In Uncategorized | By Valerie Howes | September 23, 2021
Experience Fogo Island’s Fall/Winter Bounty
Our guests can go beyond simply tasting local ingredients on our menus; they can also get hands-on and try culinary experiences outdoors or in a Community Host's home or cabin. Here are some of our favourite food-and-drink activities for the cooler months:
Pick berries
The whole of Fogo Island becomes a giant berry patch as summer turns into fall. September and October are prime times to pick blueberries, marsh berries, juniper berries, crowberries and partridgeberries. In fact, we have more than 20 kinds of wild edible berries growing on the island, so look out for more elusive ones like the snow berry.
Make jams, jellies or ice cream
After you've done your berry harvest (or if your stay falls in the Winter months, using frozen foraged fruits), you can learn how to make jam, jelly, or ice cream in the home kitchen of one of our community hosts.
Try handlining a cod fish
Guests staying with us during Fall/Winter can try pond fishing, ice fishing and handlining cod, the traditional way, with a local guide. Feel the thrill of pulling up our most iconic North Atlantic fish, using the hook-and-line method that has been practised for centuries in these parts. (Note: This activity is government regulated in Newfoundland and Labrador, so we are unable to offer it daily and outside of the permitted times of year.)
Visit gardens and root cellars
On Fogo Island, you'll find many small gardens overlooking the ocean and bordered by distinctive handmade picket fences. There, potatoes, squashes and hardy root vegetables are ready to be harvested at this time of year. Our gardeners use seaweed, broken shells and even the tiny silver fish called capelin that wash up on our shores, to help keep their soils nutrient rich. You can step inside a turf-roofed root cellar too, to see how carrots, turnips and cabbages are stored at the perfect temperature to last all winter.
Have a traditional boil-up on a cabin retreat
Why is it everything tastes even better cooked over an open fire? In Winter you can try ice fishing with a Community Host out on a frozen pond, then cook up your bounty and enjoy an al fresco dining experience, Fogo Island-style.
Discover wild edible plants on a guided hike
Our Outdoor Adventure guides are experts in the island's botanicals. They'll take you out along our shorelines and hillside trails to help you identify the various wild greens, mushrooms, flowers and berries that are safe and delicious to eat or use in teas and cocktails. Expect to nibble along the way then enjoy an infusion on your return. Ask our kitchen team, if you’d like to sample some of your harvest in the context of a meal
Meet a crab fisher for a personalized tour of their boat
The snow crab and other shellfish from the North Atlantic are world-renowned for their clean, sweet and delicate taste profile. Find out from one of the island's fishers what it's like to head out on the open sea and harvest shellfish for a living. And discover how traditional methods and technology meet to help them with their work, on board a docked crab fishing boat.
Make traditional baked goods with a Community Host
Interested in learning how to make six-bun breads or a tasty tart with a molasses crust, Newfoundland style? Ask to be matched with a Community Host who loves to bake for a morning or afternoon getting hands on in their home kitchen. It's an ideal activity if you're looking for inspiration for hosting or holiday baking.
Sip a Fogo Island cocktail
We incorporate wild and local ingredients into the cocktails on our list... think blackberry syrup, sea buckthorn juice and Newfoundland Distillery gin. At the end of an active day outdoors, kick back by one of our woodstoves or fires and sip on a drink that reveals the flavours and stories of this place. If you're curious how to mix your own, just ask one of our Bartenders for a mini demo; we're happy to let you in on our wild secrets.
Learn more about all the activities we offer during Berry Season, Late Fall and Winter.
