Since time immemorial, rock crab caught in the St. Lawrence, also called rock crab, has been sold almost entirely outside Quebec. Thanks to a pilot project by the new collective La table ronde, we will finally be able to taste it in about fifteen Quebec restaurants, within a few days.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
This is only the first of several networking projects between local producers and restaurateurs, which aims, among other things, to keep the best local products here. The crab operation is carried out in collaboration with Fourchette bleue, a program of the Exploramer museum, in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (Gaspésie), committed to the sound management of the marine resources of the St. Lawrence.
“I put myself in the fisherman’s shoes and I can completely understand why a Japanese man who disembarks from his private jet and buys all the production can be much more attractive than dozens of local restaurants to supply and collect”, explains Félix- Antoine Joli-Coeur, secretary general of La table ronde.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE ROUND TABLE
Félix-Antoine Joli-Coeur, Secretary General of The Round Table
Sandra Gauthier, general manager of Exploramer and Fourchette bleue, put us in touch with a fisherman. We rely on the strength of the group to be able to buy a good quantity of crab from them and thus compete with international markets.
Félix-Antoine Joli-Coeur, Secretary General of The Round Table
The first crab crates are just the first step in a larger project that aims to change several habits, regulations, laws that are archaic and difficult to budge. Other motivated individuals and groups, such as Colombe St-Pierre and Société-Orignal, have tried to get things moving, with partial success.
Aim further
Mr. Joli-Coeur, who is above all an entrepreneur and a management consultant, hopes to succeed with La table ronde and its members, 75 of the best restaurants in Quebec who are mobilizing to protect and propel the fine dining sector.
With Martin Picard, Normand Laprise and Dyan Solomon in the collective, we have the ear and the support of the government and business people. Then it will not only benefit the big restaurants. Everyone will end up benefiting from what we put in place. But we’re going to use the most famous restaurants in Quebec to get things moving.
Félix-Antoine Joli-Coeur, Secretary General of The Round Table
If there are only 15 tables taking part in the crab project, it is because the sector is also facing a well-known shortage of manpower crisis. “Rock crab requires more handling than snow crab, so not every restaurant can afford to pay a cook to carve crab for hours. Maybe later, we can offer already shelled crab,” explains the secretary general.
For now, it’s in restaurants like Beba, Hoogan and Beaufort, Toqué!, Vin Mon Lapin, Le Club Chasse et Pêche, in Montreal, or Chez Boulay (Quebec), Le Coureur des Bois (Beloeil), L ‘Épi (Trois-Rivières) and a few others that the first crates of rock crab will be delivered.
Did you know that there is also squid in the waters of the Gulf and that it starts to be fished again this summer? To be watched on a menu near you!