Maybe a better title for our travel journal would be Found in North America, as we've wandered north of the border into New Brunswick, Canada. Rob's parents have moved back to his father's hometown of Bathurst, so we've had the opportunity to explore this wonderful area and reconnect with Rob's extended family.
Our last name is Hache, which in the U.S. is pretty unusual. We generally have to say and spell and say it again for people to understand it (it's pronounced Hash-ee, by the way). But northern New Brunswick is Hache country. The only distinction we need to make is "y at the end," or "no y," as there are two spellings for this common New Brunswick name.
Bathurst and the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick are also seafood country — lobster, crab, and all kinds of fish. One of the less glorious, but nevertheless delicious, stars of this culinary culture is the lowly steamer clam. The unusually large tides in New Brunswick make this province prime clam digging territory, and there are many areas to bring your bucket and shovel to dig for clams.
Digging for clams is the ultimate in low-tech fishing. Hit the flats at low tide, look for little breather holes in the sand and dig deeply and gently with a shovel to pull up the clams. Next comes the best part — get down and dirty in the mud and pull the steamers out, rinsing them off in salt water before putting them in your bucket.
There are only a few precautions you should take when digging for clams. Like many mollusks, steamers can carry dangerous toxins, so always check with the locals before you choose a spot. Also, be sure to get a line on the local regulations before you go out. For example, the spot we chose required that the clams had to be at least two inches long and each person was limited to 100 clams. It's also a good idea to wear sandals or rubber boots, because shells underfoot can be pretty sharp, as Rob's nephew found out the hard way. Three stitches later, he was back at the clam flats, digging away.
While digging in the mud for the day was loads of fun, the real payoff came when we sat down to enjoy the fruit of our labor. There's nothing quite like seafood caught with your own two hands and prepared the same day — the steamers we caught somehow tasted better because we enjoyed them with friends and family.
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