Gourmet Sauvage

Meet Gerald le Gal, head gatherer and owner at Gourmet Sauvage. He’s not quite a farmer and his foods are well...a little wild. Gerald, a former teacher, economic development officer and commercial fisherman, started up Gourmet Sauvage, a company specializing in the harvest, processing and sale of high-end wild foods.

Last weekend, we had a chance meet him in person, tour his playground, and learn more about him, his family, his book, his passion for the wilderness and of course his wild foods. So here it goes...

The site: A two-hour drive north of our farm puts you in the heart of the Laurentians, where Gerald, along with a few co-tenants, have taken over a 200-acre site. It’s an old forest and fish farm that's more suited for a wedding venue or the filming of an episode of Game of Thrones. A gathering place for the gatherers and their finds. A place where simple wild ingredients (from mushrooms to berries to cattail hearts) mix with exotic flavours to create the divine. Just magnificent...

The philosophy: is simple. “We don’t have employees, we have colleagues and collaborators. We see to it that the harvest does not put plant species at risk. One word guides our work: respect…respect for the environment, respect for protected and private lands and respect for other harvesters.”

The goods: From birch syrup to morels to my favourite, wild strawberry jam. His team creates over 40 goodies that you can find in specialty shops across Quebec, and as of next week, in your very own Lufa Farms Marketplace. Gerald’s favourite: cattail hearts and cloudberries. He told us this GREAT long story that explained his love and passion for these foraged items. I wish I could remember it :)

Why we love Gerald, his team, and his foods: We all reminisce to a time when hunter-gatherer defined us. In our comfy, busy, modern lives, Gerald gives us a window into that life. He is the gatherer within...