I finally broke myself out of my food reverie long enough to actually write about food. The only way I can manageably keep up with the all of the great things I've eaten on vacation is to write up what I've eaten two at a time. 

Today we're going to cover Donairs and Homemade Seafood Chowder. 

At this point, I would suspect that most of you are asking yourself...what in the world is a Donair? That's a great question, because before Julia explained it to me, I would have been asking, what in the world is a Donair?

Basically, (no one get angry with me here please), it's a Gyro with different sauce. The sauce is a sweet, tangy, thick sauce made from condensed milk, vinegar, garlic, and a few other things. It's creamy and very sweet. The flatbread is a bit more flat that what's found in most Gyro's, in my experience. Also, Gyro's usually have rough cut tomatoes and onions in long strands, whereas Donairs use diced tomatoes and onions. The meat, however, is very similar. 

From what I've seen, having had them twice now, Donairs from any particular place come in 2-4 different sizes. Those sizes typically use the same size flatbread and just load it down with more and more toppings, all covered in sauce and wrapped up in 2-3 pieces of tinfoil. 

They are incredibly messy, but seriously delicious. The sauce gives it a totally different flavor than a Gyro. I really enjoyed my first Donairs, but I've been reliably informed that you can't get a quality Donair outside of Nova Scotia. 

Unless you were raised on them, the allure of a Donair might not be enough, by itself, to get you to Halifax, however, it should be a factor in your decision. You won't have trouble finding one either. I had my first one at King of Donair on "Pizza Corner" with shops on 3 out of 4 corners pimping their Donairs with big neon signs. It's an event food, have one sometime. Just don't make any intimate plans afterwards with anyone who didn't also have a Donair. That combination of onions, sauce, garlic, etc. is...distinctive. 

Now...on to the second part of this write-up. Homemade Seafood Chowder. 

Wow...that's about all I can say. We went to the house of Julia's Aunt Marilyn. She had a big pot on the stove, bubbling away full of Seafood Chowder. 

This was, quite simply, perfect. The broth wasn't the ultra-thick, creamy mess that Chowder can sometimes be in New England, looking like it came out of a Campbell's can. Instead the broth was light and flavorful, there were tiny spots of oil floating in it. The crusty bread available on the table was also perfect for sopping duties, and trust me, not a drop escaped.  

The chowder was chock full of seafood, pieces of lobster, shrimp and scallops, with a base of carrots and small pieces of potato. It was go-back-for-seconds-or-thirds kind of good. 

Each bite was exploding with great seafood flavor, accented perfectly with that broth and complimented by the texture and flavor of the vegetables. 

I've had great seafood chowder before. This was transcendent seafood chowder. 

Donairs and Chowder...yeah, I could live up here. And keep in mind, I haven't even told you about little things like...fresh fried fisherman's platter, lobster feast, Christmas dinner (along with a contribution from me) and other great stuff. 

Stay tuned for more, What Greg Eats - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Edition.