It’s shopping time! Our team selects new products for you to put – or not – in your mouth.
Melt for hot chocolate
Who says December and days spent outside having fun in the snow also says… hot chocolate to enjoy with your cheeks pink from the cold. Sold in packs of 5, the new melting hot chocolate bombs from Première Moisson have everything to please the little ones… and perhaps even especially the grown-ups, with their sought-after flavors. In addition to the classic Intense Dark (70% cocoa) and Gianduja (Belgian milk chocolate), we fell for the one with Espelette pepper and Chipotlé, with a slightly smoky taste, and for the sweetness of Golden Milk, with white chocolate and turmeric, cinnamon and ginger. Son enjoyed the Caramel Sweetness and had a lot of fun seeing his bomb dissolve on contact with the hot milk in his cup. A great idea for a host gift.
Chocolates made by a Quebec master chocolatier using sustainably sourced cocoa beans
$24.95, offered in Première Moisson branches and online
Boreal plants to drink
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY HARRINGTON
The new trio of non-alcoholic cocktails from the Quebec company Harrington
Offering non-alcoholic options to your guests during the holidays is easier than ever. But many non-alcoholic ready-to-drink products are often sweet and full of artificial flavors. This is far from being the case in this new trio of alcohol-free tonics offered by the inspiring Quebec company Harrington. Their secret? The use of gentian root, which replaces quinine, generally used in tonic sodas. Its taste is subtle and sweet, slightly bitter. Combined with forest, fruity and floral flavors inspired by the boreal richness of the 400 acres of Domaine Harrington, in the Laurentians – cucumber and wintergreen, apple and sweet clover, sea buckthorn and juniper berries – the result is very convincing, and presented in pretty cans.
No added sugar, 10 calories per can
$13.99 for 4 cans, available online and in stores
A cheese that everyone agrees with
PHOTO PROVIDED BY FROMAGERIE NOUVELLE-FRANCE
The Shepherds’ Fruit Farm
Looking for a unifying cheese to serve on your platters at aperitif time on New Year’s Eve? Think about the Fruitière des bergers, one of the latest innovations from the Nouvelle-France cheese factory, located in Racine, in Estrie. This sheep’s milk cheese received a unanimous reception from our group of testers made up of around ten adults and children. The very mild, but unique taste of this semi-soft cheese and its tenderness pleased everyone. “It’s all-purpose. Everyone will love it,” summed up one tester. With the Fruitière des bergers, the Nouvelle-France cheese factory, the largest processor of sheep’s milk in Quebec, wanted to pay tribute to the seven sheepfolds that allow it to produce its tasty products.
$15.25 for 250 g
Online and in certain grocery stores, mainly in the Estrie region
To satisfy unexpected hunger pangs
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MADAME LABRISKI
Madame Labriski’s Oatmeal Cookie Mix
Between two holiday feasts, surprise guests ring your doorbell in the afternoon? It doesn’t matter whether it’s uncles and aunts who come to play cards or little neighbors from the neighborhood who come home hungry after playing in the snow: Madame Labriski has a simple, quick and delicious solution. With its dry cookie mixes without refined sugar, it is possible to cook oatmeal pancakes in 16 minutes (1 minute of preparation, 15 minutes of cooking). In addition to being soft and tasty, they are very nourishing. Different varieties are offered: cocoa, chocolate chips, bananas and oats. These blends are part of a dozen new Madame Labriski products launched this fall. Among them, we also find powdered dates (to replace sugar in recipes) and even barbecue sauce.
$7.99 for 350 g (approximately 12 patties)
In IGA grocery stores