This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
The father-daughter duo formed by Gérald Le Gal and Ariane Paré-Le Gal, behind Gourmet sauvage and author of the bestselling book Forest. Identify, pick, cookpresents his second book, Harvest the foresta practical guide to better identify wild plants throughout their growth stages.
From the bible to the practical guide
The book Forest. Identify, pick, cook is a kind of hybrid between the encyclopedia and the recipe book. “It really reflects who we are, our relationship to the forest, our relationship to the kitchen, which is colored by all this work, all this intimacy that we build with our territory, explains Ariane Paré. -The Gal. When I made the decision with my spouse to take over my father’s business, I had to immerse myself in all that. It was therefore first and foremost a tool for my father and me, for transmitting knowledge, and a legacy to our children. »
Finally, the book was a huge success, selling more than 50,000 copies since its publication in 2019. “People told us: your object is magnificent, but I can’t take it into the woods, it’s too wholesale. From there was born the idea of designing a practical guide, 470 pages!
“We wanted that Harvest the forest be more detailed in terms of photos and that the majority of plants are photographed at different stages of growth, she adds. Because it’s one thing to identify the plant when you can eat it or cook it, but it’s so valuable to be able to identify it beforehand. We are picking morels and we are already seeing babies from such and such a plant, we know that we will be able to come back to the same place later in the season. »
The book is divided into types of plants, such as greens, flowers and mushrooms, including several photos illustrating the various stages of maturation of each species. Tips for identifying and picking them responsibly are more extensive in this new book. This allows reader-gatherers to be well equipped to venture into the woods and get to know their living environment better.
Meet the territory
Over the last 30 years of activity at Gourmet Sauvage, Ariane Paré-Le Gal has seen her father’s business, hers today, metamorphose. “I was a teenager when my father started, and there was no interest in what he was doing, apart from certain chefs, like Anne Desjardins and Normand Laprise,” she says.
One thing leading to another, gastronomy, as well as interest in the territory and our environmental awareness, have evolved considerably in recent years. “All of this partly explains why more and more people understand the importance of having close contact with the wild territory around us in order to understand it and be closer to our humanity. »
According to her, this is in particular what explains the great success of their first book. ” Forest came to dream, she adds. There are people who bought it without ever going to pick it up, but who leafed through it thinking: wow! There’s a whole universe in there. Just knowing it exists brings us closer to this place. »
As the warm season is upon us, as all of nature is in full rebirth, this is the perfect opportunity to meet it, observe it, and fully experience it.
“Food is a fabulous excuse to go back to the forest and be a little less afraid of this environment,” she concludes.
Harvest the forest. Wild Plant Identification Guide. Ariane Paré-Le Gal and Gérald Le Gal, Éditions Cardinal, $35.