[MUSIC]
>> I'm Matty Matheson,
this is Keep It Canada.
This is Jesse Vergen,
the best chef in
Saint John New Brunswick.
He is the owner
proprietor of
the Smoking Pig Real Pit.
We're gonna have
some barbecue and
on the same property,
we got a driving range.
I'm gonna hit some balls.
This is Keep It Canada,
hit my balls.
[NOISE] Oh shit.
>> [LAUGH] Miss.
>> How you do this?
>> Oh, there we go.
[LAUGH] Smoke' er like
she's laughing at you.
>> Move closer.
>> Dig deep.
Dig deep.
[LAUGH] Holy fuck you
smacked that.
>> Look at that!
Do you see that?
What was I talking about,
first fucking hit.
[MUSIC]
So New Brunswick has
a big place in my
heart because one,
I was born here.
Two, my grandparents
live here.
Three, my aunt and
uncle live here.
That's my family.
I love family.
You know, it's my
home away from home.
And, it's very important
to me, coming back to
the homeland
where I was born.
The agriculture,
the, the people,
this time around was
a very big eye opener of
what really, New
Brunswick was, you know?
New Brunswick is not
only my birthplace,
it's one of the most
beautiful maritime
provinces in Canada.
We touched down on the
capital city, Saint John.
But we spent most of our
time travelling around
the beautiful
countryside.
[SOUND] So
the first thing I had to
do as soon as I got here
was go meet up with my
really good buddy Jessie.
Jessie is my spirit
guide to New Brunswick.
He's gonna take us around
the province to ride on
his boat,
eat at his barbecue spot,
hang out at his farm
where I'm going to do
something I've
never done before.
If you, if you can
hit it in the woods,
you're just gonna
give up the cooking?
>> Yeah.
>> Career right out,
yeah, yeah.
>> Golf.
Oh fuck.
[LAUGH] I'm not a golfer
as you can see.
I'm more of a swimmer.
Oh, fuck.
>> [LAUGH]
>> It was, it was
really cool and fun.
I haven't golfed.
I think I golfed once
on acid, you know.
Aah!
Fuck.
I stung the mitt.
Woah.
I was doing the, the
Billy Madison, you know.
>> Yes, sir.
[LAUGH]
>> The PGA.
I'm gonna go eat
some barbecue.
Jessie is the only
guy who has
a barbecue spot on
a driving range, but
it's because his
family owns the land.
He's a weird guy,
and I like it.
He's got this old
railway cart that
he's transformed
into like,
the kitchen and where
he sells everything.
>> Butts.
>> Whoo!
And then he's got
this big Southern Pride
barbecue trailer.
So, what have
we got here?
>> So we've got these
are pork butts, and
we coat it with butt rub.
So they're like
a traditional brown
sugar sort of cure.
That's brisket.
>> Yeah.
>> They've been
smoking all night.
Do sort of, like a
straight mustard slather.
>> The smoke is there,
I mean it's fuckin' so
moist.
>> If you wanna do
some Texas style,
if you wanna, you know,
mix the Carolinas up.
Yeah, we're doing
what we want.
>> In the states
it's sacrilegious,
if you're from,
from Texas,
you can't do North
Carolina, but in Canada,
we're kinda
free of those,
barbecue chains, right?
>> Yeah,
this is like the wild,
wild north of barbecue.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, we're not
tied down by any of
the traditions that they
have down there, so we
can go like buck wild and
make a higher
level barbecue.
>> Well let's eat this.
Let's put this on
a bun or something.
>> Well let's let's,
let's get,
I brought some eggs
in from the farm.
You know,
it's early in morning.
We just pulled
the butts out.
>> Yeah.
>> Nothing's better than
a little breakfast
barbecue action.
>> Let's do it.
>> All right.
>> I love
breakfast barbecue.
You can tell
the good quality of
a farm fresh egg when it
gets some poop on it.
>> Yeah, if your eggs
doesn't have poop on it,
you're buying
dirty ass eggs.
[SOUND].
>> Got the yolk.
Oh.
>> This beautiful
Chorizo.
My sous just whipped up.
>> Absolutely
beautiful stuff,
he does brisket, butts,
he does baked beans.
>> Cornbread,
motherfuckers!
We coat it in sugar.
You know, keep it fun.
