This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
As soon as we board the ferry leading to Tadoussac, a shiver runs down our spines: we feel that a new world and an unusual adventure await us. The majestic and titanic Côte-Nord opens its arms to us. Stretching over thousands of kilometers of sandy, peaty or rocky coasts bathed by the tide, a myriad of lakes and rivers, and several million hectares of densely wooded and coniferous land, this still untamed region is of a beauty breathtaking. But it also conceals a vast marine and land pantry that more and more chefs, producers and artisans are celebrating. It is this gourmet North Shore, classic or creative, that we invite you to explore today.
The Côte-Nord still represents Elsewhere in the collective imagination. A wild, immense territory, a bit inhospitable. We know some of its gems: the adorable tourist village of Tadoussac, the equally charming fishing village of Natashquan, the grandiose monoliths of Minganie, the magnificent island of Anticosti, the Klondike mines of Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles. , the impressive hydroelectric dams. We also expect to taste, in eateries, lobster, snow crab, northern shrimp, salmon, caribou and, of course, cloudberry, this little tangy orange fruit that is inseparable from the region. However, the Côte-Nord has an unsuspected richness that goes far beyond these slides.
A land of abundance
“I immediately fell in love with this place, its energy, its diversity,” admits Annick Latreille, head of the micro-enterprise De baies et de sap. For 10 years, this former city dweller has traveled from May to December, in the company of five pickers, the dunes, seaside, peat bogs, salt marshes and boreal forest of Minganie. She draws from it some forty wild plants, shoots and seaweed with well-known names (Labrador tea, black spruce, juniper berries, glasswort, wild raspberries, dune pepper, etc.) or more intriguing ones, such as sea parsley, Crowberry, Ida vine cranberry, wintergreen, or even sandwort.
Sold in part to distilleries, microbreweries and restaurants in the region, these wild ingredients are also transformed by the expert into natural cosmetics and edible products. A pesto, aromatic jellies, a balsam fir tonic syrup and a Minganie tea “that tastes of the forest” are among his creations. “My goal, she explains, is to convey the beauty and energy of these plants. To highlight them on all levels, colors, textures and flavors. »
The Call of the North
There is a lot of gratitude in the words of Annick Latreille as well as a deep sense of freedom. That of doing things in your own way and at your own pace, of treading unknown paths, of being part of the pioneers in a land where everything still seems to be done.
It is this same breath of novelty that led Jean-Sébastien Sicard to open a restaurant in Tadoussac 15 years ago. Former member of the festive music group Saüd et les fous du Roy, which performed in the 1990s across Quebec alongside Les Colocs and Zébulon, this self-taught chef decided to drop everything for the North Shore. “I wanted to become the Brel of cuisine, with all the intensity and authenticity of the latter,” he says.
A risky bet, but successful, since Chez Mathilde has become one of the largest and most euphoric tables in Quebec. With unbridled creativity, the chef sublimates local marine and forest products through a skilful mix of minute cooking, salting, fermentation, infusions and dehydration. An intuitive cuisine that comes in the form of blind menus and makes us discover Stimpson’s surfclam in variation, snow crab in cabbage tacos, scallop coral, halibut cheek, raw shrimp drizzled with a seaweed broth, duck hearts, black garlic transformed into sweet clover gelato, chanterelles in tubes caramelized with raw honey, tea or hay powders… A disconcerting feast from start to finish experience.
A gastronomy in the making
Tasting a meal at Chez Mathilde gives us a glimpse of the infinite possibilities of Côte-Nord gastronomy. Which doesn’t prevent us from enjoying a refreshing lobster roll in a canteen along the famous Route 138, a generous Trawler’s Return (a platter that contains cod, halibut, scallops, lobster, crab and shrimp) at the popular family restaurant Chez Julie, in Havre-Saint-Pierre, or a tasty seafood poutine with spicy bisque at the bistro Le bavard et l’ivrogne in Sept-Îles.
Yes, the Côte-Nord is slowly evolving, as evidenced by the circuit of some twenty gourmet addresses along the 138. It is driven by the unconditional love of those who have always lived there, like the owner of Chez Julie, son of the founders of this restaurant whose majority of the menu was composed more than 45 years ago. But it is also celebrated by producers, cooks and artisans who want to do things differently. Maricultural innovations at Purmer (including oysters and seaweed), Nordic berry syrups from Parallèle 51, BBQ sauces and haskap steak spices from Ferme Manicouagan, marinated lobster from Belles amours, birch syrup from La Bouletière, butter blueberries with winter tea from Café Bohème, wild mushroom powder from Terroir Boréal, exceptional single-origin coffees from Manoir du café, boreal beers from Microbrasserie Saint-Pancrace…
Here are some examples of what it is now possible to find within this North Shore — and well beyond, thanks to online stores — which has not finished surprising us, marveling us… and delight us!