You may think the only foodie destination west of Toronto is Niagara-on-the-Lake. But I beg to differ. There are many destinations for a food road trip in Southern Ontario that should be part of any itinerary.
Areas such as Brant County, Norfolk County (called Ontario’s garden), and further west in Southwest Ontario offer a quieter, yet equally exciting food scene. Any destination along the shores of Lake Erie offers quiet stops that can be explored further.
Food tourism in southern Ontario is slowly flourishing, providing a great alternative for shopping and a new source of revenue for the local economy.
The Brantford Farmer’s Market In Brant County
The Brantford Farmer’s Market should be one of the first stops on your food road trip in Southern Ontario. Right in the heart of Brantford, a city in Brant County about a half-hour away from Hamilton, Ontario, the Brantford Farmer’s Market brings in locals as well as those from the surrounding area. It opens early on weekends and offers a wide variety of produce, baked goods, and meats to choose from.
One of our favourite stops at the Brantford Farmer’s Market is the Huzul Meats stall. Here you can purchase Polish-style, nitrate-free, gluten-free kielbasa. The recipe is 100 years old. The owner of this family-run business, Dave Huzul, sells his product at the market. Their honey garlic kielbasa is to DIE FOR, and it uses local Ontario garlic.
Frank likes their honey garlic kielbasa, which I admit is a nice blend of sweet and savoury. Jensen Cheese also sells their delicious products at the market. We often pick up a Jensen Extra Old Cheddar. It makes a great addition to sandwiches or for snacks, as well as a grilled cheese sandwich.
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Heading Into Southwest Ontario For Ontario Corn
Leaving the Brantford Farmer’s Market, our annual stop is the Welsh Brother’s Farm. Here you can stop into their warehouse to get a big bag of fresh corn. In the spring-time (early May), they have fresh asparagus, including organic asparagus. Buy a crate and you can share it with your friends and family. Their fresh asparagus keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week, because it’s so fresh when you get it.
But back to the corn. My husband LOVES corn. Locally grown is much better than imported from the US in his opinion. If you can get it off the back of an Ontario farmer’s truck, picked that morning, it’s even better. The Welsh Brother’s have their corn ready in early July and it’s worthwhile a little road trip.
Every time we pick up corn from Welsh brother’s in Scotland, Ontario (I always get a hoot out of saying we’re going to Scotland), we do a big corn shucking at my in-law’s home. We follow it up with a lunch featuring, you guessed it… fresh corn on the cob.
There are ways you can shuck corn, but this is the most interesting way I’ve seen so far.
We prefer to do it the old fashioned way with no nuking, running on our own energy power. It still comes out perfect in the end.
When we do our corn fest at our in-laws, the husks pile up in their composter. The corn is stored away in sealable bags and divvied up between our two families so that we could enjoy it.
Here’s how I like to enjoy sweet Ontario corn: melt butter in a small saucepan and add a few dashes of hot sauce and lime juice (to taste). Spread it over boiled corn on the cob. Add a touch of salt to taste and dig in!
Fruit And Vegetable Stands In Southern Ontario
Leaving Brantford, we take the smaller country roads on our food road trip in Southern Ontario. This is one of the more scenic drives from Toronto to Southwest Ontario. If the summer is a rainy one, everything is lushly green. Wildflowers along the sides of the road make it so much more of a prettier drive. Everywhere you go there’s a forest or a farm with fields of corn, grains, peanuts or other produce.
On weekends, everything is slower in this part of Ontario. Many shops and attraction sites are closed until 10:30 am or even 11:00 a.m. On one of our food road trips in Southern Ontario we didn’t have a chance to stop at Picard’s Peanut near Simcoe/ Nor did we check out the Frisky Beaver winery that’s making a name for itself in the GTA. The reason why? We were too early!
Our primary mission during that past road trip was to find one of our favourite spots for fresh fruit and vegetables – a stand near Simcoe (on Highway 24, just south of Highway 6). Frank’s goal was to get at least four dozen ears of fresh Ontario sweet corn. We saw a bag on a table, but the gentleman at the stand suggested we get a fresh batch from the back of the truck.
We also picked up a container of raspberries and blueberries and a freshly baked berry pie.
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When In Southern Ontario – Stop In Port Dover
Any time we are doing a food road trip in Southern Ontario, we make sure we have a stop in Port Dover.
Unfortunately, we often are too early to stop into our favourite spot for hot dogs – The Arbor! We do often take a selfie when we’re exploring the scene along Lake Erie. In the photo below, please excuse Frank’s unshaven appearance. We go into weekend warrior mode – aka – unshaven and no-makeup – on these kinds of trips. And yes, there is a palm tree behind Frank. A real one. I kid you not. Port Dover has one.
During one of our trips, we did make a stop at my new favourite “dairy bar” near Hagersville – Hewitt’s Dairy. Looking like something out of the 1950s, this spot offers hot foods such as hamburgers and fries, as well as delicious ice cream desserts. I opted for a waffle cone with a scoop of my favourite pralines ‘n cream and raspberry swirl. It tasted like the ice cream of my youth – creamy and flavourful. No preservatives and other fillers added like with most store brands.
This is one of my favourite spots for our food day trip in Southern Ontario!
Doing A Food Road Trip In Southern Ontario
Food tourism in Southern Ontario is on the rise – there’s no question about it. The tourist boards in Simcoe County, Norfolk County, and others are increasingly focusing efforts on these attractions.
With new wineries and restaurants popping up near small towns, expect to see more people heading here on weekends!
QUESTION: Have you ever checked out the food tourism in Southern Ontario? Do you have any must-have places to visit to share with us?
Until next time!
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4 Comments
I love this time of year when there is so much fresh Ontario produce to buy! We have never explored the Norfolk County area of the province though – clearly we should though as Emma would eat corn on the cob every day if I let her!
We frequent a few farm stands around Grimsby and Beamsville, but last weekend we found one in North Burlington we hadn’t been to before. Hutchinson Farm – have you been there? They have some of the tastiest heirloom tomatoes I’ve ever had! We also bought garlic (so much more flavor than store-bought) and tomatillos, which were new to me. I’m going to use them to make Salsa Verde – the recipe is right on their website: http://hutchinsonfarm.ca/FieldCrops/CropGuide.html Such a fun discovery!
Thank you for the reco Audrey! Frank LOVES tomatoes as much as he loves corn. Definitely have to check this farm out as we haven’t been yet. I think we might have to go this weekend!
People literally pay for Windsor pizza to be frozen and flown to other provinces – So you’ve gotta try Windsor pizza at some point in the mix! lol