So this is
the stuff that we
take off the bottom
of the smoker.
And it's like
pork fat and
we mix it with
the molasses.
This, right here,
is what we call
the molecular gastronomy.
[SOUND] Breakfast,
brother.
>> What?
[LAUGH].
>> [LAUGH] Get some
side dipping's and
some sweet potato
salad for some fiber.
>> Yeah
>> Cause once you get all
that meat in there.
>> You're gonna need.
>> You need some fiber to
push her out you know.
>> Well lets get to it.
This is pretty unreal.
[SOUND] That
brisket's mental.
Oh my god.
Put some beans on there.
I haven't been to fucking
Texas, but whatever.
This is the best barbecue
that I've ever had, man.
Their corn bread's
always like, like,
like Angel Food Cake or
some shit.
It's like covered,
literally, in sugar.
>> Oh yeah, coat that
shit right in sugar.
[LAUGH].
>> This is like one of
the best breakfasts
I've ever had.
I hate breakfast,
you know?
You should just be able
to eat the food that you
want to eat at any
time of the day.
That's that new shit.
That's that new new diet!
>> Mm-hm.
>> Jesse Vergen,
barbeque Lord.
Breakfast king.
Cornbread queen.
The royal family's here.
Jesse is one of
those chefs and, and
people who live life
to the fullest.
So, we got to go
out on his boat.
We're going to
see Candice,
king of caviar, who is so
obsessed with sturgeon he
has a PHD from Paris and
Romania in
sturgeon itself.
We're here at
the Saint John River, and
today I'm gonna shoot
a 12 gauge shotgun off
a fucking boat.
You ever shoot
a gun before?
Probably, cuz you
guys are psychopaths.
Bang, bang.
[NOISE].
>> Welcome to the St.
John River.
>> I got my flippy
floppies, I got my towel.
Shout out to
the river gods.
[NOISE].
>> Just beautiful, like,
the river system here is
like, like, it's not
advertised because
everybody just loves
it so much right?
>> Yeah.
>> Sort of like,
this hidden secret.
>> [NOISE] So
I got to shoot a gun for
the first time ever.
It was painted cool.
>> Okay the first
thing about gun
safety is always
control your muzzle.
You do not want to be
pointing your muzzle
at anybody, unless you
want something to die.
>> I only want
the sky to die today.
>> Okay.
>> 'Kay, here we go.
>> Yeah.
>> fuck.
Whoa, fuck,.
>> [LAUGH].
>> [LAUGH].
>> And that right there
is a 12 gauge shotgun,
with three and
a half Black Cloud.
>> Little bruise,
fear the gun.
Respect the man.
So I got to meet up
with an old friend on
this trip, Cornel,
the king of caviar.
[NOISE] This man is
a sturgeon scientist.
He's out here in
this beautiful bay,
somewhere on St.
John River.
I'm about to go see if
his caviar is legit or
not, because obviously
I eat tons of caviar.
We're here at
the Acadian Sturgeon and
Caviar Incorporated.
We're about to meet
Cornel and his wife.
We're gonna step in this
bio-friendly water here,
and get into
the Sturgeon party.
>> Hey.
>> Hey, what's
up, Cornell?
>> Mathew, it's so
good to seeing you.
>> How are you?
Good to see you too man.
This guy is one of the
best people in the world.
>> Sturgeon is
the king of fish and
this is the best
sturgeon you
can have anywhere
in the world.
I can promise you, you
are in for a treat today.
Can we get dressed
up like you?
>> Yeah, definitely.
But you will.
>> Yeah.
>> Because I
can not get you in.
So Jessie do you
prefer a coveralls or
do you prefer, I have
also like, lab coats.
>> Oh, sorry.
>> [INAUDIBLE].
>> I'm ready to rave.
[SOUND].
>> Yeah.
>> Nice blue gloves to
cover your nice hands.
>> Yeah.
>> Let's do it.
>> Let's roll!
We saw where they deep
freeze the fresh meat.
Holy cow.
>> Some people ask me,
you know, oh it has to
flake, fish is flakey.
This is different, it's
almost like you know,
it's like
restaurant quality.
>> Like a steak.
>> Like a steak, yeah.
>> He's, he's making
patties out of it,
he's taking
the bone marrows.
>> This is like
gas bladder.
>> There's no waste on
this sturgeon, you know?
