This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
The Carnaval de Québec barely ended, here is the nostalgia that seizes festive souls with rosy cheeks from the cold who never tire of snow sculptures, outdoor activities and the cheerfulness of Bonhomme. To prolong the party well beyond the few days that the famous festival lasts, we invite you to sip hot drinks inspired by Carnival and the cold season.
Jean Provencher is a Quebec historian and author of the book The Quebec Carnival. The big winter party. This great winter festival has no secrets for him.
Moreover, he explains that at the time, people did not go to Carnival to eat poutine or grilled cheese greedy. They were going to drink. Precision: they were going to drink caribou in long plastic canes as a flask.
An alcohol from another era
He says that it was in 1958, on rue Sainte-Thérèse, in Quebec, that the caribou was born in the basement of a certain Lionel Faucher, known as Ti-Père. At that time, the people of the neighborhood decided to organize, on the sidelines of the Carnival, a neighborhood party and an ice sculpture competition in front of their house.
“It was the children of Lionel Faucher who one day suggested to their father that they open a small place so that people could come and warm themselves up during the construction of their snow monuments,” says the 80-year-old historian. He then set up a bar in his basement, with a few chairs and a couch. “It was there that he invented caribou, a blend of port-style red wine and pure alcohol. It warmed up, not nearly! “I took a sip of it myself, and I had had enough,” says Jean Provencher, laughing.
Ti-Père’s original recipe has always remained a mystery, he who said he put a secret ingredient in it. Brandy, port, sherry, whisky, maple syrup, spices… hard to say what exactly was in it.
Today, Station 22 – Creative Beverages produces caribou, a 22.9% alcohol liqueur sold at the SAQ.
What to drink today?
The traditional caribou, although it adequately warmed carnival-goers, has been replaced over time by modern (and slightly less intoxicating) cocktails. Bonhomme syrup, created by Patrice Plante, alias Monsieur Cocktail, was recently added to the official Carnival offer. In 2019, he was commissioned by the festival team to “create a syrup that would represent Bonhomme and taste of winter”.
“Bonhomme told me that a hot cocktail is fine, but I would also like to be able to drink it cold! So we thought about the texture of the syrup so that it would be thicker and that it could be eaten just as well on a snow cone or ice cream,” he explains.
The final product, “inspired by pumice roots and Amerindian flavors”, contains Quebec cranberry juice, maple syrup, sweetgrass (produced by friends from Wendake) and spices reminiscent of desserts that our grandmothers made.
It is with this syrup that we prepare the new official drink of the Carnival: a pumice with Ungava gin, Chic Choc spiced rum, Bonhomme syrup, all stretched with hot water. You can drink it from a cup… or from a plastic cane, just like in the old days!
Carnival-goers who have gotten their hands on one of these famous bottles of syrup, “a rare commodity”, mentions its creator, can recreate other carnival cocktails at home: carnival cosmos (vodka and bonhomme syrup), spiced mulled wine (red wine, orange juice, syrup at Bonhomme) and the Old Fashion at Bonhomme (bourbon, Angostura, syrup).
Patrice Plante hopes that Quebecers will rediscover the joys of hot cocktails in winter, he who loves to prepare them so much, but who maintains that the interest is not there all the time. “However, a hot drink is so festive, so comforting. »
Gin pumice, supreme comfort
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.