Flavours of Quebec

I thought I’d leave you on this Friday before the start of the Quebec construction holiday with some food-related stories and reviews from and about  Quebec. Most of them are French, and this is simply because our French language media covers the local scene much more adequately than their English-language counterparts in the province. That said, don’t miss A Table in Quebec on CBC this weekend.

CBC doc looks at Quebec cuisine. Tune into CBC television this Saturday to explore regional Quebec cuisine with one of the provinces top chefs, Danny St-Pierre from restaurant Auguste in the Eastern Townships where everything on the menu is local. A Table in Quebec airs at 7pm on Saturday July 17th on CBC television.

Sorbets, crème glacée, sucettes givrées: une riche histoire: Who knew that the term sorbet has its roots in the arab sharbet, which means frozen fruit. This article from Le Soleil give a quick history of our favourite frozen treats and offers a list of artisanal ice cream, sorbet and gelatto makers in the Quebec City region.

Communautés religieuses et alimentation: l’assiette divine. Most of us are familiar with Oka cheese made by the Trappiste monks in Oka, but there are many more foods made by religious orders in Quebec. This article starts the exploration and links to others in the series.

Fait Ici: A local shop. This shop that opened recently is fast becoming a favourite place for me to pick up general needs and a quick bite. This article from The Montreal Mirror explains why. Or, en français, check out this review from Clin D’Oeil.

Dieu du Ciel!, meilleure brasserie au monde. I admit it. I’m bias. I love Dieu de Ciel, especially their heavenly smokey Autumn Equinox that has the nose of a good single-malt Islay scotch. And, for the third year in a row, it has been crowned best microbrewery by ratebeer.com. Other Quebec breweries also made the top 50. Check out the article in Metro News to find out which ones. Since microbrews are always better on tap than out of the bottle, use their list of Montreal microbreweries to find a patio to taste test from. Finally for a truly local beer, here’s a link back to an earlier post of mine on Rur’Ale, a farm-to-table brew from Ferme Brasserie Schoune in Ste-Polycarpe.