Seafood specialty from New Brunswick: Dulse
Seafood is one of the most important foods in Canada's Atlantic provinces. Scallops, haddock, salmon, lobster, and oysters are on the menu in every restaurant. It's almost considered good manners. And people are proud of it, as fishing was once one of the region's most important sources of income. But New Brunswick takes things a bit further: dulse (pronounced "dals") is also a typical regional dish. Not everyone is familiar with this unique New Brunswick specialty.
"Dulse?" you might ask. "What is that?" And you're not the only ones. After more than 25 years of traveling through Canada, I thought I knew the country's most important culinary specialties. But I'd never heard of dulse. On our drive across the island Grand Manan Island At the western end of the Bay of Fundy, our companion Darrell showed us what it is all about.
What is the dulse specialty from New Brunswick?
He suddenly turned off the main road through the island and drove west on a small side road past various farms until he finally stopped at one of them. "I want to show you something special," he said, and marched straight to an open area on which a net lay. "A pity! None is being dried right now ”. We still didn't know what he wanted to show us. And we curiously followed him to a shed, behind the gates of which gates were blocked, brown leaves, it seemed, were spread out on the barn floor.
Seaweed specialty from New Brunswick
Thick and obviously glued together, they lay spread out on the ground in thick layers. "That's dulse, a specialty from New Brunswick," explains Darrell. And I ask him, "What is that?" He laughs and says, "It's seaweed. It's collected on the west coast of the island and laid out here to dry. Then it's sold in stores across the province." Until then, I knew you could eat seaweed, but the fact that people do so in Canada was new to me.
Red algae
Dulse is made from red seaweed that grows in the cold waters of the Atlantic. It's eaten like a salad or "crisp," meaning crunchy, dried, and used as a snack. Depending on how dry it is, it can even replace chewing tobacco. In the New Brunswick region, crumbled dulse is often sprinkled on mixed salads, adding a spicy flavor. It's also served with fish and mixed with mashed potatoes.
At the Old City Market in St. John you can buy the specialty from New Brunswick
After seeing this New Brunswick specialty for the first time on Grand Manan Island, we suddenly noticed dulse in many shops and restaurants. We had already eaten it, but we just didn't know about it. Old City Market in St. John We see it at many delis in the offer: open or packaged in bags. Big bags cost four dollars, small portions just under three dollars. And of course we try Dulse raw - but I have to say, I prefer it as an ingredient in the salad, because the sea still tastes in the raw state: salty and a bit fishy, I think.
We can try out on the market that Dulse is also available as an ingredient in other dishes. At Slocum & Ferris in the old market building of St. John, DLT burgers are offered, the New Brunswick version of BLT (Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato) burgers, only that here the bacon is replaced by Dulse. The managing director of Slocum & Ferris proudly tells us that this is an invention of his deli department.
More information about Dulse:
Travel Arrangements:
Parking at the airport
Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.
Arrival:
Air Canada, Condor and Icelandair fly from Germany to various airports in eastern Canada.
Car Rentals:
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Hotels:
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You can find further travel tips on culinary and enjoyment in ours TravelWorldOnline.
The source of this New Brunswick specialty: our own on-site research. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the kind support of Tourism New Brunswick and the Canadian Tourism Commission. However, our opinions remain, as always, our own.
Text about this specialty from New Brunswick: © Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika and TravelWorldOnline