>> Those are male gonads.
>> Okay.
This is the sperm sacs
of sturgeon, right here.
>> Yeah, I'm selling
those to Italy for
cosmetics, if you
can believe it.
>> Really?
>> Yeah.
>> In Italy they like to
take sperm sacs from the
St. John River and put
it all over their face.
Shout out to Italy.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Oh, whoa.
>> Whoa!
>> That's a smoker.
>> That's
a little smoker.
This is the beauty.
>> Whoa.
[LAUGH]
>> Feel that skin,
it's like, it's tough.
It's not like the, like,
like Jesse's pork butt.
Like, you could take that
and like rip that off.
This will chunk off but
you wanna take this and
actually slice it.
And you can see the
firmness on this, right?
>> It is firm, but
at the same time is so
beautiful.
It's so, look at this.
>> Look at that.
>> Look.
Oh, I'm salivating man.
>> [NOISE] It's amazing.
It almost like,
has the consistency
of like, lobster.
>> Mm-hm.
>> In a weird way.
>> Yeah.
>> Or like a sweet bread?
>> I've been
studying them and
working with them for
25 years.
I did a PhD in Surgeon
Biology, actually.
I work with-
>> So PhD, this guy's
got a PhD in one fish.
If everyone out in
the world was happy doing
what they did, they'd be
living that Cornell life.
You don't got that
Cornell life.
>> We are going to see
in the storage room.
>> Yeah.
>> You know,
in the vault.
Look there.
>> We got a camera?
We got locks.
That only means
one thing.
Caviar.
>> One, three,
two, one, boom.
>> Boom.
>> [LAUGH]
>> That's a lot
of caviar.
>> One freezer like this,
probably $150,000
to $250,000.
The big things that
I told you about,
1.8 kilos.
>> 1.8 kilos.
>> This [CROSSTALK]
retail,
retail about $4,000.
>> This is $4,000?
>> Retail.
>> All my fans out there
need to know what it
tastes like so
I need to eat some.
>> Of course!
>> Please!
>> Everybody has
to eat some, and
then they will
get hooked.
He's coming,
the caviar master.
>> The caviar master?
>> The caviar master,
yeah.
[LAUGH].
>> [LAUGH]
>> The best caviar,
actually, that you
can try, no lie,
anybody like even
Petrossian or
anybody, you know,
that knows caviar,
is when you open one
of those big tins.
There we go.
>> Holy fuck.
>> And you open it.
>> $4,000 worth of
caviar brother.
>> Look at this.
>> That's the money shot.
>> Isn't this beautiful?
You kind of scoop
in the middle, and
you take the middle
of the, of the tin.
That's kind of, you know,
the, the cream
of the cream.
>> That's it.
>> The cherry.
>> All right.
>> Go a little
bit like this.
You go in in the middle,
and you take a,
a good spoon.
>> Like that much?
>> That's a lot of spoon,
but that's okay.
Go ahead, go ahead,
go ahead.
[LAUGH].
>> Just hold it, hold it.
Just, you know, warm
it up a little bit and
crush the eggs.
And I'll put your
here on the hand.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> That's it.
And like that so
we can all,
we can all have some.
>> Oh, ho, ho.
>> How is it, man?
>> Right here, with one
spoonful, you can kind of
start to understand what
these guys are putting in
with their dedication,
their lives.
>> And love!
>> And love.
>> You have to put love
in everything, you know?
>> Love in everything.
More?
>> Yeah.
No, it is you know, I am,
again, I am
blessed you know,
to work with those fish.
>> Cornel's about
that caviar life.
I'm about that
caviar life.
>> We saw the tanks
where he grows all of
the sturgeon.
>> [NOISE] That's
the place.
That's where
the sturgeons are born.
>> This is it,
the baby sturgeons.
They need to grow for
years, right?
>> They need to
grow about ten
years until they
are harvestable.
>> Ten years.
>> Wow!
[SOUND] So
this is three months old.
So this guy is
a long way away.
He's got a long,
nice life ahead of him.
And look a this
little guy,
he's like a fuckin
dinosaur.
>> Oh, yeah.
>> From egg
to prehistoric, fuckin,
eight foot
mother fuckers.
No, you are small go out.
Get out.
[NOISE] I'll let
this one go, and
I'll take this white one.
