It was my first taste of Montreal poutine. Yes poutine has been around for a while and so have I, so why haven’t our paths crossed before? Well, I just can’t get past the concept of mushy fries. Yes some people put gravy on their fries but, I don’t. I like my fries crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, hot and neat. But I was seduced by the creative poutine dishes I was reading on each posted menu down Rue St Denis, I couldn’t help but be swept away by the poutine wave. I tucked into a […]

A butcher by trade, Pascal Miche was bit by the tomato bug at an early age. It was his great grandfather Omer Miche, that made tomato wine from an overabundance of tomatoes in his garden. When he was a very young boy Pascal helped his great grandfather make wine until one day he decided to study winemaking.   On the farm in Baie-Saint-Paul in Charlevoix, Quebec Pascal and his wife grow over 6,000 heirloom tomato plants. The older varieties have more flavour, they’re sweeter and acclimatized to our area so they grow better in Charlevoix. The name Omerto is […]

Every morning Jean-Sebastien Sauvageau and his father are out in the pastures feeding thousands of animals that include rabbits, guinea fowl, quail and ring-neck pheasants. And yes, you can even hunt pheasant on the farm. The pastures cascade along the top of a hillside with a stunning view of the St. Lawrence River just over the next hillside. Is it any wonder he loves his job? “If I wanted to be a rich man, I wouldn’t have picked agriculture,” laughs Jean-Sebastien. From where I’m standing surrounded by rolling green hills, the beautiful blue water of the river that looks […]

“Hi, my name is Lynn and I’m a food addict,” I say with shameful conviction. I’m with a group of foodies and we’re gathered in Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough. We here to admit our addiction to the pursuit of perfect food, to share our shame of applying unobtainable high standards on chefs and cooks alike and to offer each other support as we learn to be more reasonable and appreciative eaters. I have my doubts how this is going to work, but Donald Fraser of Farm to Table Culinary Tours has a 12-step program laid out for us […]

A block away from our little condo in Paris is L’ Escargot Montorgueil on Rue Montorgueil. Yes, a restaurant specializing in escargot. How could I resist? There was no one in the restaurant except for the waite staff eating their dinner. We walked in anyway, drunk with the thoughts of our first meal in Paris. The waiter began to recommend a plate of many escargot flavours but we had ideas of our own. We ordered six Burgundian Escargot in Truffle Butter and six escargot with Foie Gras and two glasses of Loire Sancerre. They sat the truffle butter escargot […]