9% of Canada is covered by freshwater. While I will not site anything 'precisely' here, there are about 32000 lakes larger than 3square km. Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined...meaning above 60%. There are between 2 and 3 million lakes in Canada. About 70% of Canada's fish output is salmon, nothing shocking there, but with 155000 tonnes of fish and seafood outpout from Canada and salmon representing about 116250 tonnes of that...well.....
What I find strange in owning my restaurant Renard Artisan Bistro in Montreal which specializes in local food and products is that it is incredibly difficult to get local fish and seafood. My mussels come from Iles de la Madeleine, and I point this out because you will never find Quebec mussels in Montreal! Mussels in this city are all mostly from PEI. I get farmed lake trout from a few sources in the regions (and really not easy) and met a few fishermen in the Lac St-Pierre with all their barbottes, esturgeons, ecrevisses, etc ( with no deliveries). There are the usual lobsters, crab and Nordic shrimp, with the odd North coast Turbot. My seal meat is controversial and yet local...but....oh boy....
walking in a supermarket here you would think that we lived at the end of the world, with all that salmon, tuna (and mostly canned...second mostly consumed fish in the US!) pangasius, tilapia, and still more Cod, frozen sardines and basa fish the implication is almost is that there are only 10 varieties of comestible fish in the whole world.
of course the client is in the end the moving force towards what is sustainable, and well....
,well, all this is disturbing. The major exporters of freshwater fish in Canada, which amount to 11204 tonnes (whitefish, perch and pickerel , come from Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, small figure from the world's leading freshwater country. I rarely see it here. What strikes me in Canada is that is that we
commercially consume very little freshwater fish, and in Quebec I rarely
see any of them in our poissoneries (Montreal), and if there is rainbow trout it either comes from the US or China. The fact remains that if we are in the age of sustainable fisheries, it logically follows that in a country such as Canada we would eat more lake fish...or at least vary our diet when considering these choices. If you really gave a fuck about eating sustainable seafood, then eat local catfish. Meaning that in a country with over 60% of freshwater in the world and 200 varieties of freshwater fish therein, the natural inclination and leadership of a real sustainable movement would be towards these tasty lake fishes, but for now it is all wrong.
Moving away from the world's most consumed fishes and seafood I think, as someone living in such a country is even more important than buying some Chilean farmed sustainable certified fish (probably the largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon! and they are on the Pacific coast, you see where this is going.....) or whatever make you feel good. Canada should go further, especially with so many resources....and education....
we shall sea.....
April 14, 2013
ail des ours (Allium ursinum) bear's garlic
The first time I had ever picked wild garlic was in the woods near Lake Annecy in France where I was working as a cook in a hotel in Talloires. This is a famed region for edible wild plants made popular by the three michelin starred chef Mark Veyrat. We would stand awestruck in the middle of an incredibly bright leafy floor, feet buried in green, a shock of colour which burst out from the dull spring surroundings. Nothing could be easier to spot or pick. Snip, snip and the intense smell of garlic and chives would fill the air, stain the fingers and frazzle the mouth.Enormous bags were filled in no time. Back at the restaurant we would transform them into pesto, the season's first soups and intense spring salads.
In Quebec, the 70's and 80's witnessed a boom in interest and picking of bear's garlic. Somewhere up to 6 million plants were pulled up, snipped, chopped, salted, boiled, even sold in local grocery stores, in other words, consumed. Add to this the unregulated abusive commercial interests and this plant was doomed. I could see how this could happen given the ease and speed it took in France to fill our bags.
Since march 1995 ail des ours or ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, wild leek, bear's garlic (take your pick) is protected under article 16 of the act respecting threatened or vulnerable species with a minor exception. Outside of protected zones one can pick a maximum of 50 bulbs a year for personal consumption. Let us say the equivalent of 200 grams.
Standing in the middle of a sugar maple forest, abundance meets restraint as it should, as with most things wild, and I contented myself with a few plants, a wild garlic soup at home, and as for my restaurant Renard artisan bistro, well I am happy nonetheless to work with a west coast variety, equally delicious, with their intense pungent garlic and sweet chive taste to celebrate the coming of spring.
