Terroir: d’Origina Boreal Spices (with recipe!)

I first discovered Boreal spices d’Origina through chef Martin Gagné of Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations in Wendake, Quebec. One of 80 chefs featured in my À la bonne franquette cookbook, he chose these indigeneous spices from Canada’s forests as his “coup de coeur” or fave local product.

From Labrador tea to sweet gale seeds, Boreal fruits, roots and leaves have long been known and used by First Nations to prepare infusions and cook food. Should Québec experience its very own Scandinavian-style food revolution as explicited in Claus Meyer’s Nordic Cuisine Manifesto (a foodie must-read here), Boreal spices may well be one of the first steps on the road leading back to our unique terroir.

Actually, more and more Québec chefs have started experimenting with distinctive local products and brands from d’Origina to Gaspésie sauvage. Add the rediscovery of elderberry and marsh samphire;  the world-leading number of raw cheeses produced by our artisans (more than are made in France!); the appelation contrôlée sought by ice cider and the one already secured by Charlevoix lamb; plus, of course, the amazing unicity of our maple syrup; and there’s no doubt in my mind that Québec has the food riches needed to sound its own revolution.

Knowing that fear of trying new foods acts as a deterrent, d’Origina has created a trial kit with 5 spices: Sweet Gale Seeds, Peppery Green Alder, Wintergreen, Wild currant and Labrador Tea, in whole or powdered format. The Labrador Tea also comes in a second pouch for brewing the mellowest, subtlest tea you can ever wish for (of course I made a cuppa the moment I got home)

Also included in the kit is a brochure with sample recipes to test-drive your new spices:

•          Zucchini and Sweet Gale Seed Gaspacho

•          Raspberry Ostrich Carpaccio with Peppery Green Alder

•          Apple, Brie and Wintergreen Power Filo Pastry Puff

•          Grilled Salmon Steak with the Subtlety of Wild Currant Wonder

•          Confit Lamb Parmentier with Wintergreen Powder

•          Sautéed Veal with Sweet Gale Seed

•          Cranberry and Orange Clafoutis with Labrador Tea Spice

It makes a wonderful hostess gift for that food lover in your entourage. And of course, with its friendly $15* price tag (what I paid at Moulin aux Épices in the Laurentians’ Piedmont), it’s the perfect chance for you to experiment.

Here’s the first recipe I tested for you from the booklet enclosed. There are also many recipes on the d’Origina website that you may want to try your hand at or just peruse to make up your mind.

So, how about we start Québec’s food revolution right here and now? And if they say I’m a dreamer, then surely I’m not the only one…

* On the d’Origina website, you can also find a gift box for $49.99.

Zucchini and Sweet Gale Seed Gaspacho
Serves 4

Pair with Pinot Griogio from Northern Italy or California.

• 500 ml (2 cups) uncooked zucchini, partly peeled then cubed
• 5 ml (1 tsp) ground sweet gale seeds
• 20 ml (4 tsp) grapeseed oil
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) chicken or vegetable broth (I used vegetable to make this vegetarian)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tomato, diced

1. Cut 8 thin slices of zucchini and reserve for garnish.
2. In the food pro, purée zucchini, sweet gale, oil and broth. Season to taste.
3. Serve in small cups or bowls, garnished with zucchini slices and diced tomato.

Sweet gale seeds, which are tangier than their name would let you think, remind me of a strong oregano.

Healthy cooking: The Montreal Heart Institute Cookbook

It was the kind of challenge I relish: convince 10 of Quebec’s top chefs to play the healthy card by creating gourmet recipes for the Montreal Heart Institute and the nutritionists at its EPIC Centre. A unique cookbook that could also serve to raise funds for the Institute’s well-respected and much-needed Foundation.

The initial call came in the spring of 2011: “You have free reign. We’re sending you a list of chefs that the Institute likes, but you choose who you want to work with.”

Right away, I made a mental list of chefs I knew and liked, plus a few others I wanted to get to know. One name appeared on both my list and the Institute’s: Danny St Pierre of Sherbrooke’s Auguste Restaurant. He was my first call.

The second one went out to Michael Makhan of Montreal’s Aux Vivres Restaurant, out of a personal desire to feature vegan cuisine. Other names were added as I went, new upcoming chefs and top toques that the team fancied:

• Giovanni Apollo of Apollo Restaurant;
• Anne and Emmanuel Desjardins of L’Eau à la bouche;
• Jérôme Ferrer of Europea;
• Mélanie Gagnon of Auberge Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley;
• Patrick Gérôme of Le Baluchon;
• Sébastien Harrisson Cloutier of Bistro Bienville;
• Jean-Baptiste Marchand of La Fabrique;
• and Ian Perreault, the famous-chef-turned-caterer.

I’ve been know to say on the record how much I like chefs, their larger-than-life generosity, their insatiable appetite for life, their incessant quest for more and more pleasure. Even when I don’t know a chef at the beginning of a joint project, a meeting of the minds takes place pretty quickly. Which is a good thing, because kindred spirits and team work were much needed in the course of creating this healthy cookbook. Analyzed by the Institute’s nutritionists, no duck recipe survived. A few desserts bit the dust. Mussels, algae and kale barely made it due to their high sodium levels…

Mélanie Gagnon had to test her egg and carrot verrines one night, to replace her duck confit financiers at the last minute (a recipe that remains in my archives, one of the marginal benefits of my job). Jean-Baptiste Marchand’s Egg and Bagel Brunch was sent back to bed. And I am holding on to Patrick Gérôme’s regretted Duck Confit Parmentier, to be cooked next fall when the Faubert family yearns for the return of comfort food.

In the end, 80 recipes succeeded in convincing both our tastebuds and the Epic Centre’s nutritional software, a taskmaster as unbending as an elliptical machine, lol. As a lapsed vegetarian, I was seduced by all the recipes provided by Aux Vivres; by the melon, ginger and honey wine soup from L’Eau à la bouche; by the soy bean, strawberry and thai basil salad from La Fabrique; and by Auguste’s poached chicken on a bed of tomatoes, capers and raisins. And by the following, the very first recipe from the book, a delicious salad created by Giovanni Apollo that is tailor-made for summer and kind on the arteries. Trust me, I’ve got a nutritionist’s word on that.

Fennel and clementine salad with lime
Serves 4

• 2 fennel bulbs
• 5 clementines
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1 minced green onion

Dressing
• juice of one lime
• 30 ml ( 2 tbsp) olive oil
• 7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) sesame oil
• pinch of salt and black pepper

1. Finely mince fennel using a mandoline and chill in a bowl of icy water. Peel 2 clementines, divide into sections and set aside.

2. Juice remaining clementines and whisk together with dressing ingredients.

3. Drain fennel, transfer to a salad bowl and combine with other vegetables as well as reserved clementines. Sprinkle with dressing, mix carefully and serve.