This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Long considered rudimentary, even folkloric, First Nations cuisine is attracting more and more attention thanks to a handful of chefs who draw inspiration from both their indigenous roots and their contemporary background. How do these ambassadors of a new gastronomy whose contours are still vague, but with immense possibilities, define themselves? And what do they have in store for us during Montreal Highlights?
What do Manuel Kak’wa Kurtness, author of Pachamama,Martin Gagné, culinary director of the catering division of La Cage (and former chef at the National Assembly of Quebec), Lysanne O’Bomsawin, at the head of Traiteur Québénakis, Maxime Lizotte, culinary consultant and speaker, and Sylvestre Hervieux- Pinette, caterer and owner of Opus café in Baie-Comeau? Not only are these chefs from First Nations, but they have also infused their creations with a modernity and finesse that distinguish them from the traditional specialties of their communities. A momentum that some compare to the emergence of indigenous gastronomy.
A plural culinary culture
Defining contemporary indigenous gastronomy represents a challenge, because it is currently limited to the personal signature of a few chefs with very diverse backgrounds, from cooking schools to life.
For his part, Maxime Lizotte went to the École hôtelière de la Capitale, then passed through the kitchens of excellent restaurants in Quebec, such as Saint-Amour and Légende. He first became interested in his roots, the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk nation, through the art of gathering. This introduction led him to a first question: “Being proud of one’s origins is good, but what can we do about it in practice? he says. I noticed how fragile my culture was, almost erased. As I love cooking, I decided to promote it in my own way, with the knowledge I had acquired. »
The chef has therefore multiplied the initiatives: creation of mixtures of spices and condiments, catering concept, demonstrations, conferences; he was thus able to deepen his reflection on modern indigenous cuisine.
“In my opinion, it rests on four pillars,” he explains. A natural pillar, with indigenous ingredients (game, fish, small wild fruits, mushrooms, plants, etc.) or acclimatized ingredients such as Jerusalem artichokes and, more generally, everything that is produced today on my ancestral land. A second historical pillar, which integrates pre-colonial culinary techniques (smoking, drying, cooking over a wood fire, etc.). A third pillar of dialogue between indigenous and Quebec cuisines, with numerous contributions over time. And a fourth relating to the values of yesteryear that we want to convey, such as respect for animals and Mother Earth. »
This logic makes it possible to understand why specialties considered traditional, for example bannock or sagamité, are in fact inherited from contacts with Europeans. “Our identity statement is therefore based on the use of certain ancestral symbols, ingredients and techniques, to which we add our personal background and our artistic approach,” concludes the chef. He does not hesitate to mix genres and borrow elements from South American or Chinese cuisine, for example.
Cerebral or instinctive cuisine
During the Montréal en Lumière festival, Maxime Lizotte will be hosted at the ITHQ from February 27 to March 2. He will display his vision of indigenous gastronomy through a tasting menu. Char served with smoked sea urchin mayo and lacto-fermented carrot coulis, or a Bavarian with roasted wild mushrooms and sweetgrass will shine in particular.
The chef will also present a demonstration on seal meat in this menu and during Indigenous Day, which he will host on March 3 at the Quartier gourmand. “This animal has been fished here since the 16the century. It is very populous, its flesh is good, healthy and suitable for lots of recipes,” he says, specifying that for the event, he will transform it into confit and ham.
Maxime Lizotte will be accompanied this same day by Lysanne O’Bomsawin, who will revisit Abenaki traditions, as well as by Sylvestre Hervieux-Pinette, a chef from Pessamit who studied in California, before perfecting his art in great American restaurants and French. Returning to his community, he added his grandmother’s traditional cooking skills to his high-end cooking skills. “I had reached this point in my career,” he confesses. I had to discover my culinary identity. »
The chef has since been working on creating indigenous gastronomy, even if it means shocking his fellow citizens. “I’m a bit of a contrarian. I cook based on inspiration, enhancing the natural taste of the ingredients I use and dramatizing them. I love vegetable and complex dishes, although some people in my community find that what I make strays from my (more protein) roots and is not simple enough. »
To illustrate his unconventional approach, Sylvestre Hervieux-Pinette will present a vegetarian tartlet to Montréal en lumiere festival-goers. He is considering using ingredients from the North Shore such as cranberries, juniper berries, cattail, willow herb or Labrador tea. “But I don’t want to sit down on my recipe in advance, because I might change my mind an hour before the activity, ha! ha! he admits. I never prepare the same thing twice and am incapable of standardizing a recipe. » Which immediately makes us think of traditional practices, which were based on the fact that we cooked what we could hunt, fish or gather… We do not know how indigenous gastronomy will develop in the future, but it has in store for us in the present many surprises.
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