In Quebec, the 70's and 80's witnessed a boom in interest and picking of bear's garlic. Somewhere up to 6 million plants were pulled up, snipped, chopped, salted, boiled, even sold in local grocery stores, in other words, consumed. Add to this the unregulated abusive commercial interests and this plant was doomed. I could see how this could happen given the ease and speed it took in France to fill our bags.
Since march 1995 ail des ours or ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, wild leek, bear's garlic (take your pick) is protected under article 16 of the act respecting threatened or vulnerable species with a minor exception. Outside of protected zones one can pick a maximum of 50 bulbs a year for personal consumption. Let us say the equivalent of 200 grams.
Standing in the middle of a sugar maple forest, abundance meets restraint as it should, as with most things wild, and I contented myself with a few plants, a wild garlic soup at home, and as for my restaurant Renard artisan bistro, well I am happy nonetheless to work with a west coast variety, equally delicious, with their intense pungent garlic and sweet chive taste to celebrate the coming of spring.
February 10, 2013
Moulin La Pierre-a history of quality.
Way back yonder, let us say, somewhere in the Darker Ages and earlier, before all the other things that happened, it is said that white flour was coveted by all, and consumed by the few, the rich. Among the ancient Romans, different bread 'qualities' corresponded
to social hierarchy. Slaves and the poor
ate coarse loaves of mixed grain bread, fabricated out of whole meal
stretched with bran.The middle classes got bread made with less-processed wheat flour, often cut with
milling waste. The whitest, softest loaves of labour intense sifted wheat
flour were reserved for the upper classes. Even if I had invented these facts, we know that there is truth to them in every society, because the history of bread and flour is really a history invention,
greed, scientific discovery and survival which pretty much amounts to
the history of humankind.
During the Middle Ages, white flour was seen as being healthier than dark flours. The fact for this benefit was that by processing the flour, the mold and fungus in the grains, which led to several diseases, were eliminated. Processed white flour could be kept for much longer having lost much of the fatty acid of the germ which would quickly oxidize and give that distinctive rancid taste and smell.
Let us move to Canada where it is now mandatory to enrich white flour. Through scientific evidence it was realized that highly processed and industrial overheating of wheat created flour practically devoid of any nutrition. And for most humans, no nutrients equals useless.
"The standard for flour (also known as "white flour", "enriched flour" or "enriched white flour") in the FDR requires the mandatory addition of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron. The addition of vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, magnesium and calcium is optional. All white flour sold in Canada for food use, whether for use in further manufacturing or for sale directly to the consumer, must be enriched. Consequently, all foods sold in Canada that contain white flour must be made with enriched white flour. The sale of unenriched white flour or its use is not permitted in Canada. The only exception to this requirement is white flour sold for the production of gluten or starch." Candian Food Inspection Agency.
Let us move to Moulin La Pierre, St-Norbert-d'Arthabaska,Quebec, one of the last privately owned old water mills which is run year round. In operation since 1845, moulin La Pierre reminds me of the many churches a little outside of Rome...where there are less banal tourists, and a little more faith and integrity. The setting is beautiful, but I cared for that less than the WAY they transform their organic wheat and grains.
Rene Simard and Daniele Huberdeau are the 20th owners. They took over in 1996 from LaPierre who decided to retire. Rene was already working in a boulangerie, bought LaPierre's flour which was already certified organic, they knew each other well, and....the rest is...now. They kept the name but added a space to La Pierre.
The method. Ground on Sylex of about 4 feet in diameter, a heavy Siliceous rock with a 100-125 rpm grind which is slower than say granite at maybe 300rpms and the much faster metal rolls of industrial method but by not overheating the grains, the resulting flour retains much of its nutrients. This has always been the case for many artisans and the organic, bio dynamic and the slow food process...time. This kind of common sense backed with a quality product, backed by an inherit respect for others seems to me the values most people seek.
AND we love the taste of their flour in our homemade bread and pastry shells at Renard Artisan Bistro, and love even more the comforting fact that again we have met people who care, not only for their product, but for general well being of the rest of us, and that is something the history of humankind has always had trouble dealing with.
During the Middle Ages, white flour was seen as being healthier than dark flours. The fact for this benefit was that by processing the flour, the mold and fungus in the grains, which led to several diseases, were eliminated. Processed white flour could be kept for much longer having lost much of the fatty acid of the germ which would quickly oxidize and give that distinctive rancid taste and smell.
