After a year of forced break, the Cuisine, Cinéma et Confidences festival returns with a fourth edition driven by love stories for chefs, restaurateurs and Quebec producers. As an obvious follow-up to the local buying movement and the recognition of Quebec talent.
Combining meals and culinary discoveries, thematic film screenings and lively discussions, the festival’s program also takes a look at key moments in history with the presentation of documentaries on the 100th anniversary of the SAQ and on Expo 67.
“When you want to celebrate someone, when you make a declaration of love for them, you necessarily go back to their story,” notes Lise Tremblay, organizer of the event. The documentary SAQ: 100 years of history, it allows me to make more room for Quebec wines this year. It inspired a pop-jazz evening, where chef Patrick Dubé and his sommelier, Tristan Tourigny, will offer a food and wine pairing. [en harmonie] with music. “
Expo 67 was another must-see for Mme Tremblay, who achieved a feat by bringing together the chef and former ITHQ professor Jean-Paul Grappe – in charge of the kitchens of the France pavilion during the Universal Exhibition and who never left! – as guest of honor and several winners of Lauriers de la gastronomie québécoise. Chefs Dyan Solomon, Simon Mathys, Julien Masia, Émile Tremblay and Sylvain Dervieux will concoct a “nostalgic” menu in memory of Expo 67.
“Before the Expo, international cuisine in Quebec was the Chinese buffet. The gastronomy was the boeuf bourguignon or the coq au vin. Couscous, we did not know that, saffron either, recalls Lucie Tremblay. Look at where we are now in our restoration. With the young guest chefs looking ahead, I thought it was a nice combination. In our history, there is also the future. “
Those who feed us
The documentary Expo 67 mission impossible will be presented, followed by a discussion on the impact of this major event on Quebec gastronomy with historian Roger Laroche.
There is also a screening of the film on the schedule The nose, by Kim Nguyen, accompanied by a tasting of Quebec wines.
Lucie Tremblay carries within her the desire to show the face of those who nourish us. This is why it particularly highlights women entrepreneurs in the agri-food industry, “exceptional young women”, she mentions. “That’s why the festival takes place in November. Of course it would be more rustic if we did that in summer, but at this time of year, producers and chefs are in trouble! I want them to be able to be there to show off their creativity. For me, there is a parallel to be drawn with directors who also communicate their stories through creativity. “
An improvisation evening, a gourmet journey through Baie-Saint-Paul, a culinary workshop for children or an exhibition on the art of the table and exchange of cookbooks … impossible not to see, through this vast program, a real want to bring together guests from all walks of life.
“Launching this festival was my way of anchoring myself in the community when I left Montreal to come to Baie-Saint-Paul,” says Lucie Tremblay, who worked as a documentary producer for nearly 30 years. “My father is a Tremblay from Les Éboulements who grew up in poverty. My mother came from a bourgeois background. As a teacher, my father created a committee so that the children could have one meal a day. He said that eating is not a luxury, but a right that every human being must have. My mother set the table with five forks on one side, five spoons on the other. We weren’t rich, but she prepared us a few times a year for [grands] meal. When I was seven, I ate artichokes [rires] ! It’s been a wonderful legacy, that combination, of the importance of food. The festival is a way of giving back the letters of nobility to sharing and meeting around a meal. “
Cuisine, cinema et confidences will take place from November 5 to 7.