This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
“Convenience foods” that those looking to eat locally fall back on in winter, root vegetables have many surprises in store for us. What if they had much more to offer us? Meeting with two enthusiasts.
In Patrice Fortier’s garden, on Rang de l’Embarras in Kamouraska, grows a diversity of ancient fruits and vegetables, most of which have sunk into oblivion. Among them, different roots, each more surprising than the last. There are turnips with a nutty taste, rutabagas reminiscent of the little fish of yesteryear with cinnamon, carrots with notes of gingerbread, beets whose flesh does not stain, as well as wild chervis.
The seed company has selected these species for their color, flavor and endurance. “When I started The Plant Society in 2001, I wanted to put forward varieties that had the potential to adapt to climate change. And it’s still that today,” he explains.
No question, however, of skimping on pleasure. Those for whom the Epicurean argument will always take precedence explain that ancient heritage offers them what interests them above all else. “There is a complexity in the species that I cultivate that we have completely eliminated from our lives. I really like the Laurentian rutabaga, but I still prefer my Krosno turnip, which I found in an American university seed bank. It is white with a small green collar. It’s a whole different vegetable! » adds the seed company.
In the same way, the Küttingen white carrot has nothing to do with the hybrid varieties of those found in the grocery store. “It’s an aromatic festival for the taste buds, with an addictive texture,” he illustrates.
The ideal way to discover them is to grow them yourself. Chervis, for example, a hardy perennial plant that can recall parsnips or carrots, can be grown as well as rhubarb. A luxury product that costs nothing, and which could bring us new taste sensations.
“At the beginning of spring, we harvest the roots, which we eat raw or fried. Afterwards, we eat the young leaves in salad. They have a delicate, floral, carrot taste. In summer, we put flowers in our salads. Then, in autumn, we harvest more roots,” says Mr. Fortier.
Different cooking
400 kilometers away, in the Eastern Townships, chef Éric Gendron is working to restore the nobility of root vegetables. In winter, at the Espace Old Mill restaurant where he works, the cellars are filled with roots that were planted at the end of summer and harvested after the first frost gave them a sweet taste: daikons, rutabagas, carrots, beets, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, sweet potatoes…
“Having your little reserve makes the difference. By seeing them as exceptional vegetables because they have experienced the first frost, it changes the narrative that these are products that we consume because we have to. We can celebrate them for what they are,” explains the chef.
The principle ? Bring out their natural sugars in order to concentrate their flavors. “You should avoid boiling them. If you dilute them, they lose their intensity. We’ve all had root vegetable soups that were too watery. That’s a bit like their problem, but it can be corrected in several ways,” he assures.
Kohlrabi confit in camelina oil, carpaccio of beets or rutabagas with the texture of Jell-O, barbecue vegetables glazed in their own juice, turnip steak in the pan: there is no limit to this that we can do, even without great techniques.
“A good example that people can do at home is to oil the celery root, salt it and wrap it in aluminum foil,” describes Mr. Gendron. We forget it in the oven all day and end up with a vegetable that is falling apart. Cooled, it makes superb salads. Emulsified with brown butter, it is a delicious stuffing for pasta. »
“You don’t need to be skilled with a knife or have any equipment, just an oven at 195 oF or a wood stove,” he adds. A very simple technique that the young chef invites us to try this winter, at the chalet, to reconnect with the territory while waiting for the return of spring and its early fruits.
To discover, according to Patrice Fortier
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