Huron Creation Story

Huron Creation Story

In the beginning there was only one water and the water animals that lived in it.

Then a woman fell from a torn place in the sky. She was a divine woman, full of power. Two loons flying over the water saw her falling. They flew under her, close together, making a pillow for her to sit on. The loons held her up and cried for help. They could be heard for a long way as they called for other animals to come. The snapping turtle called all the other animals to aid in saving the woman’s life.

The animals decided the woman needed earth to live on. Thus Turtle said, “Dive down in the water and bring up some earth.” So they did that, those animals. A Beaver went down. A Muskrat went down. Others stayed down too long, and they died. Each time, Turtle looked inside their mouths when they came up, but there was no earth to be found. Toad went under the water. He stayed too long, and he nearly died. But when Turtle looked inside Toad’s mouth, he found a little earth. The woman took it and put it all around on Turtle’s shell. That was the start of the earth.

Dry land grew until it formed a country, then another country, and all the earth… To this day, Turtle holds up the earth. Time passed, and the divine woman had twin boys. They were opposites, her sons. One was good, and one was bad. One was born as children are usually born, in a normal way. But the other one broke out of his mother’s side, and she died. When the divine woman was buried, all of the plants needed for life on earth sprang from the ground above her. From her head came the pumpkin vine. Maize came from her chest. Pole beans grew from her legs.

A Canadian landscape, photo : Elena.

The divine woman’s sons grew up. The evil one was Tawis-karong. The good one was Tijus-kaha. They were to prepare the earth so that humans could live on it. But they found they could not live together. And so they separated, with each one taking his own portion of the earth to prepare.

The bad brother, Tawis-karong, made monstrous animals, fierce and terrifying. He made wolves and bears, and snakes of giant size. He made mosquitoes huge, the size of wild turkeys.

And he made an enormous toad. It drank up the fresh water that was on the earth. All of it. The good brother, Tijus-kaha, made proper animals that were of use to human beings. He made the dove, and the mockingbird, and the partridge. And one day, the partridge flew toward the land of Tawis-karong. “Why do you go there?” Tijus-kaha asked the partridge. “I go because there is no water.

And I hear there is some in your brother’s land,” said the partridge. Tijus-kaha didn’t believe the bird. So he followed, and finally he came to his evil brother’s land. He saw all of the outlandish, giant animals his brother had made. Tijus-kaha didn’t beat them down. And then he saw the giant toad. He cut it open. Out came the earth’s fresh water. Tijus-kaha didn’t kill any [more] of his brother’s creations. But he made them smaller, of normal size so that human beings could be leaders over them. His mother’s spirit came to Tijus-kaha in a dream. She warned him about his evil brother. And sure enough, one day, the two brothers had to come face to face. They decided they could not share the earth. They would have a duel to see who would be master of the world. Each had to overcome the other with a single weapon.

Tijus-kaha, the good, could only be killing if beaten to death with a bag full of corn or beans. The evil brother could be killed only by using the horn of a deer or other wild animal. Then the brothers fixed the fighting ground where the battle would begin.

The first turn went to the evil brother, Tawis-karong. He pounded his brother with a bag of beans. He beat him until Tijus-kaha was nearly dead. But not quite. He got his strength back, and he chased Tawis-karong. Now it was his turn. He beat his evil brother with a deer horn. Finally, Tijus-kaha took his brother’s life away. But still the evil brother wasn’t completely destroyed. “I have gone to the far west,” he said. “All the races of men will follow me to the west when they die.” It is the belief of the Huron to this day. When they die, their spirits go to the far west, where they will dwell forever.

From the Archives of Blue Panther  Source of the legend: web.telia.com/~u15508742/huron.htm

Creation story. Illustration by Elena.

Food in New France

Food in New France

A Swedish botanist Peter Kalm gave us a very good account of the way in which people lived in Old Quebec, and as we read it we can imagine how we should have fared as guests in a house in New France in the 18th century:

“They eat three meals a day, namely, breakfast, dinner, and supper. The breakfast is usually between seven and eight. Even the Governor is an early riser and may be visited at seven o’clock. Some of the men dip a piece of bread in brandy and eat it; others take a little brandy eat a piece of bread afterwards. Chocolate is also often drunk at breakfast, and many ladies drink coffee.

Some eat no breakfast at all. I have never seen tea used, perhaps because they can get chocolate and coffee from the French provinces in South America, while tea has to be brought from China. Dinner is almost exactly at noon.

The loaves are oval and baked of wheat flour. For each person they put a plate, napkin, spoon, and fork. Sometimes they likewise give knifes, but they are generally omitted, all the ladies and gentlemen being provided with their own knives.

