The Seaway Trail Foods

Seaway Trail Foundation, Inc., 1-800-SEAWAY-T
If you find any of these tidbits of interest, please make note of the item/site connection to the Seaway Trail, one of America’s Byways noted for “great American road trips.”

• Beef on ‘weck - Short for ultrathin slices of hot roast beef on a hard Kummelweck roll, is a popular sandwich in the Buffalo area of the Seaway Trail. The roll is topped with caraway seeds and salt crystals; the sandwich is often served with freshly ground horseradish. (See also Buffalo chicken wings and Cheerios.)

•  Buffalo (chicken) wings - Were first served at the Anchor Bar on Buffalo’s Main Street in 1964. Later, celery sticks with blue cheese dressing were added to calm one’s hot palate. The Anchor Bar is still in operation. (See also Beef on ‘weck and Cheerios.)

• Bullheads - An ugly fish caught and served at “bullhead dinners” organized by local fire departments and at area restaurants generally along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. (See also Shore Dinners.)

•  Cheerios - are made in Buffalo. (See also Beef on ‘weck and Buffalo chicken wings.)

• 1812 Ale - Served at the Sackets Harbor Brew Pub on the Lake Ontario waterfront in the Seaway Trail/Jefferson County community of Sackets Harbor to commemorate the Seaway Trail region’s War of 1812 history. The community was a warship building center and the site of significant battles during the War of 1812.

• Fly By Night Cookie Company - Offers 65 varieties of cookies and pastries made from scratch in the Old World Tradition and sold from a whimsically-carved wood cottage in the Seaway Trail/Cayuga County community of Fair Haven.

• Grandma Brown’s Beans - Began in 1875, and are still made, in the Seaway Trail/Oswego County community of Mexico.

• Heluva Good Cheese - Was founded by Perry Messenger in the Seaway Trail/Wayne County community of Sodus in the 1920s. A second “l” was dropped following objections to the trademark name registration request in 1939. The colorful name is said to have originated with a traveling salesman who tasted the cheese and judged it as a “helluva good cheese.” (See also River Rat Cheese.)

•  Jell-O - Was created in 1895 (1897 by some reports) by P earl B. Waite in the Seaway Trail/Erie County village of LeRoy. Waite, a cough medicine and laxative tea maker, sold the rights to the then unprofitable Jell-O to a neighbor in 1899 for $450. General Foods now makes millions on the wiggly dessert.

• Life Savers Candy - Was invented in the Seaway Trail/St. Lawrence County community of Gouverneur by John Edward Noble, before he became US Ambassador to England.

• McDonald’s hamburgers - Are served in the historic 1824 Frontier House in the Seaway Trail/Niagara County community of Lewiston.(See also NY Times Bar Cookies.)

• Mead - Is made at Martin’s Meadery and Honey Farm in the Seaway Trail/Cayuga County community of Sterling. On an occasion, “Shakespeare” and other actors from the nearby Sterling Renaissance Festival pop in to the meadery’s retail store for a taste of the sweet honey wine.

•  NY Times Bar Cookies - Earned the Village Bake Shoppe, located in the historic downtown district of the Seaway Trail/ Niagara County community of Lewiston, the attention of a writer with the prominent newspaper. (See also McDonald’s hamburgers.)

• River Rat Cheese - Is a specialty of Gold Cup Farms and its store in the Seaway Trail/1000 Islands community of Clayton on the St. Lawrence River. (See also Heluva Good Cheese.)

•  Shore Dinners - Are a tradition along the Seaway Trail. Charter captains help anglers catch local fish, cook and serve them on the shoreline with, per the menu that began in the early 1900s, a version of the BLT sandwich, potatoes, salad with 1000 Islands dressing, French toast with maple syrup, and camp coffee made with a raw egg added to the grounds. (See also Bullheads and 1000 Islands Dressing.)

• 1000 Islands Dressing - Is said to have been created by Chef Oscar while working for hotel magnate George Boldt on Boldt’s houseboat anchored in the 1000 Islands section of the eastern Seaway Trail. Boldt’s farm on Wellesley Island supplied fresh produce, meats, and maple syrup to Boldt’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City and to his hotels in Philadelphia and the dressing soon followed.

Another legend, however, says Mrs. George LaLonde, a part-time kitchen worker at the Harold Hotel, now the Thousand Islands Inn in Clayton, made the dressing which she shared with actress May Irvin. Irvin, it’s told, shared the dressing with her friend George Boldt, who passed the dressing on to Chef Oscar.

• Welch’s Grape Juice - Began after juice maker Charles Welch moved from Rhode Island to the western Seaway Trail area into Chautauqua County’s rich grape-growing land. He purchased several wineries to continue making juice with the delicious Concord grapes.

• Wines - Fruit wines and nonalcoholic fruit juices are the specialty of the six wineries and one gourmet juicery comprising the Lake Ontario Wine Trail which runs along the Seaway Trail for 100 miles. (See also Mead.)

• Zweigle’s Coneys - White hotdogs made of pork and veal - are a regional favorite in Rochester. One Mustard Street is the home place of French’s Mustard, perfect for serving on a Coney. Genesee Beer has been brewed in Rochester since 1878. For dessert, try marshmallows - the confectionary treat developed by Rochesterian Frederick Jockey - melted inside two graham crackers (graham flour was first made in Rochester) with Fanny Farmer chocolate (Rochester is the company’s home base).

If we’ve whetted your appetite with this menu of Seaway Trail foods, please call
1-800-SEAWAY-T for a free JOURNEY magazine to help you plan your visit!