Along the journey...
I have been undergoing an identity excavation and restructuring for the last couple of years. This excavation became somewhat archeological in 2010 when I traced my genealogy and ancestors. Who are they and then who does that make me? I have been trying to measure all of the genetic material and what it has overcome to endure and thrust me forth. I guess I was looking for perspective, but the question quickly turned into “what did they eat?”
Where the search for my roots would take me
For Christmas 2010, I went on an extreme back-country ski trip in the Charlevoix region, being prepared for cross-country skiing with a friend from Montréal and two great girlfriends from France. We had a great time, without accomplishing the skiing from refuge to refuge. We ate a decadent reveillon dinner in a cabin in the woods and then got shamanistic and loose in an igloo under the moon. On the way home, though, we stopped in the villages of my ancestors: Petite-Rivière-St-François for my Simard side, Chateau Richer for my Chabot and Mésange side and Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade for my Leduc side. It was winter and very beautiful, but things were closed for the holidays, and the only hint of my ancestors’ diets was that in Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade were the ice fishing cabins dotting the river, and I imagined my ancestor Antoine Leduc, courreur des bois, ice fishing as well. These cute villages seemed to take on a special meaning as I connected them to my genetic origins.
The sun going down on the idyllic Chateau Richer, Qc., once the home of my Chabot and Mésange sides
In the summer of 2011, I went to France to visit the same French girls I had visited my ancestral villages with in Québec. I wanted to see them all, but I didn’t have time to see Angoulême where my Simard side is from. I did see Nalliers in Poitou-Charentes where my father’s paternal Chabot side emigrated from. It was really old, rural and quiet. The village was tiny, the church empty and I only saw a few really old people in the streets.
Generations upon generations in Nalliers in Poitou-Charentes' cemetary- origin of the Chabot family
The second place I visited was the origin of Antoine Leduc, my maternal grand-mother’s ancestor. There is a novel about him and he had quite the adventures as a Courreur des Bois, getting married to a Fille du Roi and eventually getting killed in the Toronto or Detroit region by the Iroquois while trading furs. His village was called Louvetôt and it was in Normandy.
School and town hall in the village of Louvetôt in Normandy- origin of Antoine Leduc the Courreur des bois
I took the train from Rouen to the closest village and then I was going to walk 7 km to Louvetôt. A trucker picked me up, and asked why I was going to Louvetôt as I was obviously far from home. I told him I was searching my ancestral lands for my roots. He said “Oh la vache!” when he thought about someone coming from Canada to a place like Louvetôt with probably about 100 inhabitants.
Oh la vache! La sacrée vache! The cow, like the apple, is for real in Normandy!
When I got there, I couldn’t really figure out what they ate either as they had one bakery that sold a few pan-French pastries and cheap candy. There was a church and the City Hall and school were combined. It took me about 5 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other. I walked through the countryside all afternoon from one rural village to the other. It was nice, but I didn’t find my ancestors’ food.
Cross and all- Louvetôt
The last place I visited though was wonderful! It was called Mortagne-Au-Perche- still in Normandy. I hitch-hiked there and was driven by a sweet Portuguese family and a very kind Turkish man that went out of his way to bring me there. I stayed with a sweet 71 year-old woman named Madeleine.
Mortagne-au-perche sister city with Boucherville- really?
Mortange was the place of origin of my ancestor Marie Mésange, wife of Mathurin Chabot(My father’s paternal ancestor). She was baptized on April 4th, my birthday, and Mathurin died on June 12th the day of my father’s birth. Mésange is the French name for the tit (bird).
What will one find when one looks inside?
The culinary past is still present. Boudin Noir! Mortagne is the capital of Boudin Noir (black blood sausage or pudding). Over 100 exhibitors, butchers, traders and artisans from around the world gather for an annual festival for blood sausage enthusiasts! Four to 5 kilometres of black blood sausage is sold during the three days. There is a competition for who has the best blood sausage (tasted cold), a pig squealing contest and participants have to take a vow, swearing that they eat blood sausage at least once a week religiously and that they will sing and spread the good news.
The real comfort food that resonates in my dna! Blood sausage, apples and onions.
