giving it the depth of a novel). HG took time out from literature to pluck every speck of deliciousness out of leftover lobsters. This meant, for HG, lobster rolls for dinner (BSK, alas, is allergic to crustaceans and had to make do with grilled sea scallops served over garden greens). HG rounded out the meal by frying some of Yossi M.’s little potatoes. HG’s lobster rolls were state of the art. Good toasted hot dog buns from a local baker. The buns were lined with garden greens (to prevent sogginess and enhance flavor). Super generous filling of lobster. Melted butter (no mayonnaise for HG), squeeze of lemon, bit of Tabasco. Perfection. HG/BSK drank a BSK discovery: Newman Estate White 2014. An unoaked Chardonnay, this is a blend of Ontario and PEI wines. It’s a revelation.