Potato World Is An Unexpected Canadian Road Trip Treasure

 

Potato World is an unexpected Canadian road trip treasure that we stumbled upon. Surprisingly, this fun place in New Brunswick is only about 15 minutes from the border crossing at Bridgewater, Maine. This proves our theory that you never know what will come across your path when traveling through small towns and backroads.

 

How We Like To Road Trip

We love road trips. Road trips have different meanings for each person but this is how we enjoy traveling. When we travel we always take a road trip, including international travel too. Mostly, we only stay one night in a location just to sleep. Then, early morning we are off again.

 

Occasionally, we will stay in one location for several days. For example, a home location for several day trips in areas where we want to explore more. Often, this is how we travel in Colorado because there are so many forest roads in the mountains we like to explore.

 

On our day trips we explore all day too, being that we just like seeing what each area has to offer. New places have so much to uncover so there’s no extra time to sleep! After all, how often will you be back?

 

We prefer back roads and two lane highways because you never know what you will come across. Some of our best memories came from these roads.

 

With this in mind, this is one of our favorite quirky road trip finds. And, why Potato World is an unexpected Canadian road trip treasure.

 

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Potato World

We didn’t expect to come across Potato World while on a road trip through the Northeast and Canada. However, this turned out to be a nice surprise.

 

We decided to leave Maine through a smaller border crossing from Bridgewater. As soon as we crossed the Canadian border we started making our way to Trans Canada Hwy 2. Shortly thereafter, a sign for Potato World popped up so we decided to make a short detour to Florenceville. Besides, this sounded interesting.

 

We were lucky since it was still off season and they were getting ready to close. The staff was friendly and we had the whole place to ourselves.

 

The museum is full of neat potato relics and displays like small tractors and equipment used from the past. It also includes everything you would ever need to know about potato farming from seedlings, harvesting and then to the factory. It is also clean and well organized.

 

The world’s largest cranberry festival is in this Wisconsin small town. You can read all about cranberries and see photos from a cranberry marsh here.

 

A Unique Cafe

 

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it in time for the cafe. The menu looked appetizing and had reasonable prices. We later found out about some unique potato items they serve. For instance, iced fries, chocolate potato cake and potato smoothies. Yes, potato smoothies!

 

Of course, in Canada you have to eat poutine. If you are not familiar with it, poutine is a pile of fries with cheese curds on top and then smothered with brown gravy. I (Tom) love this delicious dish, especially when the cheese curds start to melt from the hot gravy.

 

This cafe has exceptional reviews too. Not to mention how everyone raves about the french fries. They come in large portions and many different flavors. For example roasted garlic, herb and parmesan, melted cheese and bacon, sweet potato, homemade curly and wedges. Check out the different flavors of poutine too. These are just a few and after all, you are in the french fry capital of the world. Generous portions of plain fries, to point out, seem to be perfect here. Crispy on the outside but soft and buttery on the inside.

 

They also have a nice gift shop and, without a doubt the cleanest restrooms you will come across. Potato World is an unexpected Canadian road trip treasure!

 

Potato Farms Are In Every Direction Here

We were surprised at how many potatoes are grown in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In fact, Irish immigrants brought potatoes to these three Canadian Provinces first. Now, the potato is Canada’s most important horticultural crop and the second largest french fry exporter behind the Netherlands.

 

Although Potato World is in New Brunswick, we discovered Prince Edward Island is all about potato farms and Anne Of Green Gables. The island is farm after farm of potatoes as far as you can see.

McCain Is From This Small Town

 

Have you heard of McCain frozen potato products? We specifically remember seeing McCain french fries advertised on the McDonald’s menu on a road trip in Germany. Since this was the first time recognizing the brand, it came across as odd because McDonald’s doesn’t advertise like this in America.

 

Even though we are not as familiar with the brand in our country McCain is a worldwide leader for frozen potato products. For example, products are sold in 160 countries and 1 out of 4 potato products in the world are from McCain. We have been noticing a few products in stores lately though.

 

McCain started in Florenceville, so this is probably a good place for Potato World.

 

 

• Potato World

 

Grilled Potato Recipe

This is my (Tom) simple recipe I created and use often. I am a Weber Grill fan and I enjoy grilling with charcoal. In either case, this recipe can be used on a charcoal or gas grill. Another key point to remember is this recipe isn’t exact because I make it slightly different each time. It just depends on how I feel at the time.

 

Ingredients

8 medium russet potatoes

2 cups diced onions (optional)

Kosher salt

Butter (not margarine), although olive and canola oil are also healthier and just as delicious.

Seasonings – freshly ground black pepper, thyme sprigs and onion powder are my favorites.

Also, these are some other combinations I sometimes. These include garlic pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, smoked paprika, Mrs Dash garlic and herb and Montreal Steak Seasoning. You can use just one or any mix, it depends on what you like.

 

Directions

 

Cut potatoes into 1/2 ” or 1″ cubes but don’t peel. If I have more time I will use bigger cubes since they take longer to cook. If I need them to cook quicker I will cut them smaller.

Add a sprinkle of kosher salt then parboil until they just start to get soft. Don’t over cook though because they will finish on the grill.

Use a strainer to drain well.

Tear off 4 sheets of non stick aluminum foil with each one about 2 feet long. Specifically, non stick otherwise you will have a sticky mess.

Divide potatoes evenly on the 4 sheets of foil then spread them lengthwise.

Next, slice 3 pieces of butter, 1/2 tablespoon each, and put one on top of both sides and middle then sprinkle seasonings over top. If you are using oil then lightly spray or toss in a bowl to coat. The fat makes the outside crispy no matter which one you use.

Next, fold the two long edges over together to make seam then fold the outside edges over top. Now you are ready to put them on the grill.

Grill directly over charcoal for 30 to 45 minutes then move to the side to continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes. After they have moved to the side add chicken or anything else you would like to cook for your meal.

When potatoes are done bring inside to serve. I like to use a cookie sheet since they are long and floppy. You don’t want the foil to tear or any seams come apart.

Open each one and they should easily slide off into a large serving bowl.

And there you have it. This seems like a lot of steps , but it really is easy.

 

Final Thoughts

 

New Brunswick is beautiful and we would certainly visit in any season. Next to Maine is tree covered rolling hills , but don’t forget to visit scenic small towns on the rocky coast. We would enjoy spending more time exploring New Brunswick since we only scratched the surface. We hope to go back when we take a road trip on the Trans Labrador Highway.

 

I (Tom) do have one regret though. I should have bought a Potato World T-Shirt!

 

What are your thoughts on Potato World is an unexpected Canadian road trip treasure? You can leave your comments on the bottom of the page.

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Tom and Kristi