Nordic cuisine in 4 seasons: what to cook throughout the year

Hidden in the northern forests and fields of Quebec lies a larder as wild as it is abundant. Each season transforms the table, bringing its own array of aromas, textures, and traditions. By following nature's rhythm, we discover unique local products, often overlooked, but always inspiring. Here is a culinary calendar to help you cook with the seasons, using the bounty of our boreal terroir.

Spring – The Northern Renewal

As the thaw begins, the forest awakens. It's the perfect time to celebrate the first shoots.

Key ingredients:

• Garlic flowers
  
• Fiddleheads (ferns)
  
• Fresh spruce
  
• Sweet gale
  
• Maple syrup
  
• Labrador Tea

Recipe ideas:

• Fiddlehead velouté and sweet gale cream
  
• Garlic flower pesto with local sunflower oil
  
• Trout in a spruce crust with maple reduction
  
• Iced infusion of lemon Labrador tea

Summer – Wild Abundance

Nature bursts with life: foraging and barbecuing go hand in hand.

Key ingredients:

• Haskapberries
  
• Wild blueberries
  
• Elderflowers
  
• Boreal herbs (sweet clover, hyssop, etc.)
  
• Dune pepper
  
• Fresh mushrooms (chanterelles, boletes)
  

Recipe ideas:

• Haskap berry salad with fresh goat cheese and sweet clover
  
• Pork fillet marinated with dune pepper, grilled over a wood fire
  
• Blueberry and elderflower syrup pavlova
• Forest omelet with chanterelles

Autumn – The Forest on Fire

It's the season of colours… and of the most flavourful harvests.

Key ingredients:

• Wild apples
  
• Quebec walnut (butternut)
  
• Dried porcini mushrooms
  
• Dried herbs (fir, cedar)
  
• Boreal spices (sweet fern, spikenard)
  

Recipe ideas:

• Game stew with porcini mushrooms and sweet fern
  
• Wild apple tart with toasted walnuts and fir caramel
  
• Roasted squash with boreal herb butter
  
• Root vegetable soup with spikenard and dune pepper

Winter – Concentrated Flavors

The cold concentrates the flavors; we simmer, we infuse, we comfort.

Key ingredients:

• Dried mushrooms
  
• Dried berries (chicory, haskap berry)
• Labrador Tea
  
• Boreal infusions
  
• Birch syrup
  
• Handcrafted bitters
  

Recipe ideas:

• Forest risotto with dried mushroom broth
  
• Lentil stew with dried berries and birch syrup
  
• Boreal spice cake with cloudberry coulis
• Hot cocktail with Quebec gin, Labrador tea and boreal bitters

Cooking with the seasons means…

• Respect nature, by following its rhythm
  
• Eat local, and support local artisans
  
• Rediscovering taste by exploring forgotten ingredients
• Creating links with one's territory and its history

Want to go further?

Explore our collection of edible forest products at latrail.ca and start cooking with wild Quebec, one season at a time.