Category Archives: mackerel

Broad Cove Campground – Cape Breton Highlands

NS Eastern Shore boats and buoys

I grew up in a small fishing village along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. There where four fishermen in the bay, Guy Boutilier, Jackie Borgel, Guy Power and Peter Connors. Just as the buds on the trees are a sign of spring, so was the launching of the fishing boats in the bay. Men from our community as well from the neighbouring bay were called to help launch the boats from their winter berths to slide down the wooden ramps into the water. Another season had begun.

As kids, we’d set the alarm for 4:30 a.m., head down to the government wharf to meet the fishing crew. My first time was when I was 12. It would also be my last time. I was never so sick in my life. An appreciation for the life of a fisherman was gained that morning as I thought to myself “this must be what it’s like to be near death”. Guy Power was a kind man who thought if he stopped the boat and let me jig mackerel awhile, that I might feel better. Nope.

Driving along the gravel road to Taylor Head Beach lobster buoys dotted the rocky coastline. Locals could tell which buoys belonged to whom by their colour and number.

Two fisherman have since passed away (the two “Guys”) and younger men have taken on the livelihood. Now there are only two boats and they exclusively lobster fish.

The Right Coast Nova Scotia

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The Right Coast is Nova Scotia. “You must mean east coast”, someone once said to me. That too but not exactly. Because I like to make lists, I’ll explain to you what I mean.

Fishing buoys in Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 1. Geographically, if you’re looking at a map, Nova Scotia is on the right hand side of Canada. BC is on the left hand side. You know, the eye naturally falls to the right.

2. From west to east. I lived on the west coast for eleven years. My husband and I did what thousands of other new graduates do, we moved there to work. British Columbia was beautiful in many ways. Our children were born there, we made lifelong friends who made us part of the family at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other special occasions. My husband and I knew that there was something missing, even with a nice house and really good jobs, our lives were not complete. We realized that we wanted our children to not only see their grandparents and aunt and uncles every two years for a week or two at a time. It’s tough to form a relationship that way, yet alone maintain one. While it was a painful decision to uproot ourselves to move east, we made the plunge. And plunge we did. With no guarantee of a job in Nova Scotia, we quit our secure ones, sold our house and everything we owned. We made a right hand turn and kept going until be bumped our noses on the Atlantic.

3. This is home. I grew up in a small fishing community on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. I was envious of those who could watch cable television, hang out at an arcade and do all those cool things that a teenager could do. While my city slicker friends were mastering Pacman, I was jigging mackerel from the wharf. While none of these things are not necessarily better than the other, they are different and years later I realize that cleaning a fish is a good skill to have. My childhood experiences were humble yet rich.

Fishing buoy and wharf in Peggy's Cove Nova Scotia 4. The people here are “some” nice. On Twitter I asked the following question: What makes Nova Scotia the “right coast” for you to live? Basically all of the responses made reference to the people. Words like “authenticity”, “warm, kind and fun to be with” came up. Of course, people are nice wherever you go but it’s Nova Scotians who capture tourists hearts and uphold our reputation.

For these reasons, Nova Scotia truly is the right coast for me. What are yours?

Canada’s Best Smoked Salmon (from Nova Scotia)

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Willy Krauch's Smoked Salmon and Smoked Mackerel Growing up on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, I was aware that there was famous Danish smokehouse just up the road. So when time came for me to host a holiday brunch and wanted to make a smoked salmon quiche, there was no choice but to use salmon from J Willy Krauch’s and Sons.

So off I went to my trusted Canadian Living website to search for recipes and came across a Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Quiche recipe. This quiche was simple to make but difficult to contain my urge to nibble on the salmon. I went a little overboard and made four quiches but knew they’d freeze well if there were leftovers, there barely were any.

J. Willy Krauch & Son’s Smokehouse smokes high quality Atlantic salmon, mackerel and eels in traditional Scandinavian style. Their newest flavour is lemon pepper and garlic mackerel or try others such as Cajun or Maple Pepper. You will find other delicacies such as smoked herring, smoked eels and smoked trout. Their products are available in most grocery stores in Nova Scotia.

Willy Krauch came to Canada from Denmark and began smoking fish in 1956. Willy developed a method that was uniquely his own and using only Nova Scotia hard wood kindling and sawdust. Willy passed away several years ago and the business is now run by his sons. They continue the fine craft of smoking the finest quality fish. In the tiny village of Tangier, Nova Scotia (about 1 hour 20 minutes outside of Halifax) you can see smoke billowing from the smokehouse. Tours are available but I recommend contacting them first.

The local rumor is that they ship their gourmet fish to famous people all over the world, royalty included. If you don’t live in Nova Scotia, they’ll even ship it to you.

To Order:
J. Willy Krauch & Son’s Smokehouse
Tangier, Nova Scotia – Eastern Shore
Phone: 1-902-772-2188
Toll Free: 1-800-758-4412 or 1-800-299-9414
Email: willykrauch@ns.sympatico.ca
No website available

The Right Coast Nova Scotia

Exploring this beautiful province

Category Archives: mackerel

Broad Cove Campground – Cape Breton Highlands

NS Eastern Shore boats and buoys

The Right Coast Nova Scotia

Canada’s Best Smoked Salmon (from Nova Scotia)

Mackerel Fishing