The book At GO, we eat slowly is one of the only books that does not guarantee recipes ready in 20 minutes tops. It brings to the forefront a very different art of living: that of being present, of appreciating the moment when we prepare the meal and of living more slowly. A book that invites us to breathe and rest. And we really need it in our whirlwind lives where sometimes we have the impression that we can do everything… but always quickly without ever really enjoying it.
“Our book is a counterweight to all the offerings that we find. We emphasize the pleasure of sitting down to a meal that we will have prepared together, with good wine and people we love,” explains Madeleine Arcand. Slow food is not about eating slowly just for the sake of the gesture and for the minutes to pass. It is first of all a movement that comes from Italy, appearing in the mid-1980s, in reaction to the rise of fast food.
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THE slow food is available around three poles: the spirit of slow living, slowness and pleasure. The book by Madeleine Arcand and Maxime Morin too. By browsing it, we immediately see the references to the art of living specific to Scandinavian countries, these champions of slow living, and especially in Denmark, where hygge is in the spotlight. “We traveled everywhere there. We were inspired by their lifestyle, but also by their recipes. Denmark is a country that resembles Quebec in terms of cold and shorter days. Their hygge lifestyle is found everywhere in their homes, in businesses and homes. We took everything we loved and adapted it to our reality. For example, we made changes to recipes to include local ingredients like cranberries! »
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THE slow food, it also means encouraging the purchase of local food and following seasonal production. And when we take our foot off the gas and slow down, our perceptions change. “In the idea of slowing down, there is also hearing the signals, also listening and, above all, reconnecting. Our energy and our sleep are not the same depending on the season. Naturally, in summer we want to eat lighter,” explains Madeleine Arcand.
In fact, the recipes in the book are grouped by season. Some come back – like smørrebrøds, super popular and easy to make sandwiches – with variations depending on the products of the moment, but others are well associated with the season.
Smørrebrøds
April Franco
Be together
“It’s not a question of being rigid, but rather a desire to align one’s desires. The choice is often intuitive. In our opinion, the recipes we offer depending on the time of year are what you will want to eat,” says the author.
Eat slow invites us to move away from speed and performance. “You can slow down and make a longer recipe even on a Tuesday evening. We often get caught in automatisms. We hurry to get home, quickly eat, and then hurry again to tidy up and do chores and then spend two hours on Netflix,” she says. However, being together while cooking is a way of being together. Everything is therefore a question of choice and reflection.
The book makes us question our relationship to speed. Overperformance brings a lot of anxiety and pushes us to always want to optimize our time.
Meals should not be used to make us go faster, they should be used to “put us down”. “Stop being in a hurry, it’s a challenge!” But by slowing down, we give ourselves space for pleasure and presence,” notes Madeleine Arcand.
Madeleine Arcand and Maxime Morin
April Franco
4 tips to slow down on a Tuesday evening
It’s possible ! Here are Madeleine Arcand’s tips.
- Cut vegetables or fruits during the weekend that will be used to prepare meals or lunches for the week. You can do it with friends or family. We make it a pleasant moment.
- Serve children a snack when they arrive from school to allow them to wait until the meal. So we can have dinner at 6:30 or 7 p.m. without them complaining that they are hungry.
- Eating later allows you to have done tasks and homework beforehand. So when we sit down at the table, no one is in a hurry to get up to finish what they were doing!
- Involve children in preparing meals, from the time they are little! We place them up to the task and give them a task appropriate to their age: tearing lettuce, stirring ingredients or even nicely setting up a vegetable platter.
At GO, we eat slowly, Seasonal recipes inspired by Scandinavian countries by Madeleine Arcand and Maxime Morin, Les Éditions de l’Homme
Man’s editions