Bucolic landscape of New France. Photo by Elena

The meal begins with a soup with a good deal of bread in it. Then follow fresh meats of various kinds, boiled and roasted, poultry or game, fricassees, etc., together with different kinds of salads. They commonly drink red claret at dinner, mixed with water, and spruce beer is also much in use. The ladies drink water and sometimes wine. After dinner, the fruits and sweetmeats are served.

These are of many different kinds, walnuts from France or Canada, ripe of or pickled, almonds, raisins, hazelnuts, blackberries, and mossberrries.

Cheese is also part of the dessert, and so is milk, which they eat with sugar, last of all…

Supper is usually at seven o’clock or between seven and eight at night, and the dishes are much the same as at dinner.

Craft-Brew-Story and Historic Brewery

Craft-Brew-Story

In recent decades there has been a resurgence of interest in craft brewed beer. Micro-breweries or craft breweries are modern breweries that produce a limited amount of hand crafted beer. Today, a number of these small breweries are established across Ontario. In many ways they mirror the early brewing industry of the 19th century. This new generation of small breweries is focused mainly on producing traditional cask ales. Interesting beers of high quality and diversity are created for more discerning customers desiring t expand their palate beyond the rather uniform commercial beers of today.

In North America, the product of these modern small breweries is generally known as “craft beer”. Brewed in small batches, each of these craft beers receive an individual approach to their composition and method of brewing. The resulting brews are distinctive and varied, their character reflecting the stronger ales created by the traditional recipes of the past.

Favours are often adventurous, and specialty brews frequently reflect the availability of seasonal and local ingredients. Interestingly, in Japan the micro-brew beers are known as Ji Biru or local beer.

Black Creek Pionner Village. Black Creek canteen… Photo: Megan (Elena)

Today`s brew pubs are organized in the image of the brew houses of earlier centuries. In the past, the innkeeper brewed his own beer for his regular local customers and today, many micro-breweries are similar being directly attached to pubs providing a community hub, serving local clientele.

The Black Creek Historic Brewery, a working brewery located in Half Way House Inn, depicts a typical 19th century Ontario brew house. Creating traditional hand crafted beers with an emphasis on local and historical ingredients, along with a touch of 21st century character, this brewery offers a singularly unique and cozy brew pub experience.

The Black Creek Pioneer Village brew beer the old-fashioned way. The Black Creek Historic Brewery recreates the equipment, techniques, and recipes used by brewers in 1860s Ontario.

Tastings and Tours: Quench your thirst with a Beer Sampler or take a trip back in time in the Historic Brewery Tour. Taste the difference: Pick up a 2L growler of beer at the historic brewery and try local ales infused with old-fashioned flavours and made the traditional way. It`s unlike any commercial beer you would buy today.

Be a Brewer for Day: Spend the day working alongside the Brewer to brew ales the traditional way. Take home a growler of beer to remember your day as a heritage brewer.

Evening Events in the Brewery: Treat yourself to a rich journey into the delicious world of beer and cheese. Sample local cheeses, each paired with a selected craft beer.

Historic Brewery

The 19th century brewing produced an extensive list of different beers and brews. The difference in the beverages were created essentially by variations in the production process, the ingredients and the recipes used.

There were strong beers, table beers and small beers which generally referred to the strength of the wort that made the brew. There were ales and lagers which resulted from the application of different types of yeast. There were also herbal and medicinal brews.

Some brews had traditional origins whilst others developed styles reflecting the new land and life of 19th century Canada.

Ales: Beers brewed with a top-fermenting yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The aromatic yeasts imparted flowery and fruity aromas giving the brew character. Ales were light amber to dark brown, sweet to bitter, much depending on the darkness of the malt used.

Strong beers: These beers were rich, dark ales having high alcohol levels with strong aromas and flavours due to the generous use of both malts and hops, and long brewing, fermentation and maturation stages.

The Old Beer. Photo by Elena

Porter: A dark brown, sweet, well hopped that was originally a blend of brown ale, pale ale and stale of well matured ale. It acquired the name Porter as a result of its popularity among London`s street porters.

Stout: Generally the “stoutest” = strongest, largest beer. Almost black and creamy, stout was a well hopped beer produced using the darkest, roasted malts and the longest processing.

IPA: India Pale Ale was a high strength pale ale produced for export. Today, the term is commonly used for light, bitter ales.

Lager: Lager, a light, clear beer made with a bottom fermenting yeast, Saccharmoyces uvarum, using different malt and hops than used in most ales. Lagers undergo a long secondary fermentation at a low temperature. Lager originated in Bavaria and became immensely popular in the regions settled by Germanic immigrants.

Small beer: Often referred to as light beer, this brew was made from second and third mashes. The wort had a low sugar content and gave a low, “small” alcohol level. Table Beer, a watery low alcohol brew, was either made from a blend of first, second and third worts, or by adding water to a mature ale.

