If you asked local restaurant owners in Moncton, they would tell you it wouldn't be an Acadian celebration in New Brunswick without a show of pride through traditional food and drink. That's why, in honour of National Acadian Day Thursday, Moncton's Acadie Rock festival rolled out the red tablecloth for this year's Backyard Menu. Nineteen local restaurants, cafés and micro breweries are offering their take on Acadian cuisine as part of the culture and music festival in the city's downtown.
Available until Aug. 18, the Backyard Menu is all about the food locals love. Not your grandma's meat pie.
Actually, it just might be For Dominique Ratté, one of the owners of Café Archibald, adding Acadian flare to her restaurant's French-inspired offerings came naturally. The Ratté family own both Café Archibald locations in the Moncton area. Dominique Ratté says she hopes the restaurant's take on an Acadian meat pie will live up to family recipes locals might have tasted in their own homes.
(Shane Fowler/CBC) The café is featuring meat pie, or pâté à la viande, which is a mixture of ground meat inside a flaky pie crust. "We have Acadian roots so we want to encourage the Acadian heritage and feature that in our restaurant," she said. "The pâté is inspired by the French but it's also been adapted by the Acadian culture and even across Canada.
" WATCH | What's on the Backyard Menu for National Acadian Day? Looking to eat, drink, and be merry in honour of National Acadian Day? We’ve got you covered 31 minutes ago Duration 3:39 French-inspired fare honours tradition of Acadian roots while bold new flavours give nod to culture. No matter how it's served, Ratté said meat pie is a staple in many Acadian homes during the holidays. "Every Thanksgiving, that would be the meal served at the grandmother's house here in Moncton," she said of her own family traditions.
"Grandmothers' recipes in general, they're so precious." Meat pie is a traditional dish often served in Acadian households over the holiday season. (Shane Fowler/CBC) Ratté's mother is an Acadian from Moncton and her father is originally from Quebec.
As a long-time restaurateur, he founded the café in the 1990s and Ratte is taking over the family business. "Just to keep that taste and life alive with us through the generations, it's important to keep a piece of that memory and to translate that through a culinary experience." Ratté is serving the dish with a side of beets and homemade fruit ketchup, which she says are both indicative of local culture.
'The possibility to start something new' Along the Petitcodiac River, two family businesses have teamed up to brew something new. Verger Belliveau, an orchard in Memramcook, and nearby Crooked River Distillery have joined forces. Together, they're creating a refreshing summer drink by Scow Cider, one of the products processed at the orchard.
Dominique Gauvin is part of the marketing and sale department at Crooked River Distillery in Memramcook. (Shane Fowler/CBC) "The haskap is a sour berry but it kind of just balanced the apple cider perfectly and brings out a kind of sweeter cider and, obviously, when you see the colour of it, it's quite attracting to the eye," Dominique Gauvin said. Gauvin's family owns Crooked River.
She said her family's farm is one of the only ones in the region growing the fruit. It's an elongated berry that is a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry — a mix Gauvin thinks is perfect for the season. She said the fruit is at the heart of a partnership that's blending two Acadian families.
"The fact that we can work with our family ...
but French businesses, too, that are all bilingual, we want to keep that around and to be able to support the Acadian culture that is still here," she said. Serge LeBlanc, director of marketing and sales with Scow, says the new haskap cider is distinct due to its vibrant, red color. (Shane Fowler/CBC) Serge Leblanc, director of sales and marketing with Scow Cider, said the company's long-standing partnership with the Acadie Rock festival is a way to remind folks of another tradition.
"Farming has always been a big part of Acadian history and culture and a big part of the history here in Memramcook," he said. "Everybody's always had to collaborate and work together." Doughnuts on the beach? Try the beach on a doughnut When Halo Donuts' baking team got to work around 3:00 am on Wednesday in Moncton, they had to figure out how to put the beach on a doughnut.
And they succeeded. Susan Cormier is one of the owners of the specialty shop and said when her team heard this year's theme was summer pleasures, they knew they had to illustrate the Acadian coast. Bakers at Halo Donuts in Moncton wanted to celebrate the beauty of New Brunswick beaches to mark National Acadian Day.
(Shane Fowler/CBC) "That was the first thing our bakers thought of," she said. "They thought, 'Well, what more do you want to do in the summer when it's hot and humid here in the Maritimes?'" Dunk'in into Summer has piña colada icing and is dipped in graham crackers and Acadian-coloured sprinkles to illustrate sand. On top of that is a tiny, bear-shaped cookie lying on a "towel" of red and blue candy under a paper umbrella.
Returning to the lineup is also the Kraft Dinner doughnut, with cheese powder on a sticky caramel glaze. Cormier said it was by far the most popular choice on last year's menu. For those who prefer a traditional pick, they also have a vanilla-glazed doughnut topped with the Acadian flag in red, white, blue and yellow.
Cormier's husband Gene and their business partner, Jacques Allain, are Acadian. She said she hopes the treats will be a reason for people to enjoy the week together. "This is important to celebrate the heritage of Acadian culture, which is really important to everybody who lives in this region and we want to be a part of that celebration.
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