Southampton, Ontario
Last weekend I traveled 4 hours north of Toronto to eat an iconic Canadian food - the butter tart.
I know you’re thinking 2 things:
1) I’m crazy to travel 4 hours, but it was only supposed to be 3 – unfortunately Google Maps wanted me to take a bunch of back roads and sit through every construction job north of the city.
2) I proclaim not to like dessert. This is somewhat true. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth but I grew up with butter tarts and they are truly one of the few things I can say are uniquely Canadian food.
I was invited to Southampton Ontario to judge a butter tart competition – no bacon involved. Although I’ve lived in Toronto for over ten years I’m not really familiar with much of Ontario but this is cottage country and also where Chef Rouge is from and he raves about the region. Unfortunately, like all Saturdays he had to work so it was a solo trip.
But I didn’t mind at all. I actually love driving with the radio turned up loud and revel in guilty pleasures like belting out Kelly Clarkson songs.
I also discovered something really great about heading north. While much of Ontario has succumbed to the inevitable evolution of cookie cutter beige homes in between big box stores, the drive north is actually quite lovely.
The small highways drive through tiny towns with little cafes and farmers markets. Independent burger shops and diners still exist and the drive up could be a trip on its own.
It reminded me a lot of Nova Scotia, especially as I arrived in Southampton, which is right on the water. A small town with a few shops, it made me feel a bit homesick as I only really visit Nova Scotia at Christmas to see my family.
I’m not sure why but as I age I really appreciate these small towns more and more. Maybe it’s because I traveled around the world to find the small, independent shops with character and now I see they were all around me at home.
The butter tart competition was a lot of fun, I don’t have photos because we were given a blindfold to test 10 different entries from Bruce County.
Butter tarts are simple desserts with butter, sugar, syrup, and egg baked into a pastry. With 10 judges it was interesting to see how personal preference played such a big role as I don’t like overly sweet or runny filling but others do. In the end it came down to a flakey crust, which everyone agreed showed quality of product.
Before jumping back into the car for another marathon of sound deaf singing to the radio I had to stop in a few places to bring treats home.
A while back Chef Rouge was given a loaf of wild yeast sourdough. It was the best bread I have EVER eaten. I went back to Offshore Bakery to buy more but I’m not the only one who loves it and so it was sold out. My consolation prize was a great sourdough – but seriously wild yeast is where it’s at.
I also stopped in Harrigans’s as I was intrigued by the “100 Mile Food Market” and it was like stepping back in time, the place hasn’t changed in decades and featured a lot of local producers of maple syrup and other products – although I’m not quite sure pineapple can be found within 100 miles but I’ll give them a break as I’m sure they are just addressing customer demand.
Finally I stopped in for fish after seeing a sign on the side of the road that I could buy fresh fish. I don’t eat a lot of fish in Toronto because I want to buy sustainable seafood and that can be really pricey which means it’s another pleasure of being back in Nova Scotia but Southampton has local trout and whitefish for amazing prices and they are both listed as ocean friendly seafood in Ontario.
With bread and fish in hand I set back out on the road, ignoring Google Maps and deciding to find my own way home but being tempted every so often (and now regretting not stopping for local lamb) but I have a feeling I’ll be back soon – if only to pick up some wild yeast sour dough.
How Far Would You Travel to Eat Iconic Canadian Food is a post from: Bacon is Magic