Cuisine Canada Scene

A Year at Les Fougères
Written by Charles part and Jennifer Warren-Part
Reviewed by Karl Wells

Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part’s A Year at Les Fougères (Chelses Books, 2007) is a cookbook, but it’s also the story of a year in the life of a restaurant – Les Fougères – with emphasis on how it embraces and celebrates each unfolding season. Les Fougères borders the Gatineau Hills of Quebec. The seasons there are well defined and spectacularly beautiful, as seen in the few hundred photographs taken for the book by Ottawa-Gatineau photographer, Andrew Van Beek.

In her introductory note Jennifer Warren-Part gives the rationale for A Year at Les Fougères. “We decided to collect recipes and observations about what happened at Les Fougères over the course of a year in an effort to capture the way the land and seasons shape our lives and work.”

Each chapter represents a different month from January to December. Chapters begin with a beautifully written passage describing the natural setting outside the restaurant at that month of year, as well as timely activities happening inside Les Fougères. An annual project in January, for example, is the making of marmalade:

“Something we always associate with January and which begins to call us back to action is the fleeting availability of bitter Seville oranges. For a few weeks in January we are all thrown into a frenzy of marmalade making. We make about 800 jars every year in our store kitchen and the gorgeous, sharp, astringent smell of Seville orange is emblematic of the January air at Les Fougères as the marmalade gently simmers day and night.”

Recipes
Of the approximately 60 carefully selected recipes in the book, each fits its corresponding month well. There’s Hare Ragout with Seville Orange and Rosemary Gnocchi in January, Pan-Seared Quebec Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Rhubarb and Rosemary Compote in March and Grainfed Chicken Breast from La Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts with Mi-Careme, Chanterelles, Raspberries and Lemon Thyme for July.

Van Beek’s photographs are as evocative as the text and recipes. The lands around Les Fougères are shown in their various stages of seasonal change, from white coated in winter to bare forest and blooming daffodils in spring, to ladyslippers and maidenhair ferns along the woodland path behind Les Fougères in summer. Remaining photos feature the restaurant’s food – delicious finished dishes, process shots of sausage making and foie gras deveining – and people photos of the Les Fougeres staff, customers and suppliers.

It’s almost impossible to spend time with this delightful book and not want to spring up and make one of the recipes. I’ve done it many times. Most recently I decided to try the Parmesan-Crusted Halibut with Soft Poached Egg. Fresh halibut is crusted with shredded Parmesan and breadcrumbs, then baked and served with a delicate soft poached egg on top. A drizzle of good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar combine with luxurious yellow yoke, released from the egg as it’s cut, to sauce the Parmesan crust and halibut. The result is a delicious combination of halibut, strong cheese, textures, salt, tart and sweet.

Captivating section
The book closes with a resources section. For me, this section was almost as captivating as the rest of the book. It gives a comprehensive list of the purveyors who supply Les Fougères with its food. There is a certain degree of satisfaction to be drawn from the knowledge that Les Fougeres acquires its supplies from small “quality” vendors, farms and importers. Their nuts come from the Shiraz Grocery Store in Ottawa, mustard from Brasserie McAuslan of Montreal, wild caribou from the First Nations in Nunavik (distributed through Les Gibiers Canabec), and their Arctic char comes from Pangnirtung Fisheries of Nunavut.

A Year at Les Fougères is a quadruple winner, claiming Gold in the Food Culture category at the Canadian Culinary Book Awards, Best Cookbook by a Chef at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, a Gold Ribbon in the Self-published Cookbook category at the Cordon d’ Or Culinary Academy Awards, and a silver IPPY for Best Regional Work of Non-Fiction at the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

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A career television, radio, and print journalist, Karl Wells is a self-acknowledged lifelong foodie. Currently, Karl hosts the Rogers TV show, One Chef One Critic, featuring food stories, foodie guests and a popular cooking segment. He is also restaurant critic for The Telegram in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Photo by Karl Wells.