We set out to get Fay (mother-in-law) some of the ingredients for the last meal along with a couple of the delicacies you can only get here to take with us on the long-and-winding-road home.  Going thru town and across the Saint John river to the north side of Fredericton the first stop was… The North Side Market…

This was a flea-food-handicraft market I’d never been to before. To the extent that the Fredericton Market was mature and organized this was more varied and unstructured. Where else can you get Samosas, Nintendo games and homemade sauces, relish and tea cozy’s?

Maple Chicken Curry personal pies…let that sink in. Where else on the planet could you find this delicacy?

Getting our dozen Samosas..all HOT & SPICY…we headed for the car, along the way we spotted the food vendors outside. I had to get something…SPICY…NOW…

Nothing but a Tandoori Paneer Tikka Wrap would do. They didn’t disappoint. The aroma was as mouth watering as it was to eat. These guys need to open a food cart in Portland.

Down the north side of the river we went, headed for Moxon’s Country Pumpkin. We had already learned that one of the standard bearers of New Brunswick produce was no more…

Yes, Harvey’s Big Potato had closed and was up for sale. We had stopped here over the years for the best produce in the province. It was sad to see its demise…

On down the north side of the river to the “Other” local vendor, of local fare…

Yes…you GMO Deniers…heritage seeds, home made…Suck It Monsanto!

From one side to the other, squash, baking, bread, preserves and my new latest favorite relish “Lady Ashburn”.  We left with some incredible booty. Two Spoon bread and a Cheese  Log…and a couple of jars of relish.

We wended our way back to the south side and concluded our regional foraging at the temple of American Cultural Imperialism…Costco. They try to be local sourced, and reflect regional tastes but its American Scale. We’re in Fredericton…even in Canadian metric terms you can’t use the same ratios without looking…well…foolish and patronizing.

As support I offer up two of a multitude….

First, if there ever was a donut that encapsulated the quirkiness of Fredericton it would be “Mrs. Dunsters Donuts”. It was a Fredericton icon. Rare, hand made and awesome in its caloric decadence. However with the magic of acquisition and capital…Behold, we now have as much as Costco could imagine…

Second, the cardiac threat that is Poutine. Historically, no two versions were really the same. The variations on french fries, curds and gravy are as endless as it is life-threatening. Some had  more of this or less of that but regardless it was a unique and truly Canadian specialty that lacked any uniformity…enter Costco…

The final bitch at Costco is how they want you to pay for things…All I can say is “You’re big boys, figure it out”. Unless you have Both Visa (USA) and Master Card (CDN) you can’t buy things in both countries. US debit cards are not accepted in Canada. Wonder who thought that was a good idea?  Probably some ex-Monsanto person…