This month, food writer Eva Fisher discovers a true Bancroft Beer with The Bancroft Brewing Company, welcomes the sweet corn season with Mclean’s Berry Farm and Fisher’s Farms, talks momos with Karma’s by the River, dines lakeside with Marley’s Bar & Grill, and more.
The Bancroft Brewing Company expands operations
The Bancroft Brewing Company (2 Hastings St. N., Bancroft, 613-334-8154) has a retail store all set up to sell beer by the bottle: hats, t-shirts and glassware are ready to go. The only thing missing? The beer.
That will change on Labour Day weekend, when owner and brewmaster Logan Krupa plans to open his shop with the first batch completed from his new seven hectalitre brewing system.
The Bancroft Brewing Company currently sells their beer on draught at their pub, the Bancroft Eatery and Brewpub (4 Bridge St. W., Bancroft, 613-332-3450), but demand is high enough that there isn’t any beer left over to sell in the shop with their current smaller system. Logan makes four different beers, named in homage to the history of the town and the building that the eatery and brewery are housed in.
“This building was built over 100 years ago as a hotel for miners,” Logan says. “There were 40 rooms upstairs and the miners would come to town to work and they’d all stay in the hotel. Bancroft itself is a town built for mining and logging. That’s why I have the Logger’s Ale, the Black Quartz Ale, and the Iron Man Ale.”
But what about the Blonde Lady?
“I was trying to think of a name for a blonde beer and I was struggling. Yellow sapphire … I just couldn’t get anything good. I was bartending so I just said blonde lady to get it going because my girlfriend’s blonde. It stuck after that.”
The new system will allow Logan to use his smaller system to experiment with new beers. One of the first on his list is a lager.
“We’re the mineral capital of Canada so it turns out that Bancroft has good (soft) water for beer. I took a sample down to Mill Street and had them analyze it, they said it’s good for ales but it’s even better for lagers.”
Lagers take nearly twice as long as ales to ferment, so Logan was reluctant to tie down his fermenters to produce one. Now that will change.
Greater production will also allow Logan to market his beer at craft beer festivals. He is looking forward to promoting his beer and Bancroft itself to a larger audience.
“I grew up in Bancroft, I’m proud of my hometown, so when I moved home now I’m home for the long haul. I want to make my town better, so that’s why I named it Bancroft Brewery. I want to help put Bancroft on the map. I want my destination to bring people to Bancroft.”
Local farmers say you’ve probably never tried Peaches and Cream corn
Sweet corn is in season in the Kawarthas and has begun to pop up in farmer’s markets and roadside stands throughout the region.
Mclean Berry Farm (2191 16th Line, Lakefield, 705-657-2134) grows a number of varieties of corn, varying in sweetness, taste, texture and size.
“We grow bi-colour varieties (yellow and white) and straight yellow varieties,” says Erin McLean, daughter of owners Sam and Jane. “Sometimes we also grow white corn too; it all depends on the year.”
This allows them to find a corn to suit each customer’s tastes. One variety that they don’t grow? Peaches and Cream.
Erin says that it’s actually a lot less common than you might think.
“It was one of the first bi-coloured sweet corns so the name stuck, kind of like how we call all tissues Kleenex. Most people haven’t had the original Peaches and Cream; it’d be much tougher and less sweet by today’s standards.”
Barb Fisher from Fisher’s Farms (426 Chipmunk Rd., Janetville, 705-340-1800) agrees. Peaches and Cream is a “hard seed to get a hold of. You don’t see it anymore. Even the grocery stores are starting to call it bicolour.”
The Fishers grow corn from the Gourmet family, a sweet corn that tastes great barbecued in the husk, boiled or even raw.
At Fisher’s Farms, they taste test the corn every day to make sure it is at the peak of sweetness, but certain family members are more serious about the job than others.
“We have a little grandson — he’s almost six — and he’ll walk around eating a cob of corn.”