Look at the belly.
Beautiful.
She has two of
those marks,
I'll I'll do
a biopsy like,
to check the eggs
twice a year.
>> So strong.
>> Oh yeah.
And here they have
surgery marks.
You see that's what's,
from C-section.
>> Okay.
>> You see that, you see?
He's like.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> We sutured them back.
You see,
this is the mouth.
Look at, the mouth is
like a, it comes out.
>> [SOUND].
>> Take like a, apply
some pressure, you know?
Kind of hold it.
>> fuck.
Okay, there we go.
Sammy.
[NOISE] There you go.
>> How was it?
>> It's awesome man.
[LAUGH] That's awesome.
>> It's quite
an experience.
>> Yeah man.
That's crazy.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> That's a complete
lifestyle and passion.
Him and his wife
do an amazing job.
He's a, he's a special
person to have here in
New Brunswick.
[MUSIC]
We're here at
the Birch Grove in
Saint George
New Brunswick.
This is my mom Joan,
she is beautiful,
this is my aunt Iris,
she's beautiful.
I'm beautiful.
We're going to eat
some deep fried clams,
check this out.
Check these guys out.
They're both married,
fuck off.
>> [LAUGH]
I'm so excited about
this, I love coming here.
>> I know.
I haven't been
here since last summer.
>> So, I'm from
New Brunswick and-
>> So are we.
>> And they're from
New Brunswick.
My aunt here,
Iris, she still lives
in Fredericton.
You know,
I won't say the address,
'cause no one wants to
go pay her a visit.
When we were kids,
me and my brothers,
we were like,
pretty much shitheads.
Right?
And we used to call
her house the museum.
It was like,
this meticulously, like,
groomed house, with all
this like, whatever.
She's a, she's got like,
nice stuff, I guess.
She would like, not let
us touch the walls.
And then like we have to.
>> Who touches the walls?
>> Well that's it.
Like who touches
the walls.
>> Nobody touches
the walls.
>> Well when you run
around the corner,
you touch a wall to like-
>> No.
>> At Iris-
>> You let yourself fall.
>> At Iris' house, you
don't even make toast,
cuz it makes crumbs.
>> No, that's not true.
>> Yeah.
You weren't allowed to
have breakfast.
>> [CROSSTALK].
>> It's not true.
>> So they
don't even have food.
So you go to their house
and you couldn't eat.
We used to think
she was a bitch.
And, because we
weren't allowed to
touch her walls and
we had to
sleep in the basement
on these like cots.
We got the,
the seafood platter.
>> Whoa.
>> Wow.
>> That looks great.
>> Oh, thank you so much.
>> $29.
So we got clam bellies,
deep fried clam bellies,
well everything's
deep fried.
We got beautiful
scallops here.
We got like beautiful,
beautiful haddock, caught
locally every morning.
[LAUGH] I would charge
myself like 80 bucks for
that plate of food, 100%.
And the best thing
every too, is this.
This is what makes it all
go, crinkle-cut french
fries, with the two
beautiful ladies here.
My mom,
my auntie Iris and
crinkle cut french fries.
>> [SOUND].
>> Shout out to Joanie,
Joan mom, mom zone.
[APPLAUSE].
>> [LAUGH].
[MUSIC]
It's early morning here
on Jesse's family farm.
There's dew on
the ground.
Today's a magnificent
day.
Today is the glory day.
Today I am going to
slaughter a lamb for
the first time.
It's gonna get emotional.
I may cry.
I may barf.
I may shit my pants.
I don't know, but
I'm gonna do it for
you and for me.
I'm gonna feed the world
today, with lamb.
You ever have lamb?
Not like this lamb.
>> They've been running
around all summer out in
the fields living
the best life that they
could possibly live.
>> That's it.
>> And
they don't wanna
get eaten.
>> No.
>> No.
So, they're gonna run.
They're gonna run
their asses as fast as
they can.
>> So,
we've got a few gates.
We're gonna close
out some gates.
[SOUND] So, we're gonna
have to go down there,
and, herd these,
lambs into the barn.
Oh, fuck!
>> There go the sheep.
They're on the run.
Run, [SOUND] quick.
Quick to safety.
Oh.
[SOUND] Oh, oh, woah.
>> Oh.
>> [LAUGH] Woah.
>> Okay.
