Rugged Food Foraging
September 12, 2013
...and so it came to pass that this was the year we found things to do in Maine that did not require a huge physical commitment. Every summer, for a few weeks, from 1977 until 2009, we climbed and hiked for miles everyday in Acadia National Park.
Not this year.
The hatchery won our hearts and bodies...we have been too tired to hike.
It turns out that Bar Harbor has a few small brew pubs and some foodie joints, and so in the spirit that once led us up and down mountains, we visited a couple of them.
Tough job, but we ate and drank our way through it...
Atlantic Brewing Company and Mainely Meat was our first stop. Free Tastings and fall off the bone, succulent, dry-rubbed ribs. YUM! (After all this lobster, it was good to chow down on some perfectly cooked, juicy, fat ribs.) Home-made barbecue sauces were served on the side. Definitely bought a couple of jars of the "Sweet" to take home
In the free tasting room, there were six to eight different brews to sample and an equal number of people.
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Max, the talented grill chef |
I suppose it was a typical tasting: a beerophile there to study and pontificate, a couple of fun guys from New York City, a local - dying to taste the new seasonals and us of the "Oh Boy, Free Beer set." We bought a six pack of Leaf Peeper Red Ale1 and I am enjoying one right now.
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Brewery: The brewer calls the foam in the bucket happy yeast, because it is bubbly. |
This small, craft brewery produces 9,000 barrels of beer a year, the Budweiser brewery in Massachusetts does the same in ten minutes!
Leaving the brewery, we decided to visit Fiore, an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting room in downtown Bar Harbor.
The walls of the shop’s tasting room are lined with shiny fusti filled with Oils and Vinegars. From traditional aged Modena to Dark Chocolate and Black Cherry Balsamic... we just wanted to sip a glass of one of the flavored vinegars as a cocktail. Trays of crusty bread are set about for dipping into the large selection of extra virgin olive oils from around the world as well as the delicately flavored specialty oils. Fiore produces: Japanese Roasted Sesame, Porcine, Butternut Squash Seed... We brought home three bottles of the Roasted French Walnut Oil and three bottles of the Raspberry-Ginger Balsamic vinegar.
To finish off our rugged food foraging, once again we resorted to a "small" ginger ice cream sugar cone. Oh the guilt. Oh the joy!
1 Leaf Peeper Red Ale is a 5% ABV, English style red ale that uses German noble hops (Saaz) to create a smooth session beer with a mild sweetness on the finish. In addition to the pale and Caramunich malts, we put in 10% crystal malt to achieve a ruby red color that is reminiscent of Maine fall foliage.
All I can do is echo: YUM!!
Ilo-Mai
Way to go Guy's. I'm a bread dipper from way back. I'm a beer drinker from way back. All I can say is YUM!
Donna