I didn’t eat blood sausage until I got to Québec, and I loved it. It felt like coming home. I made it for my Simard family in a Caribbean-style (Pudding and Souse) a few years ago. My Mom, my Aunts and Grand-parents were overjoyed to eat boudin visibly displaying pangs of nostalgia, but my cousins weren’t having it. Why did blood sausage feel comforting and delicious to me and not my cousins?
The Church
My heart skips a beat!
Pangs of nostalgia- so beautiful
Gargoyle avec un peu de vécu et de la vie
I really felt at home in Mortagne-au-Perche. The architecture and scenery was gorgeous. I was welcomed into Madeleine’s home. I also enjoyed the company of Madeleine’s friends one evening, two newly re-married couples in their 60’s living life to the fullest, cracking jokes, the wine flowing, getting that dreamy Shangri-la look when they spoke of the mystical Quebec of Gilles Vigneault that they’d never gotten a chance to visit, but had seen on tv so many times.
The door
They grumbled about how the butcher, in the centre of town with a snazzy shop, shouldn’t make blood sausage because he’s stealing business and the work of the charcutier. They made it clear that Le Roi du Boudin was the place to go. The boudin was delicious. I had it smoked, with candied oranges, apples, chestnut, and much more. Other regional specialties in Mortagne-au-Perche are cider, pommeau and calvados. I don’t drink anymore..but I drank while I was there… I love pommeau and cider and it was great with the blood sausage. I did find traces of my ancestors: I ate what they ate, I saw buildings that had belonged to the aristocratic Mésange family and I saw the bird itself.
It's good to be home...
Mélissa means "honeybee" in Greek. The sweet pea is my flower. On the last day of my trip I saw a group of black carpenter bees with blue iridescent wings in a patch of sweet peas. Thank you!
Chef Lily of ChuChai: Awaiting battle
On June 15th, 2013 for the Vegan Rumble & Shake ChuChai backed by: D-Trois Pierres, Les Douceurs du Marché, 4 Corners of the Table, Majiza Phillip Rhythm’n’Groove and Mélanie Dusseault Photographe; faced-off agains:
Chef Luis of Green Panther: Ready to Rumble (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Green Panther backed by Carya and Zephyr farms, Truffe Import, Brutalimentation, GOA pilates and Jean-Phillippe Cousineau Illustrator; and against
Stéphanie Audet of Crudessence battling in the Corners (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Crudessence backed by Lufa Farms, Prana, Sportera, Midnight Poutine and Rachel et Michel Video Productions. This was my experience of it as an organizer….
Haim Shoham and Catherine Riendeau on team Green Panther in a pilates struggle! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
The Vegan Rumble & Shake felt like having two brides and a groom (vegan ones, of course) and their respective and eclectic families under one roof. There was the food, dancing, confrontation, emotion, the ceremony that was a little drawn-out, couples were formed, people let loose and the guests from different spots in society coming together.
One of the Rumble & Shake Love Stories (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
For myself, I felt like the over-zealous mother-in-law in adrenaline-land worrying if everything was going to come together…. until the moment actually arrived and then it all whirled by. Like a wedding, you plan and plan for a day that goes by quickly and when it gets there, you try to just relax and hope nothing goes seriously wrong.
Yours Truly enjoying the wily festivities (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
When it went down, it was inspiring to see what comes out of combining so many talented people, their products and getting them to strut their stuff.
Chef Lily of ChuChai Recruiting soldiers (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Really, with all of these fine-tuned professionals, nothing could go wrong, they just had to do their thing.
Haim Shoham the owner of Green Panther with a fresh truffle from Truffe Import (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
The Weapons (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
From the wild mushrooms, that were supplied to the sprouts and unconventional herbs, like chocolate mint and anise hyssop, kale, fresh garlic scapes, rhubarb, arugula, maple syrup and strawberries from the farms,to the raw decadence of Crudessence Stéphanie Audet’s dessert,
Stéphanie Audet's "Perfect Plate"(Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Chef Lily of ChuChai’s tightly crafted rolls,and Chef Luis of Green Panther’s fun and festive felafels, the deliciousness and freshness was off the charts.
