Spring Greenery

At long last, spring is getting underway. A couple of weeks ago we gave you a sneak peak at a some of the awesome things Quebec has to offer as the weather warms up, and they’re finally arriving! Friday subscribers got lucky this past week with a small batch of asparagus on the Marketplace. But no fears—we have more where that came from, and so much other great stuff! The veggies highlighted below taste like May, and they all come from the fields and forests of Quebec. Keep an eye out for them on the Marketplace next week.

(Quick note: our photographer is on vacation, so bask in the glory of our mad Instagram skills!)

Fiddleheads

Ah, the illustrious fiddlehead. Nothing says spring in Quebec like these guys. Produits de nos bois is a local distributor that works with Quebec foragers to supply us with these amazing treats. They’ve been on the Marketplace for a couple of weeks now, so many of you have had a chance to try them. If you haven’t tasted them yet, make sure to grab some this week. And if you’ve never cooked fiddleheads before: caution! They’re delicious when cooked, but aren’t safe to eat raw. It’s recommended to sautée/steam them for at least 12 minutes, or boil them for at least 15.

Spring garlic

We talked with the folks at La Ferme Fontana this past week, and they told us that their spring garlic is the first herb or vegetable making an appearance for them this year. They harvest it very young, so it’s on the opposite end of the spectrum from the garlic they have in the fall. The cool thing about spring garlic is that you can eat every part of it: stalk to stem. The stem is a great substitute for green onions, but with a garlicky flavor. The stalk can be fried or caramelized, just like shallots. So good!

Oops, not lettuce. Wild dandelion greens (left), sorrel (centre), and chives (right).

Close-up!

Now for a couple of wild cards. Wild dandelion greens are wonderfully bitter, so they’re a bit of an acquired taste. Just like fiddleheads, they’re foraged—though you may have seen your fair share of dandelions in your home garden. The beauty of dandelion greens is that they’re incredibly versatile. We recommend using them to make pesto or in a pasta dish.

Sorrel has a different taste profile: it’s often described as tart or acidic. It’s citrusy flavor is perfect for salads, but it’s also great alongside chicken and fish.

You’re probably quite familiar with chives, but a quick refresher. There one of the fines herbes of French cuisine and are also commonly used in Scandinavian cuisine. They pair great with many different things, but are probably best known for going with fish and in omelettes. If you’re just looking for a slight oniony/garlicky flavor for a dish, these are the way to go.

All three of these come to us courtesy of Ferme Jacques & Lucille Machabée.

Rhymes with "garrulous" and "a pair of us"

Nuff said. We’re incredibly excited for the full launch of asparagus on the Marketplace! Monsieur Basilic is growing the organic asparagus that I’m sure all of you will have in your baskets next week!

Learn to Forage

We’re lucky to have some amazing foragers in Quebec to seek out these spring treasures. But if you’re anything like us, you probably get excited by the idea of going out into the woods and finding the raw ingredients for your own meal. Gérald and Ariane, our friends at Gourmet Sauvage, are the experts on foraging in Quebec. They have an annual tradition of offering courses for identifying and harvesting edible plants. And to give you a little nudge in the DIY direction, we’ve added three session of this course to the Marketplace, so it’s incredibly easy to sign up.

Ariane explains the courses:

What are your summer plans? At Gourmet Sauvage in the Laurentides, we’re slipping our hiking shoes on and getting prepared for a summer workshop of foraging and cooking edible wild plants. Join us!

You’ll discover dozens of easy-to-find edible wild plants so that you’ll be able to recognize and harvest they for yourself. The day begins with a short theoretical introduction to the world of gathering wild plants, then follows with a 4-5 hour trip into the woods. We take advantage of the serendipity of the day and season. It’s not uncommon to stumble upon wild animals, and the we always have anecdotes to share about our own trips into the woods! You’ll probably have a chance to meet our new tenants: two muskrats that have taken up residence next to our house. To cap off the day, we’ll prepare a meal with together from our harvest. In the first course of the season, which took place this past week, we made nettle soup, wild parsnip butter, sautéed erythronium tubers, a salad composed of wild greens, and germinated samaras with young currant and raspberry leaves. A true wild delight!

Gérald mans the stove during the first course this season.

Refreshing sumac lemonade

Saskatoon berries growing in the woods of Gourmet Sauvage

Classes are held at Domaine Gourmet Sauvage in Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré, in the Parc écotouristique de la MRC des Laurentides. It’s a beautiful place with more than 200 acres of forest, located just across from P’tit Train du Nord. For more details, see http://gourmetsauvage.ca/formations-2/

We’re not kidding when we say it’s beautiful!

A few more things to get excited about…

Olive Pressée, on Mont-Royal, has some of the most amazing olives, oils, and vinegars you can find.

This week we’re partnering with Olive Pressée to bring free samples of kalamata olives to the Marketplace. Make sure to add them to your basket! If you haven’t already tried their incredible olives, now’s the time. Guillaume and Bruno, the guys who run Olive Pressée, take great care when selecting their products: they taste each one and source them directly from Mediterranean farmers and producers.

Alain Renaud and his company DRUIDE are taking part in the David Suzuki Foundation 30x30 event next Thursday.

We talked about DRUIDE a couple of weeks ago on the blog. This local company is going above and beyond to bring eco-friendly personal care products to Montrealers. We featured samples of the Citronella shampoo & shower gel; if you tried it and loved it, you can now get full-sized bottles on the Marketplace.

And DRUIDE doesn’t just make eco-friendly products. They also support organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability. Both Lufa Farms and DRUIDE will have booths at the upcoming David Suzuki Foundation 30x30 event, and we’ll have a special interview with Alain, the founder of DRUIDE, here next week.

Speaking of which, the 30x30 challenge is still going on for the month of May. The idea is simple (and excellent): challenge yourself to spend at least 30 minutes outdoors for 30 days. To participate and learn more, head over to 30x30.davidsuzuki.org

What a guy...

Finally, make sure to come back here next week, same time. We’re planning what is probably the most amazing post we’ve ever done. Stay tuned, and happy eating!