Found! A Little Piece of the Ottawa Valley

For those of you who don't already know, Roxanne and I (and our baby brother) spent a number of our formative years living in luxury in the heart of the Ottawa Valley. Amongst the locals of a town called Deep River, our luxury was the great outdoors: a massive forest in the backyard (climbing trees with a skipping rope as a "harness"), patches of wild blueberries (painstakingly picked for Mom's baking), and sandy beaches (oh, the beaches!)...

The Ottawa Valley. Gorgeous, oui?

Pine Point Beach in Deep River. Beautiful sand. Unfortunately, I assumed every city was accompanied by a riverside beach.

More of the Valley. Stunning in the autumn. Beautiful red maples. Medicine Hat turns yellow for autumn. Okay, enough of the Valley pics. I'm aching with nostalgia!

Before I get too carried away droning on about my childhood, I'll refocus by mentioning another great feature of the Ottawa Valley: chip wagons, aka chip trucks.

What is a chip wagon? Simply put, it's a truck that sells chips (fries). The fries are fresh cut, deep-fried to a crispy deliciousness, and covered with a plentiful assortment of vinegars, salts, spices, and/or ketchup. The trucks don't sell much else, although you might find cans of pop, pogos, or poutine.

The ubiquitous chip wagon.

This is probably Jake, and he certainly looks like he loves his job! Note the limited menu. Yes, people make a living selling nothing but sliced potatoes.

Of course, knowing nothing else, I assumed every town was thoughtfully dotted with chip trucks, a conception that was abruptly shattered with the family move to Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1997. The experience was a culture shock in many other ways (no trees, no blueberries, no beach), and the closest I've come to a chip wagon since is the annual family discussion of how nice it would be to open one some time.

For the past thirteen years, my memories of street-side deep-fried potatoes have been fading, while the nostalgia for many things Ottawa Valley related grows. Then last Saturday, everything changed.

It all started when our posse made a trip down to Trail with a stop at Canadian Tire. In the corner of the parking lot was a trailer selling food: advertised $1 coffee and all-day breakfast! On the drive out of the parking lot, I asked Roxanne to glance over and see exactly what kind of all-day breakfast could be sold out of truck.

Answer: "Fresh cut fries!"

Jim's Joint: $1 Coffee! All day breakfast!

To be fair, fries are not the all-day breakfast offered at Jim's Joint. Roxanne, a fellow potato enthusiast, honed in on the best part of menu and shouted with glee, completely abandoning my original inquiry. Before Garth knew what was going on, I pulled over and Roxanne and I were up ordering a fresh batch!

Looks like not being situation in the Ottawa Valley requires a more extensive menu of offereings to make a living.

How fresh are the fresh-cut fries? The chip vendor was peeling them right there! In the truck! A quick slice through the chipper and then into the soothing warmth of hot oil, the fries simmered and steamed until crisped to perfection. 

A bucket of potato peels! And these aren't just for show! I saw him (Jim?) peel the potatoes on site!

Action shot! If you look closely, you can see the steam from our simmering potatoes.

After being tossed lovingly into their respective boxes, Roxanne and I slathered them generously with vinegar and happily marched back to the Jetta for the ride home. You can be certain we'll be back! 

Small and medium fry boxes. Carbs. Grease. Perfection. We barely made a dent in these...so many fries!

Golden crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Exactly the way a fry should be.