Catherine Riendeau from Truffe Import trying to get Chef Lily's salad roll in one bite! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Chef Lily eating Green Panther's felafel (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Crudessence took the trophy for bravado with Stéphanie Audet being hoisted like a championand David Côté’s Rocky-style boxing training,
Crudessence on top of the world! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
David Côté Crudessence's Founder and Champion (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Green Panther did their muscle flexing and red carpet cameos, but Chef Lily had the quiet assurance and grace of a ninja. The variety was the most resplendent aspect of the night to me, and I could have crowned different players for different things, but the combination of all of the creations seemed to over-shadow the unicity of a winner: each contender was a champion in their division.
Haim Shoham lovin' it! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
The old-school hip hop dancers,
Tisha Breaking it down for team ChuChai. Man, "That Girl is Poison!" (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
GOA’s pilates’ crew
Mariano and Véro from GOA: Making pilates a game! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
and Sportera rocked the house.
Gary Pillu and girlfriend Valérie of Sportera (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
It was nice to see good and healthy food linked to energy, participation and unconventionality. When I planned this aspect, I wanted it to be like a scene from Westside story where the crews face-off by dancing and singing.
Feet moving! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
I didn’t want passive observers waiting on the sidelines for what comes next, but to get in the Rumble and get their hands dirty with the chefs. This was the second biggest thrill to me.
Chef Lily and recruited soldiers in battle (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Tisha, Makeda and Suzanne really killed it, finishing their Bell Biv Devoe choreaography of “Poison” with an up-in-your-face ass smacking aimed at the competition.
You want some of this- Suzanne Rigden- representing team ChuChai, winner of $200 in organic vegetables from D-Trois Pierres (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
They called out “When I say Chu, you say Chi, Chu- Chai, Chu-Chai” They even said “Crudessence, Green Panther- pssshh, who are they?”
Bad Mamma Jamma- Suzanne Bruneau- body and soul united on the dance floor! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
They rocked the dis as it can only be done in the old school. Makeda even had the hot pants and halter-top- shazam!
Bring it on! Makeda hip hop dancer extraordinaire from team ChuChai (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
GOA’s Dana, Véro and Mariano surprised us, and showed the versatility of pilates; people were having fun and playing and I saw many legs shaking with effort for their teams.
Having fun with pilates (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
A soldier almost down! Pilates is tougher than it looks! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Sportera was the best match with Crudessence in sheer oomph and pep and the competitors moved around double-time with David Côté and Stéphanie Audet seriously scouting the most die-hard soldiers from up-above.
Never felt so alive! Sportera work-out (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Sportera Creative coacing: tight-fit with the creative Crudessence team (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
The food at 10:45pm was a welcome reward,
HMMMM! GOOOODD! Organic, fresh and spontaneous! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Erica Dancose manager of Les Douceurs du Marché team ChuChai enjoying the Crudessence creation (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
and the buzzing around the tables from station to station and chef to chef,
Proud helpers! Great creations! Sporting the Green panther hat! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Soldiers helping their chefs (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
tasting and chatting created a cloud of sighs, satiation and sheer pleasure.
All helpers, all winners! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Michael Mooney- Ecstatic winner of Lufa's $200 vegetable prize! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Many of the winners of the prizes came to me bubbling with joy and thank you’s. The mutual gratitude that flowed between the businesses and the participants was unbelievable. From bi-weekly CSA baskets over the season given by Carya to shocked helper Justine Ethier, to the $200 dinner at ChuChai to Mélodie, all-day workshops in Crudessence’s Living Foods academy to Élodie, Michael Mooney jumping around in celebration for his $200 Lufa prize and Romain Rougier that left with his fresh truffle from Truffe Import, there was much to celebrate.
English announcer Mathieu Bergeron and French announcer Laurie Paquet. ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE? (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Fraternizing with the enemy! Stéphanie Audet and Haim Shoham; Good friends, but mortal enemies! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
There were less people than we had hoped, just over one hundred, but it was the right number for the space. The bios were a little long and after the hype of presenting the contenders, the zealous exercise, and unbelievable food it concluded with those who had been recruited by the chefs being the real winners, instead of crowning a team. The shake didn’t go-down after the strenuous exercise and eating and the food wasn’t formally presented nor the ingredients from the farmers and the food suppliers, although, many got the details from the farmers, chefs and suppliers by getting to know them personally.
The imperfection aside, it was a beautiful sight to behold these three clans together and the public joining-in the out-pouring of energy and the culinary muscle flexing and to see people leave well-fed and many with hefty prizes.
