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Get a taste of Midcoast treats
Indulge in Maine-made food
Amber maple syrup drizzled on pancakes ... blueberry muffins ... hot, steamed lobster with drawn butter — all these mouth-watering foods have something in common. They are all products made proudly in Maine. And what’s even better, these foods and many more delicious treats can all be found in the Midcoast region.
by Kelly Michaud
One shopping trip to stores and local businesses in the area will provide you with more than enough food to make Maine-made treats for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course, dessert.
If you’re looking for some caffeine to get you started, make one of your first stops Rock City Coffee Roasters on Main Street in Rockland. Rock City is in its 10th year as a shop and third year as a roaster. Rock City stays away from flavored coffee, except for a hazelnut blend and sometimes a seasonal coffee.
“We use only the finest beans available in the world, and we’re not going to cover up their quality and what makes them unique by adding flavoring,” said Patrick Reilley, who owns the shop along with Susanna Ward.
Rock City has beans from more than 40 countries around the globe, including South America, Central America, Mexico, Africa and India. They also have about a dozen organic coffees.
Coffee, which Rock City considers “the fundamental brew,” can be purchased by the pound or by the cup at their Main Street location, where it is roasted fresh, three or four times a week.
Once you’ve had your morning wake up call, it’s onto breakfast. Pancakes alone make a hearty meal, but they are even better with Maine blueberries. You can still find fresh picked berries at numerous stands along Route 1 and on side roads. A quart usually sells for about $3. Or instead of putting blueberries inside of your pancakes, you can spread them on top. Spruce Mountain Blueberries in Rockport has been around since 1985. Among its products are wild blueberry topping, blueberry jam, blueberry vinegar and their signature blueberry chutney.
Another local treat to add to pancakes and french toast is maple syrup. Maine ranks third in the nation in terms of maple syrup production. The owners of Maine Gold in Rockport have been sugaring for 24 years and have had their business for seven years.
There are four colors in the Grade A system in Maine and Maine Gold has all of them — syrup with a light, delicate flavor to a dark amber syrup with a strong, maple flavor, which is far from any syrup-flavored product you’ll find in a grocery store.
“People who have grown up with real maple syrup can’t have anything else,” said Deborah Meehan, who owns Maine Gold with her husband Perry Gates. “It becomes a staple item.”
And maple syrup is finding more uses than just as a necessity for pancakes.
“It’s more than just a breakfast food,” Meehan said. “Cooking with maple syrup is becoming much more popular because it’s a natural sweetener with a complex flavor.”
Now maple syrup is being used in marinades and to make salad dressing, breads, pies, cookies, maple squash muffins and more.
When lunchtime arrives you’ll have your pick of delicious food. Check out your options at the State of Maine Cheese Company, located on Route 1 in Rockport. Cheese can compliment any meal and the Cheese Company has been making their own Jack and Cheddar cheeses since 1983.
If you’re driving in Midcoast Maine, there is no doubt that you’ll see countless hot dog stands. But what you may not know is that you can also grab some sauerkraut made right in Waldoboro to top your dog off with. Morse’s Sauerkraut in Waldoboro has been making homemade treats since 1918. In addition to its sauerkraut, Morse’s also makes items you can find in a traditional German pantry, including bratwurst, kielbasa, Christmas stollen, perogies, strudel, spaetzle and other hard to find German goodies.
“It’s a little bit of Germany in Maine,” said David Swetnam, who owns the business with his wife Jacquelyn Sawyer.
Morse’s farm store, located off Route 220, will open in mid-September and will offer an array of samples to try and other items to buy like beet relish, sour mustard pickles, brown bread and reuben sandwiches with fresh sauerkraut.
“Everything is pretty well hand-crafted and there is more attention to detail and quality,” Sawyer said. “Once you have fresh sauerkraut, that’s a whole different experience — the flavor is incredible. It’s definitely a treat.”
