Foods of The County

The foods of Aroostook County carry deep roots across northern Maine, where distinct cultural traditions continue to shape everyday meals and celebratory gatherings. In the Upper St. John Valley, Acadian buckwheat ployes are a central staple. Brought to the valley by French Acadians, these thin buckwheat flatbread pancakes are traditionally prepared with fine yellow buckwheat flour, water, and baking powder, distinguishing them from Quebec varieties made with coarser gray buckwheat. Ploye cultivation took hold after wheat crops failed, making buckwheat the leading grain crop by 1850 and establishing ployes as a regular accompaniment to butter, stews, and maple syrup. At winter gatherings, households often prepare cretons, a spiced French-Acadian pork spread commonly served on ployes, while local restaurants in Frenchville and Madawaska feature batter-fried JoJo potatoes. In Fort Kent, the Bouchard family helped revitalize these traditions by milling and packaging commercial mix from their family farm on Strip Road, using a restored authentic Canadian mill. The town celebrates this legacy every summer at the Ploye Festival, where Joe and Janice Bouchard mix roughly 50 pounds of buckwheat mix to griddle a giant 12-foot ploye for the community.

Further celebrating Acadian culinary traditions, the town of Madawaska hosts Maine's annual Acadian Festival, commemorating the 1785 landing with traditional Acadian suppers alongside dishes such as poutine râpée, chicken stew, and freshly griddled ployes. The Acadian Village in Van Buren preserves early French-Acadian living culture through homestead demonstrations of traditional cooking, including tastings of ployes and cretons. Across the St. John Valley, potatoes are incorporated into a wide variety of Acadian recipes, ranging from boiled and mashed sides to stews, casseroles, potato doughnuts, potato cookies, and potato pies.

Potato cultivation defines much of the County's broader agricultural history. Town founder Joseph Houlton planted the first documented potato crop in Aroostook County in June 1807 using Early Blue or Blue Nose seed, and early nineteenth-century settlers soon cleared forested land to plant potatoes in the fertile Caribou loam soil and cool climate. Fort Fairfield marks these harvest roots during the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival with potato picking competitions, regional food vendors, and a Potato Recipe Challenge. Farther south in Littleton, the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum hosts public community suppers highlighting rural food traditions, while the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians hosts an annual public celebration featuring traditional indigenous foods and a free community supper on tribal grounds along the Meduxnekeag River.

Scandinavian food customs also remain vibrant in the Maine Swedish Colony. Led to the region in 1870 by William Widgery Thomas Jr., the original Swedish settlers established traditions that endure in New Sweden and surrounding towns. During the annual Midsommar festival, descendants gather for celebratory smörgåsbords featuring Swedish meatballs, pickled herring, wild strawberries, and boiled new potatoes seasoned with fresh dill, while community members assemble at the American Legion hall in Stockholm for suppers of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberry jam. As winter approaches, traditional Swedish pepparkakor spice cookies are baked and served to mark annual Saint Lucia celebrations, keeping the community's heritage alive through the seasons.