Let us move to Canada where it is now mandatory to enrich white flour. Through scientific evidence it was realized that highly processed and industrial overheating of wheat created flour practically devoid of any nutrition. And for most humans, no nutrients equals useless.
"The standard for flour (also known as "white flour", "enriched flour" or "enriched white flour") in the FDR requires the mandatory addition of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron. The addition of vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, magnesium and calcium is optional. All white flour sold in Canada for food use, whether for use in further manufacturing or for sale directly to the consumer, must be enriched. Consequently, all foods sold in Canada that contain white flour must be made with enriched white flour. The sale of unenriched white flour or its use is not permitted in Canada. The only exception to this requirement is white flour sold for the production of gluten or starch." Candian Food Inspection Agency.
Let us move to Moulin La Pierre, St-Norbert-d'Arthabaska,Quebec, one of the last privately owned old water mills which is run year round. In operation since 1845, moulin La Pierre reminds me of the many churches a little outside of Rome...where there are less banal tourists, and a little more faith and integrity. The setting is beautiful, but I cared for that less than the WAY they transform their organic wheat and grains.
Rene Simard and Daniele Huberdeau are the 20th owners. They took over in 1996 from LaPierre who decided to retire. Rene was already working in a boulangerie, bought LaPierre's flour which was already certified organic, they knew each other well, and....the rest is...now. They kept the name but added a space to La Pierre.
The method. Ground on Sylex of about 4 feet in diameter, a heavy Siliceous rock with a 100-125 rpm grind which is slower than say granite at maybe 300rpms and the much faster metal rolls of industrial method but by not overheating the grains, the resulting flour retains much of its nutrients. This has always been the case for many artisans and the organic, bio dynamic and the slow food process...time. This kind of common sense backed with a quality product, backed by an inherit respect for others seems to me the values most people seek.
AND we love the taste of their flour in our homemade bread and pastry shells at Renard Artisan Bistro, and love even more the comforting fact that again we have met people who care, not only for their product, but for general well being of the rest of us, and that is something the history of humankind has always had trouble dealing with.
January 6, 2013
Elk, a question of identity
They say that Cap Saint-Ignace was where the last wild elk in Quebec died. That was between 1830-40. It is said that the last Eastern Elk was shot in Pennsylvania in 1877 and officially extinct in 1880. All this due to over hunting.
Presently, in Quebec, there only exists farmed elk, which is sold mainly for its antlers, then canned hunting and then for its meat. Next to no elk farmer in Quebec will or has made a living off of selling only the meat. The main reason and boom for elk farming (perhaps unfortunately) was the Asian market for the velvet antlers which ranks number two to ginseng in importance in traditional Chinese medicine. Big money. Most elk farmers who specialized in velvet antler made a living without needing a second income. That was prior to the year 2000 marked by a string of mad cow disease, all that encephalopathy freaky spongiform suffering stuff and the spread of the disease in elk and deer on the west coast. Borders closed, markets slowed, velvet in the Asian market became suspect.
Renard Artisan Bistro used to work with Wapitis Val Grand Bois. They sold and went into retirement. Sad. I called another farm from the Association des Éleveurs de Wapitis du Québec (Certified pure blood elk), Gaston Bouchard asking for elk meat and he replied "non," laughing " il y a trop d'argent a faire..." Sarcastically saying there was too much money to be made in elk farming. Ok. There was obviously something strange here. Another producer I had stayed with a couple years back in St-Charles Garnier on my way to Gaspesie had also sold. Another 'farmer' told me that he did not really care about the meat and if I wanted to deal with it to call the abattoir, his main income being, antlers aka pills. I recently found myself in the fields with Lucien and Jocelyne of Ferme les Wapitis des Beaux Pres in Aston-Jonction talking about why is elk more expensive than other meats, and why everyone is struggling to sustain their living.
Almost 18 years in the elk trade, original founders of the Association des Éleveurs de Wapitis du Québec begun in order to protect the industry of pure bred elk from those who were crossing deer and elk and selling at elk prices, (the buying price of elk being 6 to 8 times higher than deer usually), and still struggling to make ends meet but happy. Caring. Working in a system much dominated by chicken, pork, beef...all subsidized by the government? The protection of quotas? More questions. They grew up in the North, as in a 15 hour drive up into the tundra, used to eating caribou meat. When they returned back 'south' they approached the MAPAQ asking about caribou farming. 'Farming!? What you need is a zoo permit! Find another animal." they were told and so elk it was.