When Happy Hour rolls around you can even wash down a Midcoast brewed beer. Two local businesses make their own brews right on the spot. In Camden, swing by Sea Dog Brewing Co. The Sea Dog Brewing Co. was founded in May 1993 in Camden and also has facilities in Bangor and Topsham, Maine. Sea Dog brews traditional ales and lagers with such flavors as Sea Dog Windjammer Blonde Ale, Old East India Pale Ale, Old Gollywobbler Brown Ale, Blue Paw Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale, plus numerous other seasonal and specialty beers.
Rocky Bay Brewing Company in Rockland offers eight types of microbrews that are sold from Portland to Camden, and even has its own soda, Maine Blues Blueberry Cream Soda. Brews, which include Mussel Ridge Summer Ale, Schooner Point Lager, White Cap Ale, and others, take their names from local places and people. Rocky’s brewer, Rich Ruggiero said their most popular beers are the Schooner Point Lager in the summer and Katie’s Celtic Red, which is a red ale. And there are advantages to buying locally brewed beer.
“We have complete control over the beer — it gets brewed here, conditioned here and then sent out to the customer so it’s extremely fresh,” Ruggiero said.
Once Happy Hour is over, it’s time to really dig in for dinner. For a mouth-watering main course, fresh Maine lobster is always a favorite. You can steam or boil yourself one and serve it with drawn butter. Or you can bake it, turn it into bisque or several other entrees. But if you’re in the mood to try something else from Maine’s bottom, give mussels a try.
Great Eastern Mussel, located on Long Cove in St. George, near Tenants Harbor, has been around since 1977. It is the only company in North America that uses the bottom culture technique of harvesting mussels that was developed in Europe. Great Eastern is the largest supplier of mussels in the United States and more than 100,000 lbs. of mussels are harvested each week.
Great Eastern sells what are commonly call edible blue mussels, and they ship more than seven million pounds a year, according to Vice President Terry Callery.
“Mussels have a very rich flavor — richer than clams, but it’s a delicate flavor, which makes for an interesting combination,” Callery said.
Most of the company’s sales are wholesale, but you can buy mussels by the pound or by the bag. While there are numerous ways to prepare them, a favorite recipe is “The Best Damn Mussels Ever,” which won the company’s 1995 recipe contest (see page 6 for the recipe). And if you think you have the top mussel recipe, you can enter it in this year’s contest by logging onto the company’s Web site, www.eatmussels.com.
What day isn’t complete without at least a little desert? Rockport Chocolates, which has been around for seven years, is a great place to pick up a treat. The shop is located across from Hannaford in Rockland and offers homemade, hand-dipped chocolate — white, dark and milk-chocolate. Local favorites? Truffles and almond butter crunch toffee.
“We try to stay local and use Maine products if we can,” said owner Toni Walker. Such local ingredients include blueberries, strawberries and cranberries when they are in season.
And if you’re in the mood for something cold, treat yourself to some ice cream made by Round Top Ice Cream, Inc., located on Business Route 1 in Damariscotta. The shop offers 52 varieties of hard ice cream and 41 varieties of soft serve. Round Top also has sherberts, sorbets, lactose-free and sugar-free flavors available so you’re sure to find something you’ll like.
If you’re not up for traipsing all over the Midcoast, there is a spot that has quite a few local items. Fresh off the Farm on Route 1 in Rockport carries hundreds of Maine products, including coffee from Rock City Roasters, Rockport Chocolates and Spruce Mountain Blueberry products. The “farmers market under one roof” has native and organic products throughout and believes in buying locally.
“Food used to come from someone you knew and now it’s not the same,” said Zelma Williams, who owns the store along with her husband David. “People should eat [food from] closer to where they live.”
And what types of fresh fruits and vegetables can you find there?
“If it’s in season, it’s at Fresh off the Farm,” Williams said. “We provide Maine grown or produced goods on a year round basis. We like to tell customers where things are grown and who made them — little details that make a product more special.”
You’ll certainly be full after a day of indulging in Maine’s treats, but when you’re in this area, there is nothing better than letting yourself enjoy the various tastes of Maine.