In the next few posts I will visit Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada where I found the food roots continue to reflect the past.
There were buns the oven, but these were not ordinary buns and this was no ordinary oven. Port au Choix is one of six locations in Newfoundland, Canada to celebrate their French heritage by building an outdoor bread oven. A wood fire is started in the oven at 9:30 in the morning. The ashes are removed before the buns are put in the oven at 2 in the afternoon by interpreters dressed as though ladies of the past. Visitors were served by Audrey and Marjorie to a hot bun and butter with homemade jams made of local berries such as Bakeapple, Partridgeberry and Blueberry, and coffee or tea. A nominal fee is charged to participate in this taste of history.
While we enjoyed the warm buns, we learned of the past of the French fisheries on these shores. Marjorie Lavers shared this history with passion as this is part of her past.
In 1713, the French were given rights by the British to fish off the coast of Newfoundland, but were not allowed to form settlements. Port au Choix was an important harbour at that time and the French used the land only to salt and prepare their fish for the journey back to Europe. There were many Roman Catholic religious holidays all over Europe that required that fish be eaten and no meat, so the demand was high. The skilled “salter” was considered to be one of the most important men on the schooners from France because the salting of the fish had to be perfect. Pure white and dried to perfection is what was required for good sales. The baker was also an important person aboard ship and bread ovens were build on the Newfoundland coast to feed the young fishermen fresh bread after eating hard tack on the journey over the ocean.
Some of the earliest settlers of Port au Choix were French fishermen who chose to hide when the ships returned to France. They joined the community of English and Indigenous peoples, but could not speak French or let their ancestry be known. Those French fishermen are the ancestors of some of today’s residents in Port au Choix (Port of Choice,) who are now proud to show their French heritage.
But what recipe was used for those buns cooked in the French ovens today? They were the best I had ever tasted.
I asked Marjorie Lavers, one of the interpretive staff at the French Rooms and the Bread Oven. She sent me to meet her sister, Carolyn, who runs Dot’s bakery in town and makes the buns to be baked in the outdoor oven.
“This bakery started as a project to keep my Mom busy,” Carolyn told me. Her mom, Dot, was a good cook. All the women made their own bread in days gone by. But once the bakery started her mother could barely keep up with the orders from the fishing boats and soon she was making 12 loaves a day by hand. Eventually the bakery was enlarged with the help of Carolyn and just as it opened the “fisheries went down.” This was an event that her mother had always predicted. It was hard for a while to make up the lost business, but now the bakery is doing a booming business making bread for stores. It is open to the public only on Saturdays, a busy day at Dot’s.
Carolyn still uses her mother’s original bun recipe and she figures it may have come from her grandmother or great grandmother. Her breads use no artificial ingredients and are still made in the way of the past, with the help of one modern tool; a large commercial mixer.
She willingly shared her recipe, telling it from memory. After all, that’s what she does everyday. Eating one of Carolyn’s buns is a taste not easily forgotten. Thanks Carolyn for keeping food history alive.
- 3 lbs., 5 oz. flour
- ¼ of a cup of yeast
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 2 oz. sugar
- 2 oz. of shortening
- 2 eggs, beat up a bit
Mix like any other bread recipe, knead, let rise, knead, let rise and bake for 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven until browned on the top. Makes 3 – 4 dozen of the best buns you have ever tasted.