The Beaupre family are a couple who have had 8 children and are happy; humble and happy to share. Something I struggle everyday to appreciate, attain, and keep within my own circles. Nonetheless, their story is one of beauty, struggling to keep their elk farm in existence, working in the four corners of Canada, a family living apart, living together, almost living at the edge of the modern industrial world, poised perfectly at that junction where most of us ask the most important questions of ourselves and our community. In a society where intensive industrial farming is the norm and will not change anytime soon, it is possible watching elk in their vast space, observing their behaviour, that something will be lost when it is replaced by steel and concrete walls. It is not a question of the pumped up, fucked up, legless battery chicken because there are so many poor people to feed, because rich people are buying the same birds, it is a more a question of norms established, reasons behind them and government regulations. Many more questions.
When cheapness should not dictate out better judgement, the fact is that almost everybody wants things inexpensive, especially food. We should all remind ourselves (because we are modern and educated) that with cheapness comes a price, hidden but everpresent. Elk meat for the moment is marginal, not very subsidized, meaning that it will definitely be more expensive (or as some would say representing the true cost of living), meaning you won't see it on any fast food restaurant any time soon... but on Renard's menu it has become a must, and most probably because of its relation and natural voice in what many have called the slow food movement. And again another question arises, would we ever want to see elks bear the same burden as the so called modern cows, pigs and chickens? And yet the big market for elk is for its antlers and not the meat....and yes,again, so many more questions.....
Presently, in Quebec, there only exists farmed elk, which is sold mainly for its antlers, then canned hunting and then for its meat. Next to no elk farmer in Quebec will or has made a living off of selling only the meat. The main reason and boom for elk farming (perhaps unfortunately) was the Asian market for the velvet antlers which ranks number two to ginseng in importance in traditional Chinese medicine. Big money. Most elk farmers who specialized in velvet antler made a living without needing a second income. That was prior to the year 2000 marked by a string of mad cow disease, all that encephalopathy freaky spongiform suffering stuff and the spread of the disease in elk and deer on the west coast. Borders closed, markets slowed, velvet in the Asian market became suspect.
Renard Artisan Bistro used to work with Wapitis Val Grand Bois. They sold and went into retirement. Sad. I called another farm from the Association des Éleveurs de Wapitis du Québec (Certified pure blood elk), Gaston Bouchard asking for elk meat and he replied "non," laughing " il y a trop d'argent a faire..." Sarcastically saying there was too much money to be made in elk farming. Ok. There was obviously something strange here. Another producer I had stayed with a couple years back in St-Charles Garnier on my way to Gaspesie had also sold. Another 'farmer' told me that he did not really care about the meat and if I wanted to deal with it to call the abattoir, his main income being, antlers aka pills. I recently found myself in the fields with Lucien and Jocelyne of Ferme les Wapitis des Beaux Pres in Aston-Jonction talking about why is elk more expensive than other meats, and why everyone is struggling to sustain their living.
Almost 18 years in the elk trade, original founders of the Association des Éleveurs de Wapitis du Québec begun in order to protect the industry of pure bred elk from those who were crossing deer and elk and selling at elk prices, (the buying price of elk being 6 to 8 times higher than deer usually), and still struggling to make ends meet but happy. Caring. Working in a system much dominated by chicken, pork, beef...all subsidized by the government? The protection of quotas? More questions. They grew up in the North, as in a 15 hour drive up into the tundra, used to eating caribou meat. When they returned back 'south' they approached the MAPAQ asking about caribou farming. 'Farming!? What you need is a zoo permit! Find another animal." they were told and so elk it was.
The Beaupre family are a couple who have had 8 children and are happy; humble and happy to share. Something I struggle everyday to appreciate, attain, and keep within my own circles. Nonetheless, their story is one of beauty, struggling to keep their elk farm in existence, working in the four corners of Canada, a family living apart, living together, almost living at the edge of the modern industrial world, poised perfectly at that junction where most of us ask the most important questions of ourselves and our community. In a society where intensive industrial farming is the norm and will not change anytime soon, it is possible watching elk in their vast space, observing their behaviour, that something will be lost when it is replaced by steel and concrete walls. It is not a question of the pumped up, fucked up, legless battery chicken because there are so many poor people to feed, because rich people are buying the same birds, it is a more a question of norms established, reasons behind them and government regulations. Many more questions.
