Interesting Local Foods
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1. "poutines"
- In Van Buren, poutines consist of fries topped with gravy
and mozzarella cheese. They taste great! I always order some when I go
to Dayton's Restaurant. Dayton used to be good friends with my oldest
sister. They both got voted as "Most Likely to Succeed" their senior
year at Van Buren District Secondary School.
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2. "ploughs"
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Pronounced "ploys" or "boys" with a /pl/ instead of /b/.
I think these are made with buckwheat flour, but I'm not really sure.
They look like butt-ugly pancakes, and people like to eat them with maple
syrup, or some kind of French-Canadian pasty-looking spread which I can't
remember the name of.
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3. Chicken Stew
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Even my parents like it now, after having been exposed
to it for twenty years. Every Saturday, they go down to John's
Restaurant on Main Street for chicken stew, where my dad is greeted as
"doc" or "the doc" or "Doctor Chain" in the local accent. (Chan, it's CHAN!)
Once I actually saw someone write down my last name
as "Chaing".
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4. Lunch specials at John's Restaurant
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Ever since I can remember, they've served lunch specials every day for
the low price of $3.25. A lot of townspeople have lunch here on a daily basis
, including
Dr. Plourde the optometrist who must love my myopic family because all six of
us have gotten glasses and contact lenses from him for years.
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5. Lobster
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Even though it's Northern Maine and not coastal Maine, lobster is still
very easy to procure, and sometimes as cheap as four dollars per pound.
My dad used to get his supply from this guy in town, but sometime after
I left for school, he started buying it from Sleeper's grocery store instead.
When I asked him why, he said the guy he used to buy lobster from
was in jail for poaching.
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