News Article

Earlier this week, Roger Andrews packed a bag from his home on the east coast and headed to the small town of Burlington on the Baie Verte Peninsula – population 350. Andrews is one of the eight chefs selected to provide food for The Gathering, a celebration of Newfoundland Fire, Food and Music.
 
The Gathering celebration draws people to experience the abundance of wild isolated beauty of Burlington, Smith’s Harbour and Middle Arm. All profits from The Gathering go back into the community in support of a larger social enterprise, the not-for-profit BSM Manor.
 
Headed by comedian Shaun Majumder, who wants to give something special back to his hometown of Burlington, the journey of building BSM Manor is presented on the docu-series Majumder Manor on the W Network.
 
A College of the North Atlantic (CNA) chef instructor at Prince Philip Drive campus, Andrews says he was recommended by a colleague in St. John’s and is looking forward to the three-day event.
 
“Shaun was looking for chefs in city (of St. John’s). He went to Rory Macpherson, executive chef at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland, and Rory asked if I’d be interested in doing it since he knew I was off for the summer,” Andrews said.
 
“It’s always interesting to do because typically you get to work with quite a few different people and that’s always neat. When we get there, myself a couple of the chefs are going to be doing some foraging around in the woods for different ingredients to use like mushrooms and different plants. It’s not something we usually get to do a whole lot of.”
 
Andrews is looking forward to whipping up some traditional local dishes during the event. He is preparing to use dishes with a sea snail whelk as well as a bannock station, which involves bread with a spread of a variety of Newfoundland jams and butters.
 
“We are either going to cook (the bannock) on the fire, or get people to cook it with some alders which we’re going to cut out. It’s going to be interesting because we’re going to try to be very interactive.”
 
On Saturday, he has planned a food demonstration of beet salad which will take place at The Gathering grounds.
 
“I’m doing a different take on beet salad. Most people boil potatoes and then throw the beets in there, but I’m doing something a little different and showing how to make it in other ways. Most people in Newfoundland, the only way they make beet salad is like that and all they think of is purple (salad). I’ve got golden, candy cane beets and purple beets to do a bit of different stuff with.”
 
He says he may even hold a friendly competition for some of the audience members.

“I might pull a few people from the audience and have a little competition to see who does the best plate.”
 
While you never know what may make it onto the small screen with Majumder Manor, Andrews isn’t worried as he’s no stranger to being on television.
 
“I’ve been on TV dozens of times and was even flown to Vancouver to film a couple episodes of a show – so no I don’t get stage fright.”
 
The Gathering plays an important role in transforming the Baie Verte region into a viable, world-class tourist destination through intimate music performances by local and internationally known artists, traditional and contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador cuisine, storytelling, and chef hikes.
 
For more information about the event, visit http://www.thegatheringburlington.com/.
 
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Media contact:
 
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca