Meals which might be regular in Aroostook County
Belief Aroostook County to place venison and ice cream on the identical plate.
When folks consider Maine, they typically consider mouthwatering meals like lobster rolls and blueberry pie. However Aroostook County has its personal assortment of culinary delights, some which may appear a bit of off the crushed path.
County people are used to their uniqueness. Aroostook, the biggest county east of the Mississippi, is remoted from the remainder of Maine. Its persons are recognized for “making do” and inventing their means out of issues. When meals was scarce, folks grew or hunted what they wanted and got here up with some fairly creative dishes.
Many meals have been carried by way of household histories for generations, like ployes, these skinny buckwheat pancakes rooted within the Acadian heritage of the St. John Valley. Many come from what grows in abundance, like potatoes, that are nonetheless Maine’s No. 1 meals crop.
Listed here are just some particular dishes which might be well-known in Aroostook County. In case you’re from the world, your mouth will water. In case you’re not, search them out to see what the fuss is about.
New potatoes in milk and butter
After contemporary strawberry shortcake, new potatoes cooked with contemporary backyard peas or inexperienced beans are The County’s second conventional dish of summer season.
Is it greens or soup? Aficionados don’t trouble to categorize it as a result of they’re too busy consuming these candy spuds swimming in milk and butter.
Many individuals dig among the tiniest first potatoes in early July only for this dish. Later within the season, bigger new potatoes may be lower up.
For starters, don’t peel the potatoes. New potatoes have a creamy sweetness set off by the earthy, nutty pores and skin — and moreover, a potato with pores and skin can present almost 20 p.c of the potassium an grownup wants each day, in accordance with the Maine Potato Board.
As soon as cooked, drain a lot of the water away. Add milk, a bit of salt and pepper, and butter or margarine to your style, and return to the range and warmth. Then seize a spoon.
Poutine
A bowl of french fries and melted cheese smothered in gravy would possibly sound odd, however in northern Maine, poutine is in every single place.
The dish first appeared in Quebec within the Nineteen Fifties, and the title is used as slang for “mess,” in accordance with Britannica. Aroostook County, which in fact borders Quebec, adopted the delicacy.
As a result of contemporary cheese curd is uncommon in Aroostook, County people typically use mozzarella, provolone or different cheeses which might be extra available.
Native cooks have provide you with their very own takes on custom, together with including hen, barbecue sauce, maple and even beer. A 2018 contest in Madawaska noticed poutine with lobster and filet mignon, and one even mixed chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers — doubtless the world’s first S’mores poutine.
Potato doughnuts
Who ever heard of taking leftover potatoes and making them into doughnuts? Solely generations of Aroostook County people.
We’ll guess you {dollars} to — effectively, doughnuts — that the majority farm kitchens nonetheless have a handwritten recipe for potato doughnuts. And no, you don’t style potato, however it ends in a moist and cakey confection.
The thought went nationwide in 1940, when Gov. Lewis O. Barrows pushed to have Maine potatoes utilized in doughnut making. The Doughnut Company of America thought the suggestion glorious and spoke of constructing a “method for bakers in each state to make use of,” in accordance with the Aroostook Republican.
Although she hasn’t tried potato doughnuts, Jessica Libby of Lil J’s Kitchen in Mapleton desires to. She makes the identical recipes her grandmother, Christy Plourde of Plourde’s Doughnuts, made well-known in The County.
“She made doughnuts for 55 years. She was recognized within the Valley and all of Aroostook. Folks would journey for hours to get her doughnuts,” Libby mentioned.
Houlton Farms Ice Cream
Maine has its share of scrumptious ice cream makers, to make certain. However when you’re in Aroostook County, no summer season is full with out standing in a depraved lengthy line for a Houlton Farms ice cream deal with.
The Houlton dairy operates ice cream stands in its hometown in addition to Presque Isle and Caribou. The frozen deal with is on the market in some shops, however most would say it’s simply not the identical.
The dairy has been in enterprise for 85 years and produces milk, butter and lemonade in addition to ice cream. In addition to utilizing native dairy merchandise, the corporate typically makes use of contemporary meals like berries and maple syrup in its recipes.
Folks of all ages flock to the dairy bars from opening day to season’s finish and luxuriate in socializing in addition to anticipating what to order.
Mincemeat
To most, mincemeat means a combination of chopped fruit, combined with spices, that usually winds up in pie. To folks from northern Maine, the “meat” a part of which means just one factor: deer meat, or venison.
Like many areas the place work was lengthy and cash was brief, the County’s searching custom was typically borne of the necessity for meat to freeze for the winter.
Many residents keep in mind household grinding venison and including it to a steaming, delectably scented kettle of raisins, currants, orange peel, cinnamon and whatnot. The stuff simmered till it was thick and wealthy, then was canned and saved.
Now, with the recognition of moose season, the catch can embody moose in addition to venison.
Mincemeat remains to be a favourite in lots of native kitchens, at church suppers and vacation dinners. To make it much more splendid, heat the pie and add a scoop of — what else? — Houlton Farms ice cream.
And that, pricey readers, is why venison and ice cream actually do belong on the identical plate.