Domestic, herbal & medicinal beer: Early Ontario home brewers produced fermented domestic, herbal and medicinal beers. The beers were bittered with flowers, leaves, berries and species when hops were not available. Herbs, roots, seeds and other materials were added for their medicinal properties. Most recipes call for a degree of fermentation.

Substitutes for malt carried less sugar and hence many of the beers produced, though still fermented, measured a very low alcohol content. Some commercial breweries turned to producing these low alcohol “near” beers, particularly ginger beer, with the onset of prohibition.

Ginger was widely used in herbal beers to prevent and relieve inflammation, and to address digestive and heart problems. Spruce beer, made from the green spring roots of spruce trees, provided Vitamin C and was recommend to help ward off scurvy. Other beers were expected to aid digestion, cleanse the blood, cure urinary tract infections and to generally promote good health.

Spiced Beer: Beer was made more interesting by adding unusual flavouring. Spices, spruce shoots, maple syrup, treacle, raspberries were amongst many ingredients used to spice up the beer. Today such beers are known as “Specialty Beers”.

The prohibition era of the early 20th century forced many Ontario breweries to close, and others to consolidate. The result was a small number of commercial breweries who manufactured on a large scale, producing beers that became fairly uniform in style, essentially lagers, with little variety in strength and flavour.

Some beer drinkers, desiring greater variety and more substantial ales, were left wanting. By the 1980s, a trend for home brewing using traditional and adventurous recipes had begun. These hand crafted beers have become extremely popular and hundreds of small breweries have been established across Ontario to serve the interest of today`s discerning beer drinkers.

The Brewing Process

Fit-to-Drink

The brewing process

Whether in a small or large set-up the brewing process remained principally the same. Beer, “fit to drink”, was produced within a day, a week or some months depending on its intended type and the brewer’s circumstances. The brewing process basically followed a number of set stages:

Malting: the barley’s starches are converted to sugar;

Milling: the malted barley is cracked to access the sugar;

Mashing: malt combined with hot water to make the liquid, “wort”;

Brewing: the addition of hops and other flavouring to a heated wort;

Cooling: the reduction of the temperature to inhibit bacterial action and to provide a workable temperature for the yeast;

Fermentation: the conversion of sugars to alcohol, promoted by the addition of yeast, followed by:

Maturation, Finishing and Packing.

Malting: The barley is carefully soaked in water to promote germination. During sprouting the barley’s starches are converted to sugar.

Old Beer in the Black Creek Pioneer Village Brewery. Photo: Megan (Elena)

As the perfect moment when the right amount of sugar is present, the malt is dried to stop the barley’s growth. Each step of the mating process unlocks starches hidden in the barley.

When the stem or acrospires has nearly reached the end of the kernel, the germination is stopped by heating the malt in a kilm. The roots fall off in the drying and screening” (American Mechanical Dictionary, 1876). Stages of germinating barley: steeped grain; grain which spires; grain malt after 8 days, grain with developed acrospire (Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer, 1882).

Milling the malt is to facilitate the absorption of water and thus aids the extraction of the sugars. The husks of the grains are broken open delicately to access the grain, but the body of the grain remains intact.

“…barley malt is indispensable… Even if other starch-converting ferments, of which there are several, had the power of supplying the sugar forming action of the malt… the beer produced would be entirely different…” (The Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer, 1882).

Mashing is the process of turning the malt into a sweet liquid. In a large vat, known as a mash tun, the brewer combines malt with heated water to make an unfermented liquid called “wort”.

The hot water helps to dissolve and draw out the sugar from the malt. In the past, those without thermometers used traditional rules for measuring the water temperature.

“… as the first heat of the water has subsided, and you find that you are able to bear your fingers drawn slowly through it without experiencing pain, you must then throw in the malt…” (Cookery Book for the Working Classes, 1852).

“Take this rule… when you can, by looking down into the tub, see your face clearly in the water, the water is become cool enough; and you must not put the malt in before.” (Cottage Economy, 1826).

The mashing continues until the mix achieves its greatest possible sweetness. At one time the brewer measured this by eye, taste or by a special tool called a saccharometer. The wort is then strained through the bottom of the mass through an under back to the brew kettle.

“There is no surrogate which can completely take the place of hops: The following objects are obtained by the use of hops in breweries: 1) In the boiling of the wort they contribute towards clarification 2) They give to the beer an agreeable bitter and at the same time aromatic taste; 3) They exert a preservative influence upon the beer”. (The Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer, 1882).

(Hops heads on the vine)

Beer Barrels. Photo: Megan (Elena)

Brewing

The fresh wort is drained into a heated copper kettle to brew. At this point the hops are added to enhance the flavour. The wort is boiled for some hours and then drained into a hop back. As it drains the liquid is again filtered to catch the hops and allow them to be used for another brew. The hopped wort is then cooled.