Barb says that eating corn fresh from the field is a perk of being a farmer that her whole family enjoys.
“They get tired of it for meals. They’ll say ‘no, we had corn in the field this morning.”
Sweet corn should be enjoyed within a few days of harvest for optimal sweetness, and don’t overcook it. Erin suggests “3 to 4 minutes in boiling water is great. The longer you cook it the more starchy and tough it gets. You can actually eat it raw, that’s when it’s most sweet and tender!”
Marley’s Bar & Grill opens in Buckhorn
Joshua Schielke has worked in a lot of restaurants. He has been working in the industry since he was 14, with past experience including catering for Del Mar racetrack in San Diego.
“I think the largest one I did there was a 500 person event in the stalls of the horse track itself.”
Now Joshua makes his home in Buckhorn. He and fiancee Jennifer Mattucci own Marley’s Bar and Grill (17 Fire Rt. 82, Buckhorn, 705-657-3232), which opened on the Canada Day weekend.
“We literally had about six days to get in, renovate and get it going,” Joshua says.
The menu includes ribs, mussels, fresh local corn on the cob, and Joshua’s favourite menu item, a chicken breast sandwich. The chicken is marinated in cilantro garlic and lemon juice then grilled and served on ciabatta bread with goat cheese and avocado on top with a fresh lemon garlic aioli.
“Within the month we’ve already changed our menu twice. We kept the things that worked but we kept trying specials and seeing what people liked.”
Live music has been an important part of the business’s success thus far.
“It’s a place on the lake, it’s a boater’s paradise here. There couldn’t be a better place to have music.”
Marley’s Bar and Grill is open seasonally May through October on the shores of Catalina Bay.
Karma’s by the River thrives in Campbellford
“In my whole life I never decided myself. I always had someone decide for me.”
When Karma Phuntshok — who already owns Karma’s Cafe in Peterborough — decided to open a second restaurant in Campbellford, it wasn’t part of a grand business plan.
“Wherever the wind blows, I go with that,” Karma explains.
His friend Rob Wood bought a property in Campbellford and encouraged him to start a second restaurant. Karma liked the idea of having a friend as a landlord and he wanted to try something new. And, almost serendipitously, Karma’s by the River (18 Bridge St. W., Campbellford, 705-947-2165) was born.
The menu is a blend of Himalayan, Tibetan, and Thai cuisine similar to his other restaurant, Karma’s Cafe (217 Hunter St. W., Peterborough, 705-748-5451), with a few key differences. One of these is the addition of vegetarian momos.
“Traditionally the Tibetan momo contains meat, but people do make vegetarian momos a long way back.”
The vegetarian momo contains potatoes, cheese, mushrooms, carrots, cilantro, and onions.
Also new to the menu are shrimp tempura and a momo soup. Karma even offers a sandwich with beef satay and caramelized onions on a bun fresh from Dooher’s bakery, another great Campbellford business.
Karma’s by the River has been open since May 1st, and in that time Karma has really come to enjoy the town.
“It’s a very welcoming and nice community.”
Bobcaygeon Craft Beer and Food Festival debuting at Kawartha Settler’s Village
Kawartha Settler’s Village in Bobcaygeon is hosting the first ever Bobcaygeon Craft Beer and Food Festival on Saturday, August 20th from 12 to 7 pm.
Six craft breweries will be pouring over 20 types of beer. Haliburton Highlands Brewing, Bobcaygeon Brewing Company, Collective Arts Brewing, Old Flame Brewing Company, Brock Street Brewing and Smithavens Brewing Company will be in attendance.
Food vendors will also be on hand including Abbey Gardens, Into the Blue Bakery, Born2eat, Sugar and Spice Catering, Grant’s Butcher Shop and Cheese Please Pieter.
Tickets can be purchased for $15 in advance at Settler’s Village or online at bobcaygeonbeerfestival.ca.
Tickets cost $20 at the door and include a 6-oz tasting glass and two drink tokens. Admission for designated drivers is $10.
