Picnics at Grand Pre launch date: July 1

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Visitors to Grand-Pre this summer will be able to enjoy a picnic with a taste of Acadie, prepared by well-known chef Michael Howell.

The charming gardens at the national historic site make a perfect location to spread out a picnic feast.

The leader of the Slow Food movement in Nova Scotia, Howell has done his homework on menus from the Acadian era. He went to Marie Nightingale's classic Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens to research what early settlers here might have eaten this time of year then he sourced first class local ingredients.

His old-fashioned basket is filled with cider-braised Valley ham, delicious pork tourtieres with orange marmalade, baguette with apple butter, green tomato chow, pickled beets, pickled eggs and pickled herring from Saulnierville, smoked cheddar cheese, apples and ginger cookies.

Howell knows that Quebec tourtiere is different than the one made in Acadie. "They used chunks of meat. We've added orange marmalade as a kind of homage to fighting scurvy. Ours in a modern interpretation with variations."

Grounds a picnic landscape

With the loss of an eatery in Grand-Pre due to fire last year, the tasty Acadian picnics should prove popular. "The idea is to get people to stay longer," he said.

Park spokesperson Sally Ross adds, "we're hoping local residents who haven't been to the site since the new visitors' centre opened in 2003 will revisit. The grounds here were designed as a picnic landscape."

Biodegradable plates, serviettes and utensils are supplied. The food is delivered fresh daily and kept refrigerated. All items are conveniently packed in a basket at pick-up time.

The picnic costs $52.50 for two adults and more adults, as well as children, can be added on. Prices include admission to the historic site and a take-home picnic basket, but Howell says it can be returned for a deposit. "We'll have extras there every day. And we'll include a card celebrating all the local producers. This is not imported food."

Place orders by phoning Grand-Pré National Historic Site at 542-1951. Orders must be placed by 3:30 p.m. the day before a planned visit to Grand-Pré. The basket can be picked up at the site anytime after 10:30 a.m. The picnics are available from July 1 to Aug. 31.