Gettin' loose! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Rising to the challenge! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Many people have already asked that the event be re-done. I am all for it and I know the spots that need to be buffered. I also hope all of the contenders can get divorced so we can get married again next year, with less ceremony, more reception, a little earlier and, of course, with a panel of judges and a champion belt to seal the deal! Be there or be square at the VVEEEGGAANNN RRRRRUMMMMBLE and SSSHHHHAAAKKKEE 2nd edition!
Thank you to Mélanie Dusseault Photographe for all of the wonderful photos and for going above and beyond the call of duty!
Special shout-out to Aisha Issa of Nutrisco Sensorial Marketing who promotes Drugstore and ChuChai and co-organized with me and who has opened-up the world of fantasy event-planning to me!
Check-out the articles of fellow blogger Amie Watson of Midnight Poutine (member of the Raw in Montreal group- like me!) and Rachel et Michel’s super-duper video
and Mariève Savaria of Brutalimentation and Jean-Phillippe Cousineau’s wonderful drawings
The Pensive Chef Lily: Quiet and Powerful- Ready to win next year. Chef of my team! I swear allegiance!(Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Don’t miss the Vegan Rumble & Shake at the Drugstore on June 15th at 8:30pm. Nutrisco and ‘Round Table Tours are hosting this face-off between ChuChai, Crudessence and Green Panther. Each restaurant will be backed by an urban farm: Lufa, D-Trois Pierres, Zephyr and Carya, by a food supplier: Prana, Les Douceurs du Marché and Truffe Import. They will also be associated with a blogger and exercise activity. 4 Corners of the Table is asscoiated with ChuChai, Amie Watson of Midnight Poutine with Crudessence and Marie-Ève Savaria of Brutalimentation with Green Panther. The sports include hip-hop dancing with Ethel Bruneau‘s descendents, a work-out activity with Sportera and pilates with Goa. Participants sign-up in one of the three teams and follow their team’s activity. From the activity, the chefs will recruit assistants to help them assemble 300 bites! All fifteen recruited helpers (five per team) will receive a prize. Twelve prizes of a value of two hundred dollars will be given including extravagant dinners, free sports and dance training, organic vegetable baskets and food tours as well as three prizes of a value of $75: food, food and more food). After the ‘Rumble’ comes the tasting and the ‘Shake’. There will be dj’s and mingling.
A bite that illustrates ChuChai's style and that won a prize for the best bite of the year. Imagine what chef Lily will do with local organic ingredients from D-Trois Pierres and specialty Asian ingredients from Les Douceurs du Marché!
Tickets are $20 and are available for sale at info (at) nutrisco dot ca and in the participating restaurants (ChuChai, Crudessence and Green Panther) Get them soon, they’re going like energy balls!
Crudessence's "smoked salmon" sushi. What are David Côté and Stéphanie Audet going to come up with with what their long-time suppliers and friends Lufa and Prana provide them?
Ingredients growing- some for the Rumble & Shake. Zephyr and Carya in Senneville are partnering-up to supply Green Panther. Zephyr provides space to Santropol Roulant for their peri-urban farm and grows seedlings for Urban Seedling. Carya hosts "soirées champêtres" or "country evenings" where top chefs are paired with a farm to serve a private five-course meal in Senneville. Get to know your local farmers and mushroom forager and truffle importer through Chef Luis' creations on team Green Panther!
How did a zany night like this come about you may ask…..
I have been hard at work on the development of various food tours for my new food tour company ‘Round Table Tours or Tours de la Table (recipient of the best female entrepreneurial project in Montreal in 2013.) The most recently added tour is called Vegan Montreal. It is a tour of tasting in vegan restaurants, food production sites and on urban farms. I wanted to do a tour that wasn’t about meat, sugar and booze, but one that focused on well-being, ethical business practices, sustainability and the future.
