Johns Chris - A taste of Prince Edward County: a guide to the people, places & food of Ontarios favourite getaway

Copyright 2018 Chris Johns

Photography copyright 2018 Johnny C.Y. Lam

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Library and Archives of Canada Cataloguing in Publication is available upon request.

ISBN:9780147530684

Ebook ISBN:9780147530691

Cover and book design by Leah Springate

Food styling by Ruth Gangbar

Illustrations by Kate Golding

Map on by Kyle Topping

Published in Canada by Appetite by Random House , a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

www.penguinrandomhouse.ca

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THIS BOOK IS FOR JILLIAN AND HARPER AND THE START OF OUR ADVENTURE IN THE COUNTY.

CJ

TO ALL THE KIND AND GENEROUS SOULS, WILD HEARTS AND HARDWORKING HANDS OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, PAST AND PRESENT.

JL

David McMillan, Co-owner of Joe Beef, Liverpool House & Vin Papillon

The moment I cross the bridge over the Bay of Quinte, a warm sense of Ive been here before comes over me. The dj vu feels like a familiarity with the spirits, the ancestors, the landscape and the trees of this slice of Canadiana. Ive lived in France, and my whole career has been spent working in Montreal, but the county, although its not my home, feels like home.

When Chris told me he was writing this book I immediately said: I want to contribute something. Ive known him for a long time, ever since we first opened Joe Beef, and I cant think of anyone better suited to do justice to this place that neither of us are from, but both love. And I cant imagine a better pairing for Chriss writing than Johnnys photographs. Johnnys a transplant, as is most everyone who hasnt been here for 10 generations or more, but he knows the county, its people and its rhythms as well as anyone, and his images capture the essence of this special place.

I have met a vast collection of friendly, like-minded people in the county: hard workers, dreamers, farmers, every one of them with a deep love of this island that feels forgotten somewhere in time. There are the born-and-bred county folks who have been here for generations, who know every road, every pasture and every family. Then there are the newcomers: the people who picked up from wherever they lived, who saw what I see, and ultimately made significant life changes to move to the county. For so many, this is a place where people can come to start anew, be part of something, and work and contribute to the community.

And whether Im talking to longtime locals or brand-new residents, I have great discussions all over the county. I often find myself dwelling on the idea that I work and live in Montreal in a very urban setting, but enlightening exchanges in the city are few and far between. I find myself craving the county and those conversations at the Legion, or the various watering holes around the island, on main streets or at wineries. I always feel the need to get one point across during these chats. In almost every conversation, youll hear me say: Do you realize how lucky you are to live here and be a part of what is going on? I usually follow up by stressing how jealous I am of the beauty that fills the eyes and hearts of this amazing community. Prince Edward County, to me, offers a chance to start a community or join an existing, robust one, and that isnt something that happens everywhere or every day.

Ive driven along every road and explored every corner of the county during my stays. I fantasize about opening a restaurant, a B&B, a cider house, a winery, of farming goat or lamb. But I can also support, tour, explore and live the county life through visits, too, and I hope you will do the same with this book at your side. Visit Prince Edward County! #CountyUp

The last time the great Laurentide Ice Sheet peeled back from the earth, some 14,000 years ago, there was nothing but water where Prince Edward County stands today. The whole peninsula was deep beneath the waves of a vast proglacial body of water known as Lake Iroquois. Slowly, over the next few millennia, the lake drained, first revealing the countys highlands as distinct islands, before eventually tracing out the shores of what we now recognize as Prince Edward County.

Around that same time the first Paleo-Indians arrived, chasing after the caribou, mastodons and mammoths they hunted. Eventually, a few plucky Mound Builders (so-named for the burial mounds they left behind) came on the scene. Many of them were nomadic and just passing through, fishing and hunting and navigating the waterways, but some stayed put and were probably the first to plant crops in county soil. The Iroquois who followed formed the first villages and cultivated the three sisters: corn, beans and squash, a legendary trio of plants that grow so beautifully together, one sustaining the other, they were considered gifts from the gods.