When cheapness should not dictate out better judgement, the fact is that almost everybody wants things inexpensive, especially food. We should all remind ourselves (because we are modern and educated) that with cheapness comes a price, hidden but everpresent. Elk meat for the moment is marginal, not very subsidized, meaning that it will definitely be more expensive (or as some would say representing the true cost of living), meaning you won't see it on any fast food restaurant any time soon... but on Renard's menu it has become a must, and most probably because of its relation and natural voice in what many have called the slow food movement. And again another question arises, would we ever want to see elks bear the same burden as the so called modern cows, pigs and chickens? And yet the big market for elk is for its antlers and not the meat....and yes,again, so many more questions.....
October 8, 2012
the passion according to Mathieu...Gosselin
A great many things contradict common sense or any sense. Two come to mind as I was driving to visit Mathieu Gosselin in Rigaud from Montreal. Organic heroin or cocaine...something pretty disturbing if ever it comes to be and animals raised without ever having seen and felt our great powerful sun...something even more disturbing since it is very common.
Guinea fowl is one of those victims. The scenario is simple. A bird with wild and strict hierarchical instincts stuffed into tiny boxes for its entire life. That is what the industrial chicken farmer becoming guinea fowl farmer does. That is the fate of probably all guinea fowls raised in Quebec. Plume des Champs is the exception and the scenario is also simple; they are the only ones (for now) raising free range guinea fowl in Quebec. Gosselin and his three associates created a 5 acre space (soon to become 10), dug a fence a few feet underground which the coyote, the fox and any predator cannot dig and penetrate, and a 'roof' of netting 6-7 feet high (so that the fowl can fly but the air borne predators cannot dive and kill). Standing with the shy guinea fowl and Mathieu describing in detail their habits and nature, I knew that this was another ally of artisans, of education and of the love of all things beautiful.
Arguments that guinea fowls run around too much and therefore become too tough also fail. Gosselin's guinea fowls are juicy, tasty even without sous-vide cooking. And standing in the field with his birds I can testify that they do not cease to move. Serving them at Renard Artisan Bistro and having eaten a few myself I can say that the too much movement argument is false. Period. Plume des Champs are the first that I have seen with this type of elevage, which is extremely sane, but worrisome because they are still in our day of online information and imagery of the rare few. Why? Well there is no doubt that information is extremely abundant...so? are we cheap? do we not give a shit? are we selfish? are we stupid? are we fucked? You decide.
Guinea fowl is one of those victims. The scenario is simple. A bird with wild and strict hierarchical instincts stuffed into tiny boxes for its entire life. That is what the industrial chicken farmer becoming guinea fowl farmer does. That is the fate of probably all guinea fowls raised in Quebec. Plume des Champs is the exception and the scenario is also simple; they are the only ones (for now) raising free range guinea fowl in Quebec. Gosselin and his three associates created a 5 acre space (soon to become 10), dug a fence a few feet underground which the coyote, the fox and any predator cannot dig and penetrate, and a 'roof' of netting 6-7 feet high (so that the fowl can fly but the air borne predators cannot dive and kill). Standing with the shy guinea fowl and Mathieu describing in detail their habits and nature, I knew that this was another ally of artisans, of education and of the love of all things beautiful.
Arguments that guinea fowls run around too much and therefore become too tough also fail. Gosselin's guinea fowls are juicy, tasty even without sous-vide cooking. And standing in the field with his birds I can testify that they do not cease to move. Serving them at Renard Artisan Bistro and having eaten a few myself I can say that the too much movement argument is false. Period. Plume des Champs are the first that I have seen with this type of elevage, which is extremely sane, but worrisome because they are still in our day of online information and imagery of the rare few. Why? Well there is no doubt that information is extremely abundant...so? are we cheap? do we not give a shit? are we selfish? are we stupid? are we fucked? You decide.
July 3, 2012
our Nordic fruit's return. Sherrington Quebec.
