A Taste of the Harvest in Prince Edward County, Ontario - by Susan Poizner
Toronto Sun, Sept 26, 2006

On a bumpy road in rural Ontario, 69-year old Pat York bustles around in her kitchen making jam. She's not just stirring up the ordinary flavours. For Pat, the sky's the limit - she's created over 130 types of jams, marmalades and chutneys. Her favourite, Jewel Jam, includes sour cherry, gooseberry, redcurrant and red raspberry. There's also caramelised pear, blue raspberry or mulberry jam from local trees.

She may be a retired farmer, but this has become a full time business since her husband Bob built a "jam shack" in front of their home three years ago. The shelves are bursting with jars of preserves. Open the fridge inside and you'll find tasting samples of any of those on display. Pat's Jams works on the honour system. Put five dollars in a tin for each jar you take….or six dollars for the diabetic or naturally sweetened products.

Down the road Pat's niece Vicki has set up her own establishment (vickisveggies.netfirms.com/index.html) . She sells dozens of types of heirloom tomatoes and other organic vegetables in tiny historic post office building she moved to her farm. Vickie leaves out boxes for visitors to fill up with a melange of produce. A large basket of beautiful tomatoes of all sizes, shapes and colours, is yours for the price of nine dollars put into her handy little cash tin.

Pat's Jams and Vicki's Veggies are located in Prince Edward County – a dream destination for those who love good fresh food and beautiful surroundings. Just two hours drive from Toronto or Ottawa, PEC is home to a number of charming and unspoiled historic Loyalist towns. You won't find Starbucks here. Instead you get local ice-cream makers, bakers, butchers, and farms. But innovation comes alongside the tradition. In the past decade a dozen wineries have opened here, making it Ontario's newest wine region as well.

The county, which has over 800 kilometres of shoreline and is the home of Sandbanks Provincial Park, can be explored year round by car, by bike, or by foot. But the autumn harvest is the most tempting time for food lovers, when the local produce is at its peak and prominently featured in both roadside stands, village shops, and in the increasing number of gourmet local restaurants. The county's Taste Trail highlights quite a few of those destinations at www.tastetrail.ca.

One of the highlights is Harvest Restaurant in Picton, (www.harvestrestaurant.ca) which was established by Toronto Chefs Michael Potter and Karin Des Veaux. Passionate about the virtues of simple cuisine made with regional ingredients, Michael has been known to search far and wide for the best local produce to feature on his ever-changing menu and he butchers the meat himself. The spotlight is on local lamb, tomatoes, wild boar and mixed greens, and all dishes which Karin expertly pairs with fine locally produced wines.

When Amy and Edward Shubert took over Picton's historic Merrill Inn (circa 1878) (www.merrilinn.com) they too wanted their restaurant to showcase regional produce. They recruited Toronto chef Michael Sullivan to join them in Picton. They developed an award winning wine list and also offer visitors winery tour packages, in which a mini-bus shuttles them to the various local boutique wineries.

At the Bean Counter Café in in Picton (www.beancountercafe.com) you can enjoy 24 flavours of home-made gelato including local sour cherry, rhubarb, or blackberry. They even created a garlic gelato to feature in a recent garlic festival. But whatever you do, don't pass up a visit to Buddah Dog (www.buddhafoodha.com) , a unique little fast food shop in Picton that serves gourmet hot dogs (made out of 100% pure local beef) with a variety of sauces created from regional produce by local chefs.

With all this good food, it's a great idea hop on a bike and burn off some of those calories while at the same time, creating your own winery tour. Get your rentals and a map from Picton's Ideal Bike Rentals (www.idealbike.com) and chose a route. On our 40 km ride we visited The Grange of Prince Edward County (www.thegrangewines.com), Sandbanks Estate Winery (www.sandbankswinery.com) and Closson Chase (www.clossonchase.com) but there were many more wineries along the way.

Another unique place to visit is the County Cider Company (www.countycider.com). In the late 1990s, owner Grant Howes decided to devote the apple orchards on his family farm to the making a wide variety of alcoholic and sweet sparkling ciders. Ice wine lovers must try their award-winning ice cider. Take some time to enjoy the orchards, the view, and a light al fresco lunch.

The area also has its own cooking school at the Waring House Restaurant, Inn, Convention Centre and Cooking School (www.pec.on.ca/waringhouse). Each three-hour session focuses on a different type of cuisine. After the lesson, students feast on the multi-course meal they've prepared, washing it down with a glass of wine.

Too much to do and too little time? Go to Picton for Thanksgiving weekend. On Saturday October 7 from 11.00am to 5.00pm you can taste a bit of everything at the "Taste of the County Event" at Picton's Crystal Palace (www.thecounty.ca/taste) . For just $12.50 entrance fee you can meet the chefs and producers of the region, attend free seminars, and you can taste many of the regions top foods. Then spend the rest of the weekend enjoying the natural, historic, and culinary landscape of Prince Edward County. It's a great way to remember what fresh and local homemade food tastes like.

For more information and suggested accommodations visit http://www.pec.on.ca. For an agricultural map and directory including Pat's Jams call 1-866-845-6644. On Thanksgiving weekend, call ahead to check which wineries will be open.