22 —- Wednesday, March 4, 1998 — North Shore News

Payi

“Jin your kitchen

Recently it was men-
tioned in a professional
foodservice magazine
that you can’t buy a less
than great meal in
Montreal.

This is not an exaggeration.
It applies not only to
Montreal, but to dozens of
other fine restaurants in fa belle
provence

Quebec has a rich culinary
tradition. It contains the love
of the French for great food,
but it’s tempered with the
harsh necessities which faced
the early settlers.

There is an Anglo-Saxon
component as well, because
many of the first new arrivals
with Jacques Cartier originated
from La Bretagne, a part of
France that was influenced by
English gastronomy.

The essence of any great
food tradition is the best ingre-
dients married to skillful prepa-
ration and a receptive audi-
ence,

There was no shortage of
any of the above in Old
Quebec. The rich food was
essential to keep going, espe-
cially in the winter. To preserve
fruits and vegetables during the
summer and fall months was a
prerequisite for year-round sur-
vival.

That preparedness for sur-
vival was tested again in the
Ottawa Valley during the icc
storm of 1998. Friends tell us
that the producing tree stocks
of a large number of maple
syrup purveyors were severely
damaged. Many of the trees
have been ‘producers of this
unique nectar for decades.

; Dairy farmers have also

battled disease and related
problems due to cold and lack
of regular milking of cheir
herd. Hog and poultry farmers
also have suffered in some
regions, their valuable stock
dead or gravely damaged and
farm buildings devastated.
Prices of many commodities

north shore news

ff? ROOD

NEWS photo Paul McGreth

QUEBEC has a rich culinary tradition. It contains the
love of the French for great food, but it's tempered
with the harsh necessities faced by early settlers.

will rise for the foresecable
future.

Two recipes this week, a
classic soup from the Gaspe
region and our favorite:
tortiere.

Cod Soup

2 Ib. fresh cod fish
6 oz. diced salted pork
6 oz. onions julienne cut
1 Ib. sliced potatoes
14 c. water
2c. hot milk
salt to taste
1 Tbsp. fresh fine chopped
savory or
% tsp. dried savory
2 Thsp. butter

Method: Salt pork is avail-
able in most supermarkets. If
not, ask your butcher to get
you some. It is usually pack-
aged in 8 oz. blocks. Dice the
salt pork to medium size.

BUY 6 GET 6

FREE

Large & Chewy

Select a large saucepan with a
lid. Brown the salted pork on
all sides. Add the onions and
saute unc! just curning cranslu-
cent. Slice the cod pieces
(remove as many bones as pos-
sible) into medallion sizes.
Layer the cod and the poratocs
on top of the pork and the
onions. Start and finish with
the potatoes. Add the water,
cover and simmer 15 minutes

the British. Wherever it comes
from, it is a classic and wonder-
ful recipe.
2 tb. ground pork (coarse
grind)
10 oz. fine diced onions
6 oz. fine diced celery
I large garlic clove crushed
salt to taste
4 tsp. ground cloves
X tsp. nutmeg
1 c. water (or better yet,
meat stock)
1 c. white bread crumbs
Method: Select a large skil-
let. Place in all the ingredients
except the bread crumbs. Cook
uncovered for 20 minutes.
Do not remove any fat. Add
most of the bread crumbs.

They should soak up all the fat
and the juices. Cool.

The original recipes for
tourtiere, and there are as
many as cooks in Quebec, does
not have egg as a binder.

We often add one large egg
to this recipe — it holds its
shape better when cold, and
adds to its nutritional valuc.
Try it. This formula should
make 2 pies.

For the pastry select your
favorite pie dough recipe. This
column featured two formulas
in Oct °96, Here is one of them
again.

Hot water pastry:
% c. boiling water
1 c. lard (or vegetable short-

ening)

3 %c. pastry flour

% tsp. salt

% tsp. baking powder

Method: In a stainless steel
bowl mix together water and
lard. Sift (or mix very well)
together the dry ingredients.
Add to the lard and water to
the flour — all at once — and
work together by hand for a
minute or so.

This can also be done in a
mixer. Refrigerate covered with
wax paper or cling wrap for 4-
5 hours. Roll out, or use as
needed. It makes 2 double
crusted 9” pies.

See Page 30 for more food
news.

Reds that’ HI spin you around.

With the aid of product con-
sultants at the Park Royal
LDB, Wine Spots’ cuthless
research assistant, taster
(and brother-in-law), Ab
Bryant, recently came home
with an eclectic case lot of
reds that really spun us
around in our chairs.

Not cheap, but they do
deliver more than a pretty
label for your dollar.

The star curn was the
Ebenezer Barossa Valley
Shiraz 1993 from Australia
at $30.50. Nor quite as spicy
as the E&N Pepper Shiraz
which always sells out quickly
in the same price range, but
loaded with complex plummy
fruit that pleasantly masks a
tannic infrastructure which
should make it a good invest-
ment well into the next cen-

or until the potatoes tender. ii

Now add the hor milk, and all
the other ingredients. Bring to
scald temperature, check for
flavor. Do not stir or mix.
Garnish with chopped parsley.
Serve hot with baking powder
biscuits.

Quebecois Tourtiere

This dish has probably orig-
inated in Brittany. The meat
pies, and pastries are a forte of

John ‘Moore
WINE SPOTS

An ideal special occasion
dinner wine to rinse down the
roast.

A close second, Pesquera
Coscheca 1994 from Spain
at $28.95. This is almost a
“cult wine,” since the Castilla
Y Leon region has a rep for
light, indifferent gargle-and-
guzzle reds, but a few winer-
ies pursue standards of con-
centration and quality which
rival Rioja. Taste Pesquara
once and you’re a doomed
fan, ready to mortgage your

FINALLY!
A botiom-freezer
Fridge that fits.

31” WIDE

first-born ro the Devil for a
case. The bad news is that
this one’s still too young to
drink; deep purple, with a
massive blackcurrant cassis
front end and a huge tannic
finish with the middle act yet
to come.

But give it five years and it
will have you dancing flamen-
co on somebody's french-pol-
ished tabletop.

SINCE 1969

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