Tastes of New Brunswick

A spring delicacy is fiddleheads—emerging ferns that look like the curl at the end of a violin neck. These emerald gems are picked along riverbanks, then boiled and sprinkled with lemon juice, butter, salt, and pepper. Seafood is plentiful all year (lobsters, oysters, crabs, mussels, clams, scallops, and salmon) and prepared in as many ways as there are chefs. Cast your line just about anywhere in New Brunswick and you'll find some kind of fish-and-chips. Try snacking on dulse, a dried purple seaweed as salty as potato chips and as compelling as peanuts.

The beers of choice are Moosehead, brewed in Saint John, and, of course, the various Molson brews. A number of local breweries and wineries are also popular, so ask what's available in stores and restaurants.

New Brunswick's maple products are sought the world over, as are chocolates made by Ganong Brothers of St. Stephen, who have been in the candy business for a century and a quarter.