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when equipped
with a full box of push pins. Better, choose a forest green colored marker
and shade in the places we think of as "Up North" or the Northwoods.
Begin by cross hatching parts of California's Redwood Forest and extend
with bold strokes through the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon up to the
snow capped peaks of Washington State's North Cascades. Color in around
Cour d'Alene, Idaho, then skip over to Northern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin,
and Michigan's Upper Penninsula. Fill them all in. Reach out to the tip
of New England and make sweeping swirls through most of Maine, with special
attention to the jagged Northern Coast. Scribble through New Hampshire's
Franconia Notch and Vermont's Lake Champlain, and color upstate New York's
Adirondacks until the ink runs dry.
That's The Northwoods. On the map, anyway.
The different regions, all answering to the name, "Northwoods,"
are grouped together due to their similarities. All are distinguished
by thickly forested terrain and abundant wildlife. All are held in awe,
even feared for their frequently harsh weather, especially during the
long winters. People who choose to live here lead a robust life in a rugged
land.
Ironically, the Northwoods is also a place of great peace, serenity and
comfort. This claim can be made partly because in the Northwoods, one
can dissapear, wrapped into a blanket of trees and lakes. It's the beauty
of a soothing sunset or the quiet of a fresh snowfall. It's the warmth
of getting dry after a storm and coming inside to the most satisfying
source of comfort "Up North" has to offer: its food.
By definition,
Northwoods meals are comfort food: hot, hearty and filling. The climate
demands it. Would a burly logger who worked all day in a driving Pacific
Northwest rain choose fruit cup for his dinner? Would canoeists who paddled
21 miles through Minnesota's Boundary Waters slice celery sticks for their
evening meal? Not likely. "Up North" they want it warm. They
want it warm. They want it satisfying. And sometimes, as with the canoeists,
logistics are a consideration. There may be no fresh celery to be had.
Early settlers dealt with such limitations, both of the region (what was
grown or available there) and their era (no refrigeration, microwaves,
or supermarkets). Certain Northwoods' specialties, which remain popular
today, were created because they were pratical.
One such specialty is the pastry, (pronounced with a soft "a"),
meat, potato and vegetable filled portable pie which Cornish miners brought
to Michigan's upper peninsula in the mid 1800s. Pasties were hearty and
held up in the mines much better than your average sandwich.
Another lasting Northwoods' tradition is the Friday Fish Fry, which originated
in heavily Catholic areas. Many Catholics didn't eat meat on Fridays (some
still don't), especially during Lent. Today, families form lines out the
door at restaurants in Bemidji, Minnesota, or Grand Marais, Michigan.
It's less about religion and more about the heaping, all you can eat platters
of fried fish, accompanied by french fries, hush puppies and cole slaw.
A close cousin of the fish fry is the fish boil, a still wildly popular
event in places such as Door County, Wisconsin (the peninsula along Lake
Michigan). Fish Boils are a Scandinavian tradition dating back to 19th
century lumberjacks. Huge kettles are filled with walleye, cod, or northern
pike and placed over wood fires. After onions and potatoes are added,
the "boilmaster" throws kerosene over the fire, the pot boils
over and it's chow time. (Save room for cherry pie.)
Another fish fry offshoot is the shore lunch. What began as fisherman
merely pulling their boats to shore to cook their catch has become a quaint
and popular tradition. A shore lunch is actually a picnic where fish is
either fried, barbecued or baked, usually alongside the lake or river
where a group has been fishing. There's nothing more mouth watering and
satisfying than cooking and eating just caught salmon, lake trout, walleye
or clams.
Another distinctive characteristic of Northwoods cooking is the "fish
or game" component. Fishing and hunting is part of life "Up
North." Years ago, for native Americans and early white settlers,
fishing and hunting meant survival. Today, fishing and hunting are enjoyable
outdoor pastimes with a bonus of great tasting fresh food. Open any Nortwodds
freezer; there will be venisin or some kind of fish which a neighbour
brought or the homeowner caught.
The Northwoods provides other local specialties which are part of its
hardy heritage. Wild rice, a staple of the early and current Native American
diet, is now a common sight in Minnesota gift stores and in gourmet gift
baskets. And cranberries. They're not just for Thanksgiving anymore.
Things are different today. There is overnight shipping for fresh produce
or non local fish. Storage and freezing capabilities are top notch. Today,
Northwoods' cooks have the opportunity to blend the best of the traditional
and local with advanced techniques and new, exotic, imported ingredients.
They call it Nothwoods Cuisine.
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