“The quantity of hops must be proportioned to the length of time that it is intended to keep the beer, and the taste of the consumer; for ordinary family use, half a pound of hos to a bushel of malt gives and agreeable flavour.” (The Domestic Dictionary, 1857).

“Porter is brewed from very highly dried malt, with an extra quantity of hops.” (The Domestic Dictionary, 1857).

Cooling

It is of paramount importance that the wort be cooled immediately. This prevents the liquid from becoming contaminated with bacteria, starting to acidify and go bad. The brew is cooled to a temperature of at most 65 degrees F.

“Wait until it has cooled down to about 50 degrees F, or barley lukewarm, and if this temperature be not obtained during the day, wait until night.” (The Domestic Dictionary, 1857).

Early brewers were limited too brewing in the fall and spring when cold weather made this quick cooling possible.

“…fermentation is indicated by a line of small bubbles round the sides of the tun… A crusty head follows, and then a fine rocky one, followed by a light frothy head… As soon as this head begins to fall the tun should be skimmed, … continues every two hours till no more yeast appears.” 

(Mackenzie’s 50000 Recipes, 1829).

(cooling pans)

Fermentation: Once cool, the wort is drained into fermenting tuns and the yeast is added to promote fermentation. The yeast converts the sugars in the wort into alcohol. Centuries of experience have cultivated good brewing strains of yeast, and it is these that largely determine the character of the beer.

“The best rule for mixing the yeast is a pound and a half to every barrel of strong beer wort, and a pound to every barrel of table beer wort.” (Mackenzie’s 5000 Recipes, 1829).

There are two distinct types of yeast; top-fermenting and bottom-fermenting.

Ales, porters and stout are fermented using top-fermenting yeast at temperatures between 65 F and 72 F for 4 to 6 days.

Lagers are bottom-fermented and require much cooler temperatures acting for 1 4 weeks.

Maturation & Finishing: When the frothing has stopped the beer is made. It is drawn off into casks for aging in cellars or cool storage. The beer has to be cold before casking. A small amount of yeast may be added to continue the fermentation and to keep the beer fresh by consuming and remaining oxygen.

“Then it is beer; and when quite cold, (for ale or strong beer,) put it into the casks by means of a funnel. It must be cold before this is done, or it will be foxed; that is, made a rank and disagreeable taste.” (Cottage Economy, 1826).

Packing

The beer is finally packed in barrels and bottles. All containers have to be spotlessly clean, barrels especially. The tradition was always to return and reuse the containers.

Secondary fermentation occurs in the barrel and sediment will settle to the bottom. The barrel is vented to release excess gases and the tapped for serving. The beer is drawn directly from the barrel and pumped up from the storage cellar. Naturally carbonated, these beers are not necessarily very “fizzy”.

Beers that have undergone secondary fermentation in the barrel or bottle often have a murky appearance due to particles in solution.

Craft beers that are brewed with natural ingredients, no added preservatives and are not pasteurized (flash heated to kill bacteria), may have a limited shelf life and need to be consumed within two or three weeks.

Barrels

Barrels

Tight, also referred to as wet, barrels carried liquids; dry barrels carried fine powdery products such as flour; slack barrels a variety of small bulk products.

Tight barrels required the greatest skill to make. They were made of hard woods such as oak and elm; dry or slack barrels could be made with less care, and of softer wood. Slack barrels “should be as light and cheap as they can be, and have sufficient strength and durability to a single trip to market, as it is not expected that they will be returned when sent long distances” (The Canada Farmer, November 1, 1867).

An old Barrel in the Black Creek Pioneer Village. Photo: Megan (Elena)

The Cooperage

A cooper made wooden containers in which to store and transport a wide range of items such as flour, sugar, molasses, gunpowder, apples, salt, meat, whisky, beer, and even nails. Coopers often located their businesses near mills to ensure a regular market for their barrels. In many cases, mill owners employed coopers so that they need not pay independent artisans.

The Coopeerage, originally located on Brant Street, Paris, Ontario, was owned and operated by John Taylor, who began his operation soon after arriving from Scotland in 1853. The building was taken down, board by board and reassembled at Black Creek Pioneer Village in 1975.

The staves were trimmed with hand adze and smoothed with a sun plane.

Barrel Construction

The containers were made up of staves which were shaped using curved drawknives, curved to be larger at the centre to form the barrel’s bulge and the sides bevelled to fit exactly to the next stave.

A set of shaped staves were assembled and held tight by a trussing hoop. The staves, confined at their base, flare outward at the top. A rope was passed around their tops and, using a windlass, the cooper bent the staves and pulled them evenly together. When each stave was edge to edge a permanent hoop was fitted to hold them fast. Further hoops were added and the cooper’s windlass released. Metal hoops were used for tight or wet barrels, and wooden hoops were used for slack or dry barrels.

Pails and chums tapered from one end. The cooper made them as he made a barrel but since neither bulged in the middle, both were easier to make.