Interview: Annie Lee
Annie Lee on Making Salt Fish:
"No men made fish on the flakes. It was called 'making fish.' They caught the fish, they salt the fish, and the women of the community, way back then, always made the fish. That meant they spread the fish out and dried it and took it in. That was the woman's job. They used to spread it, and if started raining, they'd have to go down and take it in. They'd have to do it up in what was called 'faggots,' I think. Do it up in big bunks and put them heads-and-tails in a pile, and when it started raining they covered it up."
Annie Lee on Making Molasses Candy:
"She used to make those knobs, like, you know. Candy, Yeah. Molasses candy. I remember mom and mom's sister, she used to live with us every winter, Bride, she used to. They used to sit down to the stove, and of course it was a wood stove then, and they'd boil molasses. And they'd boil this to a certain point. I remember the two of them over the sink, and they's be scrubbing their hands right up to their elbows, and I was thinking 'okay, now I gotta watch all this.' And, so after it cooled down a little bit, they'd butter up their arms and hands, right to the elbow they'd butter, and they'd take the molasses, when it was at the point where you can handle it, and they'd stretch it and stretch it, stretch it, that went on for hours. They they got tired and they transferred it from one set of hands to the other, and that person would stretch and stretch and they would make candy. And the molasses would turn a beautiful golden color. Then it got a certain consistency, it was laid out on something, I don't know what, and it was cut into little peices of candy. With little bits of brown on the top of the candy. Yeah, that was a treat, like, that was a real treat. 'Cause you never got candy at a store, I mean, there was no money, you know, it was just, you wanted candy once a year or twice a year it was made."
Contact Information:
35 Main Road
Petty Harbour NL
A0A 3H0
Tel: 709-368-3959
Fax: 709-368-3994
Email: [email protected]
35 Main Road
Petty Harbour NL
A0A 3H0
Tel: 709-368-3959
Fax: 709-368-3994
Email: [email protected]