Driving into southern Quebec, off highway 15 towards Sherrington I was debating whether rhubarb was a fruit or a vegetable. After having pushed Renard artisan bistro experiment into the limits of local food, the Nordic winter was a little difficult. We relied mostly on a few preserves, apples and pears. It was easy to abandon olive oil, but fresh fruit?
Down intensely straight rows of lettuce on the dead end rang St-Joseph I was more than excited to begin working with the first fruits of summer. I pulled into the driveway, stepped out and found myself staring in a sort of chaotically organized mixture of gardens, fruit trees, bushes, weeds, post asparagus cloud like beige cotton candy , dog house, farm tools, children's toys, a shed, a goji berry bush? After all those long perfect rows of lettuce this seemed definitely wild, or part of something else. All these 21 arpents I am staring at are part of Les Champs Fruites experiment begun by Valerie Leclair in 2003. We walk through her land as she shows me her cassis, gooseberries, red lake currants, pink champagne currants, ground cherries, Boyne raspberries (juicy soft, the kind you will probably never find in a supermarket), autumn raspberries, toka prunes, mont-royal prunes, Reine Claude prunes, Saskatoon berries, Trappist and Isaac varietals, big late, Juliette and Romeo cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, a few pear varietals, and the camerise a truly boreal tear drop shaped blueberry like fruit that she is testing. I could not help feeling that this compact quiet place was becoming a sort of history of our northern fruits.
Valery's father explains to me that most of the farms in the region had to become larger with a bigger production in order to survive, essentially because of big supermarket's pressure on increased production and lower prices (the frightful modern feudal horn). Farmer's have very few choices, and Valerie's choice is of the micro type kept alive by farmer's markets in cities, the one I would say most sane, honest and sustainable.
She bought two bee hives in 2011 to aid the pollination of her land, and she talked about a sort of asparagus honey which had me immediately thinking about potential dishes....I thought, of course, that is why we have no choice to love our artisans. Playful, intense, chaotic, curious, eternal...a place of real tradition always becoming.
Down intensely straight rows of lettuce on the dead end rang St-Joseph I was more than excited to begin working with the first fruits of summer. I pulled into the driveway, stepped out and found myself staring in a sort of chaotically organized mixture of gardens, fruit trees, bushes, weeds, post asparagus cloud like beige cotton candy , dog house, farm tools, children's toys, a shed, a goji berry bush? After all those long perfect rows of lettuce this seemed definitely wild, or part of something else. All these 21 arpents I am staring at are part of Les Champs Fruites experiment begun by Valerie Leclair in 2003. We walk through her land as she shows me her cassis, gooseberries, red lake currants, pink champagne currants, ground cherries, Boyne raspberries (juicy soft, the kind you will probably never find in a supermarket), autumn raspberries, toka prunes, mont-royal prunes, Reine Claude prunes, Saskatoon berries, Trappist and Isaac varietals, big late, Juliette and Romeo cherries, blackberries, black raspberries, a few pear varietals, and the camerise a truly boreal tear drop shaped blueberry like fruit that she is testing. I could not help feeling that this compact quiet place was becoming a sort of history of our northern fruits.
Valery's father explains to me that most of the farms in the region had to become larger with a bigger production in order to survive, essentially because of big supermarket's pressure on increased production and lower prices (the frightful modern feudal horn). Farmer's have very few choices, and Valerie's choice is of the micro type kept alive by farmer's markets in cities, the one I would say most sane, honest and sustainable.
She bought two bee hives in 2011 to aid the pollination of her land, and she talked about a sort of asparagus honey which had me immediately thinking about potential dishes....I thought, of course, that is why we have no choice to love our artisans. Playful, intense, chaotic, curious, eternal...a place of real tradition always becoming.
April 23, 2012
the magical mysterious land of maple
Standing in the silence of a maple forest near Bonsecour Quebec I was expecting to hear the sap flowing, groaning, dripping....nothing; just a soft wind through the tree tops and barely visible shoots. It is strange and magical that so few trees have this characteristic, next in popularity being the birch. A Northern thing I suppose. I was also surprised that Quebec accounts for 75% of world production with almost
25 million liters a year, with the rest of Canada adding another 5% to
that figure. That's a lot of fucking syrup man.