At the Crudessence loft with Mathieu Gallant for raw vegan culinary playtime on the Vegan Montreal tour. (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
I interviewed the owners of Crudessence, ChuChai, Aux Vivres, Prana, Lufa farms and the agricultural director of Santropol Roulant. I heard their amazing stories and saw businesses that were putting their deeper values to work and offering examples of what the future could look like. From Crudessence that strives to “be the change”, to Lufa that strives to grow vegetables in the city for the city without using more land, to Prana that creates organic, raw, vegan, gluten-free sustainable snacks, to Aux Vives that makes vegan food a “normality” with their comfort food approach and bringing food to the 80% non-vegan masses that is their clientele, and Green Panther that has created a lush and swinging oasis in the city. ChuChai redefines veganism as luxury and a party. Yes a party, they have taken control of the kitchen at the Drugstore and are catering the Piknik Électronik. It was when I approached ChuChai that I met their promoter Aisha Issa aka Nutrisco Sensorial Marketing. She right away proposed that we do an event to ring in the summer and announce their new presence at Drugstore and at Piknik as well as the beginning of the Montreal Vegan tour. She suggested we leverage with other vegan restaurants. She told me to think about it and get back to her.
Peaking at the Mother Mushroom in her lair at Rise Kombucha's factory headquarters. (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
I have had the privilege of being good friends with Judith Colombo the agricultural director of the largest organic farm on the island of Montreal, D-Trois Pierres, for ten years, and I know they are always looking for partners and I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great if there were urban farmers in the mix?’ My tours are about networking and team-building, so I started thinking of how I could incorporate a sense of team and participation into the event. I thought of Ethel Bruneau’s family of tap and hip hop dancers, Kevin Pillu of Sportera (winner in the Quebec Entrepreneurship contest for Services to Businesses) and Dana El-Hallack of Goa Pilates. We needed someone to put the event on an unconventional pedestal and bloggers seemed to be the way. I also thought that the bloggers should have a challenge and opportunity to collaborate, so I thought of different mediums to associate with each one: photo, paint and video (Mélanie Dusseault, Jean-Phillippe Cousineau and Rachel et Michel). This was great as the event became part of FIMA’s programming. The idea was so wacky, but if you’re going to leverage and be wacky, you may as well do it right. Everyone said yes and embarked on the collective craziness! (except Aux Vivres who was renovating and Santropol Roulant whose production is too limited in mid-June. Green Panther, Jardins Carya and Fermes du Zephyr quickly took-over)
The Vegan Montreal tour highlights innovation, new approaches and practices and those businesses that transcend conventional boundaries. It was in the Vegan community where I found a feverish enthusiasm, a can-do attitude and a love for creating outside-of-the-box. From the food production sites, to the farms to the restaurants I was met with goodwill and a desire to share and grow in collaboration.
The Vegan Montreal tour is tested and and raring to go. From visiting Lufa, the only rooftop commercial greenhouse, to ChuChai’s innovative fake meat in the thai tradition (no onions and garlic- Buddhist temple-style), to Crudessence’s workshops that spread the good news about live food and experimenting in the loft, to the pioneering of Aux Vivres, the funkyness of Green Panther, Rise Kombucha’s mother mushroom (!!!), Prana’s factory and Santropol’s oasis in the city, the Vegan Montreal tour brings you into a universe that you may think you know, but you really don’t until you get inside and behind the scenes! All participants in the Rumble & Shake will receive a 20% discount on the Vegan Montreal Tour, and three people will win a free tour.
Come on out and Rumble, Tour and Shake!
I have the privilege of blogging for the ChuChai team and being on an all-girl team of chefs, dancers, farmers, shop managers and photographers. See the gallery below of the ladies on the team:
Yours truly with Thai chef Lily Sirikittikul of ChuChai. Gentle and demure, but Lily is a culinary powerhouse; she was born in a wok! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
Judith Colombo: Long-time friend, organic farmer, great cook and member of the dinner club for 9 years!
Ethel Bruneau: tap dance legend with some of her family that will be breaking it down- old school! (Tisha, Majiza and Makita!)
Mélanie Dussealut: Photographe Extraordinaire! In front of the camera on this one. 4 Corners of the Table is lucky to have her at it's service for the event!
I don’t have a photo of Erica Dancose from Les Douceurs du Marché, but you’ll meet her there!
Myself, Mélissa Simard, blogger with 4 Corners of the Table in team ChuChai and co-organizer of the Rumble & Shake with 'Round Table Tours. Bringing people together around food everyday! (Photo by Mélanie Dusseault: http://melaniedusseault.com/fr/)