>> Okay,
still a couple there.
>> We were herding them
into the barn and all of
a sudden, boom, they're
running towards us.
[NOISE].
>> Whoa!
>> This what,
right here is called
a sheep leg pin.
>> Holy fuck.
You gotta,
do you see this?
That guy just grabbed
a sheep out of
the fucking air, and
put it in a scissor lock.
And then all
of the sudden,
we got our lamb for
the day, and
now we put it into the
a stable to chill out,
we gave it some water,
some food.
It's you know,
it's one of those things
as a chef especially,
I need to be able to
do stuff like this,
because I,
I serve a lot of lamb at
my restaurant you know,
and I need to know
what it means to,
to, take a life,
to, to feed people.
[NOISE]
fuck.
fuck.
>> [NOISE] Thank you
little sheep, for
giving us the meat.
>> I need to be able to
do this kind of stuff,
to serve the kind of
food that I serve and
be a part of the
community I'm a part of.
You know, like this is
it's no fucking joke.
We had to field dress it.
We take out all the guts,
the organs,
all that kinda stuff.
We put that side.
We're keeping
some to cook.
We're throwing some away.
I can't wait to edit
this so it looks fast.
And then right away,
we have to take
the skin off.
And so we go up, hang it
onto this beautiful apple
tree in their yard, and
early in the morning me
and Jessie,
we skin the the lamb.
Pull off this beautiful,
coat, and,
he's gonna tan it, and,
make it into like,
a carpet or
something, you know.
Zero waste on
this animal.
We're done skinning it,
now what we gotta do is,
we gotta butcher it.
We're gonna put it into,
what they call primal
cuts, so
I'm gonna take the,
the legs, the shoulders,
take the saddle off.
Take the ribs off.
Break her down.
You know, we took that
lamb right out of
the farm.
It'll change my life
forever, you know,
I've never done
something like that.
That will be my
first lamb and
it was an amazing
experience.
[SOUND] So we got to
finally finish off
with a big amazing meal,
did a bit of a pot luck.
All right, so I'm here
at Jessie's house.
We're about to make
something beautiful,
something that
means a lot to me.
This is a very
traditional Acadian dish
called rappie pie.
I got a chicken
stock here that I
fortified with rabbits
from Jesse's farm,
and leeks from
his garden.
And I'm about to add
something that I've
never added before
to this dish.
And that's some foie gras
from La Ferme Diamant.
>> Du, du Diamant.
>> Du Gamaian?
>> Du Diamant.
>> Du Diamant.
Frappe pie is nothing
without this potato.
This potato has
been grated, and
all of the moisture has
been brought out of it.
And you're just gonna
gradually add pretty much
all of this liquid.
>> Hey, this super
New Brunswick, eh?
>> Yeah.
[LAUGH] >> This is like
Nouveau Brunswick.
>> So now I'm gonna throw
in a bunch of the rabbit.
Oh yeah,
get all those leeks.
[SOUND] Those are hot,
chef, thank you.
So we'll cut up
Adrian's foie,
we're gonna add that.
'Kay we need some
Newfoundland salt.
My mom said not to
make it too salty, but
I like salt.
And that's gonna bake for
about two, two and
a half hours.
We took that lamb,
we gave it a quick rub,
we grilled it
on the barbecue
>> What I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna get some
char on and then I'm
gonna place it on top
of all those aromatics.
>> My mom, my aunt,
a bunch of people came in
and we had a beautiful
potluck up at the farm.
>> Oh, mm.
>> Didn't he
do a good job?
>> That's my little
Arcadian boy.
>> Bringing everyone
together, you know,
I'm visiting these people
separately and to have
them all come together
was it's always great.
We slaughtered a lamb.
We're gonna fed
people that we love.
We've got rappie pie,
something that's
very dear to me.
We got caviar
from Cornel.
This is what
Keep It Canada is.
This is life and death
and now we're gonna try
the lamb for
the very first time.
>> You killed that.
>> That's amazing.
I'm happy.
This lamb is very happy.
>> [SOUND].
>> Keep It Canada.
I'm out.
Eat food, or die.
New Brunswick is my
favorite province,
cuz I was born here.
If you weren't born here,
then you weren't
born at all,
cuz you ain't living.
I'm Matty Madison,
this is Keep It Canada.
What's up?
Aah!