Before the winter maple trees will store starch in the roots and trunks which will convert to sugar in the spring. This sap, the stored energy of the maple will start flowing when temperatures rise above 0 degrees Celsius, or when an intense sun heats the bark exciting that half of the tree to flow while the shaded side remains dormant. The buckets we all remember hanging from a tree below a spout burrowed in the trunk have largely been abandoned, replaced by a long system of surreal tubes which are hung around the forest leading to a central shack where the maple water is collected. From there another long journey to a separation bin or a concentrateur of the brut water by osmosis, which is then sent to an evaporateur, which concentrates the syrup, and for some less industrial businesses with send the syrup to a finisseur which heats the syrup on a flat bed, evenly, timely. And Les Sucreries d'Or's organic maple syrup definitely taught me again the important lesson, it takes time, and a lot of it to get there. Then comes the classification, different everywhere, and in Quebec is divided into two classes No.1 and No.2 and with 5 colour classes in each. The tastiest and most complex I think is the extra claire No.1, also the rarest and least affected by bacteria.
According to the Federation des producteurs acericoles du Quebec 20% of erablieres are organic on the French site, translated into English it reads that only 12% are organic...don't know how that got mistranslated, or which figure is the right one, but one thing is for certain is that we'll be enjoying our organic maple syrup at Renard artisan bistro for some time to come, maybe even in our homemade bread.
Before the winter maple trees will store starch in the roots and trunks which will convert to sugar in the spring. This sap, the stored energy of the maple will start flowing when temperatures rise above 0 degrees Celsius, or when an intense sun heats the bark exciting that half of the tree to flow while the shaded side remains dormant. The buckets we all remember hanging from a tree below a spout burrowed in the trunk have largely been abandoned, replaced by a long system of surreal tubes which are hung around the forest leading to a central shack where the maple water is collected. From there another long journey to a separation bin or a concentrateur of the brut water by osmosis, which is then sent to an evaporateur, which concentrates the syrup, and for some less industrial businesses with send the syrup to a finisseur which heats the syrup on a flat bed, evenly, timely. And Les Sucreries d'Or's organic maple syrup definitely taught me again the important lesson, it takes time, and a lot of it to get there. Then comes the classification, different everywhere, and in Quebec is divided into two classes No.1 and No.2 and with 5 colour classes in each. The tastiest and most complex I think is the extra claire No.1, also the rarest and least affected by bacteria.
According to the Federation des producteurs acericoles du Quebec 20% of erablieres are organic on the French site, translated into English it reads that only 12% are organic...don't know how that got mistranslated, or which figure is the right one, but one thing is for certain is that we'll be enjoying our organic maple syrup at Renard artisan bistro for some time to come, maybe even in our homemade bread.
March 27, 2012
In Organic We Trust
Organic definitely means a lot of things. Someone recently told me that it was a return to the essence, the way things were meant to be. Someone else was explaining how it was the path to real health. Indeed for some organic is almost Edenic or paleolithic or pure. On a more or less lucid day I think that organic is really post caveman, post biblical, post industrial and pushed a little further post Fritz Haber. It is exactly the pressure point which counters the immense, insane expansion of use of ammonia synthesis, the overuse of pesticides, growth hormones and liquid shit. Organic is about time. Relatively it takes an 'organic product' much more time to grow that an 'industrial super pumped enriched' one, sometimes by a third. This of course means more feed, more rented space, and probably more expensive. But it also mean as many studies have proven more mineral complexity, more molajuja in organic products etc....I will leave that to them to test and describe.
What is fundamental for me in organic is sincerity and transparency.
What it should not be is lies and abuse and hidden practices.
In 2001 Picardier farm sold their milk quota, and in 2003 became organic. Not a difficult certification because the farm has more or less been matter of fact in their practices. And they are very matter of fact; ready to give figures, costs, percentages, let us say down to earth, calculating, with probably one of the tastiest, juiciest chicken I have ever roasted...to be continued...again and again pure and simple.....Renard artisan bistro
What is fundamental for me in organic is sincerity and transparency.
What it should not be is lies and abuse and hidden practices.
In 2001 Picardier farm sold their milk quota, and in 2003 became organic. Not a difficult certification because the farm has more or less been matter of fact in their practices. And they are very matter of fact; ready to give figures, costs, percentages, let us say down to earth, calculating, with probably one of the tastiest, juiciest chicken I have ever roasted...to be continued...again and again pure and simple.....Renard artisan bistro
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)