Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

It’s our last day at Wollaston Lake Lodge, and I’m reminiscing about the food. About shore lunch, in particular. At home, what passes for my lunch is usually a protein bar or an apple while I continue to work. But here, lunch competes with dinner as an event of its own.

Shore lunch revolves around the first fish caught each day. If it’s large enough to cook, its life ends with a bonk on the head. (The second fish of the day doesn’t know how lucky it is.) Our guide then cleans the fish and waits until we decide we’re hungry. By noon our appetites are keen.

We tie up on some remote island or bay and head for the rest rooms, while our guide searches for dry wood to build a fire. (One thing I’ll say about “rest rooms” in the wilderness: there’s no line of antsy ladies to contend with.) The staff back at the lodge has sent along all the ingredients for a wonderful meal, and the guide creates one specialty after another. In the eight days we’ve been here, our shore lunches have ranged from stir fry teriyaki (made with fish, of course) to a traditional baked fish to pike pizza to fish chowder. Side dishes include the most delicious French fries ever, baked beans, sautйed onions and mushrooms, corn, you name it.


By the time we’ve devoured seconds, there’s no room for the homemade cookies which are dessert. In fact, dessert has never even factored into shore lunch for me. That is, until today when I learned the guide can also do a fresh apple crisp, or roasted bananas with chocolate sauce, or a fruit compote — all on the embers of the dying fire.

Knowing this, when we return next year I plan to have one shore lunch that begins with dessert. In fact, maybe I’ll have our guide make them all. I also learned that if you mix Clamato juice with beer you get a delightful beverage that goes well with any fish dish. We’re not waiting till next year to fix this for ourselves.

My only wish is that the guides at Wollaston Lake Lodge would consider putting a Shore Lunch Cookbook together. I’d be willing to volunteer as a food taste tester, and I’m positive it would be a money maker.