TasteTrip
Before long, the road leads us to Domaine
Steinbach, a farm specializing in organic
apple cider, iced cider and a delectable selection
of duck pâtés. It's just 9 a.m. when we
pull into the yard. Though the shop isn't
officially open, the owner kindly unlocks its
doors and invites us into the tasting room.
We begin with iced cider, Quebec's
answer to icewine. Pressed from frozen
cider apples and fermented into a delightful
aperitif, this local treat perfectly complements
the rich pâtés we sample. Soon we
are tucking into more of the farm's specialties, such as robust apple cider, black currant
vinegars, duck confit and caramelized onion
preserves sweetened with maple syrup. I
am struck by the natural affinities of the
terroir: the taste of creamy duck pâté, subtly
flavoured with local black currants and
cloves, is heightened by a dab of onion-andmaple
conserve. Before we depart, we fill our
bags with gourmet purchases from the store.
As the highway dips and winds toward
the historic parish of Sainte-Famille, we
are overwhelmed by the spectacular
morning sun hitting the steeples of
Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica across
the river. We pull off the road into an
apple orchard to take a picture of the
gleaming white granite cathedral and
immediately see a man coming through
the trees on a tractor. Before we can apologize
for our spontaneous trespass, he
is waving us to his house. "The view is
much better from my yard," he says,
directing us down the road. The farmer,
named Pierre, introduces us to another
local treat — a tractor ride. Soon we are
bouncing through a sea of sweetly scented
apple blossoms as we scratch down directions
to his neighbour's fish store and
smokehouse.
Joseph Paquet is the island's last commercial
fisherman, and on this day, with the
help of his young grandson, he is manning
the tiny red and white roadside
Poissonnerie. Our halting French and
Monsieur Paquet's limited English result in
a hilarious game of charades, but with the
help of some primitive drawings, we learn
about the delicious local fish we are enjoying
— doré (walleye), sturgeon mousse
and smoked eel. Paquet offers me a translucent
sliver of eel, sliced from a metre-long
fillet that he has cured in maple syrup and
then smoked. It is a culinary revelation, as
is the ethereal mousse, shot with ground
nuts and creamy cheese.
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