A Taste of the North

Every geographic area has its own flavors and traditional foods. Likewise, Aroostook County hails many unique dishes that are not generally accepted as universally American cuisine. Two of my personal favorites, which can be found at many restaurants further north are poutine and ployes, both of which are foreign by origin.


Poutine is composed of french fries topped with cheeses (usually mozzarella) and then covered in gravy. Sometimes people will add hamburger to the mix or change it up with some curly fries. Another variation is called the "italian mix", and it features spaghetti sauce rather than gravy. The original poutine dish was borrowed from the province of Quebec, and then made its way into the hearts of many Mainers.


Another of my personal favorites is the ployes are pancakes made of buckwheat. Unlike their counterparts, the original pancake, they are not designated as breakfast food. Often they are served with dinner and topped with butter rather than maple syrup. Acadian ployes are commonly featured in the County through an entire Ployes festival located annually in Fort Kent.
Every area has its native favorites when it comes to food and beverage. Ployes and poutine are two delicious options from the north.

Potato Harvest

One of the most interestingly different events I encountered after taking residence in Northern Maine was the phenomenon of Potato Harvest Break, which occurred, to my knowledge in every school in the northern portion of the state. Having already lived in a "potato state" (Idaho), I was no stranger to spuds, but the practice of child-involved cultivation was quite surprising to both my parents and I.

Every year each participating school allots typically two to three weeks in the fall, usually beginning with the last week of September, for a break from school. One of the oddities of this act can be found in that students have only begun the school year a month or so prior to the hiatus. Seldom do the students complain of having to miss school however. As I recall we were deeply delighted to experience the break.


Potato Harvest Break has been a tradition of Aroostook County for many, many years. Middle school and high school age students look forward to the chance to earn a hefty amount of cash for their age. They work in a variety of settings. Some pick potatoes from the ground, by hand, and fill barrels all day. Other individuals work in a potato house, carefully working to separate the harvest and store them until they are called to a purchasing location. Teenage harvest employees sometimes drive burly, rickety trucks through potato fields. The trucks move alongside the potato harvester machine, filling the truck with potatoes fresh out of the ground.

The worst job by far is working on the harvester machine. All day individuals stand on the machine as it creeps up row after row of harvest ready potatoes. The machine pulls them up from the ground and they are carried across a conveyor belt into the back of the waiting potato truck. The task of the student who works on the potato harvester machine is to stand beside the conveyor belt and pick items out that do not belong. These items can be rocks, dirt chunks, and even rotting potatoes.

This was the job I experienced during my years working Potato Harvest Break. Ask anyone about their experiences on a potato harvester, and they will likely describe it the same way. The temperature dwindles rapidly... beginning with cold in the early morning, then warming up in the afternoon, then going back to chilly again as night falls. There is a constant swirl of dust in the air as potatoes are torn from the ground, some of which ends up in the mouth, eyes, and nostrils. The machine is always moving, creating some dizziness at times. The worker is always standing, and if they have to pee... find a tree.

Work days typically begin around six AM and continue on after darkness, weather permitting. Individuals will work for many consecutive days, even on weekends, as the time they will be available to farmers is quite short in the large perspective, and there is always the threat of rain, which will cause a hiatus in productivity.

As horrifying as I may have made this experience seem, I believe it is a necessary part of this society. Many youths learn lessons about hard work and focus while working the fields. It is also evident that individuals from "the county" have quite a record as being very hard workers. Children and teens learn about responsibility and earning money, rather than being handed it. Potato Harvest workers can walk away with a good chunk of change too. Often they will make well over a thousand dollars, earned by their own hard work. This can have a positive impact in a variety of ways.

In recent years schools have begun to consider doing away with Potato Harvest Break. Many adolescents are no longer interested in putting in the hard work associated with the breaks. Long ago when larger families made up the north, it was necessary for farmers to make their own children available for help on their farms, without facing repercussions from school for absence. It will be interesting to see the direction taken in the future.

Break for Moose

Many city dwellers take great caution while out and about driving in their vehicles. They may park beneath well-lit areas when they know they will be approaching in the darkness. They look into their back seats before crawling inside, and when stopped beneath a bridge or near a dark alley, they often instinctively reach for the door locks. When seven lanes all rush in the same direction at quickened velocities it becomes a threat as well. The threats encountered when driving in the city tend to be human or metallic.
The fiercest sources of danger one may encounter when living in the northern part of Maine are quite different, with far more fur and a lack of fiberglass and metal. It is estimated that there were about 30,000 moose located in the state. Over the past decade there have been an average of 600 moose-car collisions a year statewide. The problem is definitely more aggressive in the darkness. When I would be coming home at night my parents would always ask if I saw moose.
"If you didn't see any moose, you were driving too fast," they would say.
This was probably mostly true. There are moose everywhere in northern Maine, and if you are unlucky enough to hit one the damage can be fatal. These beasts stand roughly 8 or 9 feet tall at about 1,600lbs. Their fur is a dark hue, allowing them to easily blend into their natural surroundings. They are difficult to see and if hit, they can absolutely devastate the front of a vehicle. Moose have long, skinny legs that easily break when hit, causing them to crash down into windshields and dashboards.

Aside from the massive size of the animal, they are unpredictable and quick. Often a driver will turn a corner and scarcely notice the moose because it stands so still. One would think if a giant mass of metal was approaching rapidly and animal would jump out of the way. Not these animals. They often stand and stare, leaping in a random direction at the last moment.
The first time I really saw a moose up close was when I was in sixth grade and traveling home with my parents and my friend in the dark. We were headed down the dirt road, lightning flickering across the sky, when a large figure loomed in our path. It was a moose, obviously terrified by the thrashes of lightning and the pelting raindrops. At first it straggled clumsily down the road, away from our stopped car. My dad waited patiently for the creature to depart the dirt path, but the moose continued on before us, ever so slowly. He shuddered against the rain, eyes wide as another flash of lightning lit up the sky. Not only had he stopped moving away from us, but he had turned to approach us. Another jolt of lightning crashed through the air and with the following rumble of thunder the giant moose hurtled towards our little honda civic. What else could my friend and I do but scream? My dad urged us furiously to stop screaming as the moose jumped forward, thrashing his hooves into the hood with a great thud. With one final stare the animal turned away and hurried into the woods. I was always awed by this moment. As terrified as I was to be there at the time I was taken by the largeness and the look of the moose.They are a very unique creature and people are often inspired to pull over when spotted to take photos and observe.
The moose tend to come closer to the road in the winter because they enjoy eating the salt from the road, and they come in the spring to eat the fresh greens. Locals tend to flash their lights at each other to warn there is a moose ahead. Aroostook County has the most frequent number of moose-car collisions, which occur mostly at night.

As southern Maine is famous for their lobsters we are known for our moose. Tourists seek out routes that are sure to allow them to see a moose along the way. My family came to visit from the west and they were anxious to see moose as well. They are just a massive animal.



Gagnon, Dawn. “Curbing Car-Moose Crashes.” Bangor Daily News. N.p., 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 2 Feb. 2010. .