This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Val Notre-Dame, with its “abbey in the woods”, is more than a place of contemplation. It is an area where the outdoors and discoveries of products from the forest intermingle. Tasting included.
Spruce powder, dune pepper, balsam fir syrup or oblique polypore, better known as “chaga” from which a decoction with multiple medicinal properties is drawn. The forest of the Val Notre-Dame Abbey, nestled in the community of Saint-Jean-de-Matha, is full of natural foodstuffs with unsuspected properties, provided that you know how to prepare and prepare them.
BBQ hike
It is all the art of Jean-Guy Sergerie, skilled picker and tireless enthusiast, who guides you through this little gem of 187 hectares of red and gray pines, yellow birches and white spruces. He and his companion, chef Josée Miller (also chef at the Abbey), founded the company Marcheur des bois in 2015 to share their passion for forest foods, to which they prefer the clever lexical contraction of “forestibles”. During an hour and a half of hiking (sometimes more, depending on what is available near the trail), Jean-Guy transforms, time to say it, a sprout of staghorn sumac into a spice suitable for giving the flesh of a fish a slightly tangy finish, to which he adds his little grain of salt: a pinch of homemade fir powder, please. During the winter, the picking expert makes a short snowshoe hike a micro-vegetal exploration where the surprise lurks behind each tree, stump or brush. At the antipodes of an outing guided by a naturalist in a national park, here, the walk in the forest quickly takes on the appearance of an exchange of experiences between the guide and the one walking in its wake. And who shares his vision of ethical picking, without excess. After two short kilometers of evolving in the tasty mysteries of the forest, we finish the activity around a barbecue masterfully piloted by Josée Miller, who gives her menu subtle forest aromas: beef or chicken burger seasoned with powdered spruce and dune pepper, wilted cabbage, spicy potatoes, pimbina sauce, fir mustard or haskap sauce and, finally, shortbread with coltsfoot (species of herbaceous plant). We cannot complete this spatial and gustatory journey without thinking of the members of the First Nations who knew – and still know – how to decipher the benefits of nature and collect their food needs from it in strict respect of stocks. Here, only the monks are authorized to practice the picking of mushrooms and plants to concoct their “Delights of the monastery”.
Gourmet hikes
“We have just inaugurated our bistro, which offers a menu inspired by the flavors of the forest”, explains the very energetic Hélène Marchand, the new general manager of La Forêt de l’Abbaye, who manages the commercial offer of the monastic domain. In addition to a large shop where you can find a wide variety of nature-inspired processing products (including the Délices du Monasterie), the company is working on a harmonious balance between the outdoors and unique gourmet experiences designed with local producers from the region, in accordance with municipal regulations. “We started our supervised activities with a forest picnic in the summer during which Josée Miller cooked in front of the public, explains Hélène Marchand. Given its success, we have created gourmet hikes on the same principle as the BBQ hikes, which we have been offering for three years in winter. To accommodate chilly hikers on very cold days, a yurt heated by a wood-burning stove allows them to take their meals in the shelter, a yurt whose enthusiastic director is already imagining a future vocation as accommodation for long hikes or mountain biking (there are already no less than 7 km of trails to which 5 more will be added at the end of this summer). Of course, this sustainable and responsible recreational development takes into account the spiritual vocation of the Abbey. An inspired reconversion that makes this religious establishment a place dedicated to faith and love of nature, whether you are a believer or not.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.