As a child, Jeremy Charles earned pocket money by mining cod tongues at the wharf in the community of Mount Pearl, a suburb of St. John’s, Newfoundland.
This delicacy, which is dusted with flour and salt, is still a Newfoundland specialty today, despite the terrible years that marked the disappearance of cod stocks, and the imposition of a moratorium on the fishing from 1992.
But Jeremy Charles is no exception. Having become one of Canada’s most renowned chefs, and owner of The Merchant Tavern restaurant in St. John’s, he will be in Montreal as part of Montreal in the Light on February 28, at the Vin monrabbit restaurant, to taste and know the specialties of his native region.
His cuisine is entirely designed from the wild nature of his region. “In Newfoundland, he specifies, we have the right to cook moose or wild rabbit,” he says. This is not the case in Montreal, so we will not be able to serve these dishes. But it’s interesting to talk about. »
Jeremy Charles admits it, the province of Newfoundland has never really shined for its gastronomy.
“Newfoundland isn’t known for its food scene,” he says. Traditionally, we cooked to be able to serve a large number of people, large families, a lot of potatoes and salt cod. These are not elements that are highlighted in demonstrations of Canadian culinary art. That’s why we make it our mission to show off all the wonderful products we can find in nature in Newfoundland. »
In this universe, there is still cod. “We still have some, but not in the quantities we used to. The nature of fishing has changed, many have turned to crab or shrimp,” he says. In a wonderful book, titled Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland and Labrador, which he signed with Phaidon, recipes for moose cheeks and blueberry sorbet follow smoked scallop eggs with mushrooms, halibut with celeriac and red wine, and partridge liver pâté. In a recipe for sea urchins and capelin roe dipped in octopus ink, he explains that it is simply a matter of coloring the eggs with the ink so that they look like caviar!
All foods used here are wild. And the chef makes it a priority to use the entire product. For example, he will take moose fur to make flies for fishing, he who, according to his father, cannot see a body of water without dipping his line into it.
Moose, on the other hand, are not endemic to Newfoundland. “It was introduced there in 1904 as prey for hunters,” he explains in his book.
Indigenous influence
The Aboriginal influence, particularly in Labrador, is enormous. “In our lands of northern Labrador, there are no cows or sheep, but there are plenty of polar bears,” says Inuit hunter Paul Jararuse in the book.
“People used to make salt from seaweed. Why can’t we do the same? asks Lori McCarthy, owner of Cod Sounds, a company that promotes culinary tourism in Newfoundland.
Newfoundland is not known for its food scene. Traditionally, we cooked to be able to serve a large number of people, large families, a lot of potatoes and salt cod. These are not elements that are highlighted in demonstrations of Canadian culinary art.
On the subject of salt, Quebecer Manuel Bujold presents, in Montréal en lumière, Saint Laurent salt, of 100% Quebec origin, made of salt flakes harvested by hand in Les Bergeronnes, on the Haute-Côte-Nord. .
The visit of Jeremy Charles to the Vin monrabbit restaurant is part of the gastronomic component of the Montreal high lights festival, which begins Thursday in Montreal. There will also be chefs from France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Scandinavia. Once again this year, the event offers the 300-metre ice trail erected above the Place des Festivals, which will be accompanied by a whole program of live and turntable performances. The festival is also available in a performance hall, and offers around a hundred cultural activities for the Nuit blanche on February 25.
The Montréal en lumière festival will take place from February 16 to March 5.