Le chef veut de la viande sauvage...

[Animal 0]

Pass the beaver ribs, s.v.p.

Whether it's roasted snow goose or moose neck stew, Quebec chefs are demanding a return of traditional game
HEATHER SOKOLOFF

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

August 6, 2008 at 9:49 AM EDT

MONTREAL — Every now and then Martin Picard closes his famous Montreal brasserie, Au Pied de Cochon, to cook for his friends and family. The chef, an avid hunter, shares his bounty - offerings could include barbecued beaver ribs, moose neck stew, braised deer or roasted snow goose.

The public has become curious about these closed-door feasts, and Mr. Picard, the man credited with glamorizing traditional Quebecois dishes by adding foie gras to poutine, has never been interested in performing behind the velvet rope.

So he wants the provincial government to rethink laws prohibiting the sale of wild game in restaurants - arguing French Canadians communally ate beaver, bear, wild duck and pigeons for centuries before modern agriculture turned beef and chicken into supermarket staples.

"We have a gastronomic identity," he says. "These dishes are part of our culinary heritage."

Mr. Picard's position is supported by Normand Laprise, chef/owner of celebrated Montreal restaurant Toqué!.

He says making wild game available to the public would revive forgotten culinary traditions currently more appreciated by American hunters touring Quebec than locals.

The chefs are particularly interested in offering snow goose. The migratory bird, which used to be the centrepiece of the French-Canadian Christmas table, is enjoying such healthy population levels its hunting season was recently extended.

"Our families have been nourished on these dishes," says Mr. Laprise, who grew up eating wild caribou and catching eels on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in his native Kamouraska.

"It's something special we have to preserve."

It's a powerful argument in Quebec, where the eat local movement is motivated by cultural as well as ecological concerns. The province's raw milk cheeses and foie gras, for example, are symbols of cultural pride as much as delightful indulgences.

In addition to serving good food, Mr. Picard has become a celebrity in Quebec for his glorification of hunting and what he calls nose-to-tail eating - wasting no part of the animal. Pig's feet, pickled venison tongue and head cheese are regular menu items at his restaurant.

The bestselling Au Pied de Cochon cookbook features an image of Mr. Picard with a freshly gutted deer, his hands bloody.

A popular show that aired last year on Radio-Canada called Martin sur la Route followed Mr. Picard and his sous chef on hunting and fishing expeditions across the province, often accompanied by historians explaining the place of game meats, such as moose, in the diets of indigenous peoples and French settlers.

The law now says game hunters are allowed to share their bounty with friends and family, but selling the meat is a criminal offence.

Both Mr. Picard and Mr. Laprise say preserving wild animal populations is their first priority and acknowledge any change in legislation would first have to be okayed by wildlife biologists.

They propose putting game meats on menus during each beast's short hunting season and adhering to quotas regulating the number of animals each hunter can take during a season.

"If biologists say it's not advisable, we wouldn't do it," Mr. Picard says.

The proposal has received qualified support from other Quebec chefs, including Anne Desjardins and Nancy Hinton.

Ms. Hinton, who was trained by Ms. Desjardins at her Laurentian Relais & Château restaurant, L'Eau à la Bouche, says it is not uncommon for establishments outside Montreal to close their doors to the public and offer feasts of wild game for friends and family.

But she sees potential pitfalls in offering the same dishes to the public. Ms. Hinton currently runs Jardins Sauvages, a restaurant in Saint-Roch-de- L'Achigan, where the meals showcase wild mushrooms and plants foraged by her partner, François Brouillard.

"Eating wild game is like wild plants," the Quebec City native says. "It's part of our culinary heritage that has been lost."

But the popularity of wild ramps - wild garlic - led the Quebec government to curtail their commercial sale.

"Bringing back these things requires so much education and rules and enforcement," she says. "It's almost easier to leave it alone."

That may be the only option. Selling or trading migratory birds, such as snow geese and wild duck, is prohibited by a treaty between Canada and the United States signed more than 90 years ago, says Sheldon Jordan, director of wildlife enforcement for Environment Canada's Quebec region.

Making the birds available at restaurants would require major modifications to the treaty. Every province has similar legislation blocking the use of hunting products for commercial purposes, Mr. Jordan says.

In fact, he says, poaching - which includes offences such as hunting without a permit, out of season, at night or taking more than the legal limit - is a serious problem.

"There is a certain black market for wild meat," Mr. Jordan says.

As for Mr. Picard, he's happy to discuss his ideas for dishes he would serve featuring moose, caribou or pigeon, but he isn't about to start actively lobbying government.

"I'm a cook before anything," he says. "There are people who are better at that."