Not your normal trail mix
Hikers at Keji treated to five-star grub on weekend Beech Grove gourmand trek
Tomato chutney on shrimpwrapped Digby scallops next to egg salad with fresh chives and potato – it’s not your normal trail mix.
And that was after the mapleroasted squash soup followed with Bulwark Craft Cider out of New Ross. But save room, because there’s planked salmon and Bear River’s Annapolis Highland Vineyards wine just up ahead, and at station five, they have Nova Scotia’s provincial dish – hodgepodge.
Oct. 1 at Mill Falls was a day 200 hikers at Keji won’t soon forget. Parks Canada handed out plates, goblets and cutlery for its second edition of Savour the Trail. People grabbed napkins and set out on a threekilometre trek of gourmand ecstasy.
“Today, we invite you to participate in a unique culinary experience during which you’ll enjoy delicious gourmet food and drink while exploring two of Keji’s most scenic trails,” said the guidebook handed out to participants along with their map. uct development officer with Parks Canada, described Savour the Trail as a three kilometer food hike organized in partnership with the Nova Scotia Community College Lunenburg campus.
“They have a wonderful culinary arts department in Bridgewater and they’re doing 90 per cent of all the food that’s going to be served today,” she said, adding that Parks Canada was also hosting the event with collaboration from a dozen or so vendors, including Berwick’s Union Street Café, Lequille’s Still Fire Distillery, Wile’s Lake Farm Market, Caledonia’s Van Dyk’s Health Juice, Just Us Coffee from Wolfville, Boxing Rock Brewing Company from Shelburne and Ironworks Distillery from Lunenburg. And for a real treat – the Newfoundland Chocolate Company.
Last year’s inaugural version sold 150 tickets. This year, 200 tickets were printed and they were sold out with a waiting list of 70 people before they even printed the posters advertising it. Levesque said with a little bit of social media promotion, the tickets were gone. Hikers came from across the province with a high number from Halifax, but lots of people from the Annapolis Valley clear through to Yarmouth.
Chef Raimer Fuhlendorf said the school put first- and second-year students together at the various stations along the trail. Fuhlendorf said the NSCC Culinary Arts students started preparing about two weeks before the event with ordering, but in the three days before the hike they were really busy. All the menu items were the school’s recipes. And remember that guidebook? All the recipes are in it.
“We try to keep things as fresh as we can, so Friday was probably the busiest day,” he said. “We spent some extra time on it. And then we packed it this morning and shipped it. Basically, when we get here we run it out to the stations.”
There were 13 stations in all, with NSCC manning nine of them.
In the end, it appeared people like the food.
“There was a lot of laughter and chitter- chatter,” he said, and he’d do it again without hesitation. “I think it’s a great experience for the students. It’s something that you don’t get done in the industry all the time… It’s a great learning experience for the students.”