Cuisine of Quebec

The cuisine of Québec (also called "French Canadian cuisine" or "cuisine québécoise") is a national cuisine in the Canadian province of Québec. It is also cooked by Franco-Ontarians.

Québec's cuisine descended from 17th-century French cuisine and began to develop in New France from the labour-intensive nature of colonial life, the seasonality of ingredients and the need to conserve resources. It has been influenced by the province's history of fur trading and hunting, as well as Québec's winters, soil fertility, teachings from First Nations, British cuisine, American cuisine, historical trade relations and some immigrant cuisines.

Québec is home to many unique dishes and is most famous for its poutine, ''tourtières'', '' pâté chinois'', pea soup, '' fèves au lard'', '' cretons'' and desserts such as '' grands-pères'', '' pouding chômeur'' and St. Catherine's taffy. Québec's unique dishes are the traditional fare of the holidays, as well as the ''temps des sucres'', a time in March where families go to sugar shacks.

Québec is known for being the biggest producer of maple syrup on the planet, as 72% of the maple syrup sold in the world (and 90% sold in Canada) originates from Québec.«Producteurs et productrices acéricoles du Québec"
(consulted 2020-04-14) The province is also recognized for having created over 700 different kinds of cheese, some of which have won international contests."Le Québec est le plus grand producteur de fromage au Canada"
(consulted 2020-04-07)

Food critic Jacob Richler wrote that Québec's cuisine is better defined than that of the rest of Canada, due to its language barrier with the dominant culture of the United States and having had more time to develop. Conversely, Québec's cuisine and Acadian cuisine have much in common due to proximity and a shared language and history.

History

The cuisine of Québec evolved from that of 17th-century Northern France. It also retains some heritage from Poitevin cuisine: many Québecois make ''pâté marmite''; '' soupe aux gourganes'', which is based on ''gourgane'' beans, a strain of fava bean; and soups based on other legumes. Charentaise chowders (''chaudrées charentaises'') have evolved into the ''quiaudes'' of Gaspesia and the '' tourtes salées'' of Poitiers into '' tourtières''.

Other foods that originate from France are ''pot-au-feu''; blood sausage (''boudin''); head cheese (''tête fromagée''); '' plorine'' sausages; ham hock stew (''ragoût de pattes de cochon''); rabbit stew (''civet de lapin''); French toast (''pain perdu'' or ''pain doré''); and pastries like crêpes, beignets, ''croquignole'' biscuits, and tarts. As in France, pork is the most popular meat.

From the moment they arrived in the early 17th century, French colonists always preferred their native cuisine. However, they learned some culinary techniques from the Algonquins, Atikamekw and Iroquois. The most important ones were ''l’acériculture'' (the process of harvesting maple sap and creating maple syrup), ice fishing, and '' boucanage'' (in which fish or other meat is smoked for preservation and flavour).

Food preservation was always important in pioneer times, due to long winters and to the frequent voyages of ''coureurs des bois''. Butter, herbs, and lard were used for seasoning and salting. Pork and fish were ''boucanés''(smoked), while other meats and vegetables were preserved in vinegar. These techniques are still practiced today, though not for survival. As game was so plentiful, pioneers and their descendants always hunted and fished for sustenance.

By the 1670s, a substantial agrarian population had emerged in the region of Québec City, and French habits dominated. Meals almost always featured soup, bread, meat, and wine. Since the climate made it difficult to grow European grapes (namely, ''Vitis vinifera''), wines were always imported from France.

The Conquest of New France in 1760 brought some culinary changes to Québec. One of the immediate effects was the elimination of wine, as it could no longer be imported from France. Another major change was the importation of the potato, which, in only a few decades, became a staple ingredient in Québec, dethroning bread in popularity. Sugar consumption also increased. Finally, the British imported many recipes like mashed potatoes, crumble, and meat pies.

Because tensions with the young United States alleviated, the period following the Aroostook War in 1839 saw increased interaction between Québec and New England. Some recipes inspired by the cultural exchange included '' fèves au lard'', ''ketchup maison'', and date squares. The socio-economic standing of French Canadians also fell to deplorable levels; the intense poverty pushed them to simplify their meals. Recipes for bouillon were now almost nothing more than warm water. Alcoholic beverages were rarely consumed, and butter was either used sparingly or absent. Some famine foods like '' ploye'' emerged during this period.

By the early 1900s, conditions had improved somewhat, though French Canadians were still poor. Most families would often eat a mix of potatoes and pork on their plate, which is still a staple combination today. During this period, the passenger pigeon, called ''tourte'' in French, also became extinct. Because this bird's meat had been used to fill the pie-like dishes known as '' tourtières'', the ''tourtière'' recipe had to change. Farm-raised meats like beef and pork were usually chosen as the substitutes.

The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the creation of new recipes like '' pâté chinois'' ("Chinese pie") and '' pouding chômeur'' ("unemployed man's pudding") that were delicious and cost-conscious. Immigration after this period diversified; immigrants no longer came only from the British Isles but also from other parts of Europe. Jewish specialties like bagels and Eastern Europe-style smoked meat became popular, resulting in the creation of Montréal-style smoked meat and Montréal-style bagels.

The 1950s saw many changes in the eating habits of the Québécois for a variety of reasons: the popularity of fast-food grew enormously, raw milk was banned, and many fruits and vegetables became available year-round thanks to refrigerators and larger supply chains. As a result, the homemade ''pain de ménage'' was replaced with store-bought sandwich bread; many old cheese recipes were abandoned and new ones created; and spaghetti, pizza, turkey, bacon, sausages, industrial cheeses, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, coleslaw and lobster rolls all become popular.

In the late 1950s, these changes brought about the creation of poutine—arguably the most famous Québécois dish—as well as other dishes, like ''hot chicken'' and ''guédilles''.

The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s to 1970s greatly improved the socio-economic standing of French Canadians. This allowed them to have a more diverse diet. It also set the stage for high-quality products to be created in Québec and for the emergence of Québécois restaurants, for example Lafleur, Valentine, La Belle Province or St-Hubert.

From the 1980s to today, a desire for higher quality foods, more spending power, and an influence by immigrants from Europe —particularly Italy, Greece, France and Portugal— has led to the rise of the creation and production of high-quality cheeses and alcoholic beverages across Québec, as well as a return to recipes of the ''terroir''. Immigration from Greece has popularized gyros and brought about slouvaki pitas. Immigrants from Lebanon have popularized shawarmas which has created '' shish taouk''. Finally, NAFTA and the new culture of Quebecers vacationing south has resulted in the adoption of Western-style sushi and Tex-Mex dishes like nachos, fajitas, salsa, chili and burritos.

Ingredients

Game, seafood, and fish

Historical poverty led many families in Québec to hunt for food until the mid 20th century. ''Tourtières'' were stuffed with the meat of the ''tourte'', or passenger pigeon, which used to be common and easy prey. But, by the early 20th century, the passenger pigeon became extinct due to overhunting, deforestation, and the Allee effect. Families had to replace the meat with whatever they had. As a result, most modern ''tourtières'' are filled with beef or pork.

Today, the consumption of game remains a tradition, although game is not sold in grocery stores. When available, Québécois eat meat from moose, deer, hares, ruffed grouse, wild turkey, waterfowl and more rather than that of livestock. Game is also sometimes given as a gift.
As for seafood, lobster and crab are caught in Gaspesia, la Côte-Nord, and the Magdalen Islands to be sold to the rest of Québec. Shrimp is often marketed as ''crevette de Matane'' after the shrimp-processing factory in the town of Matane. However, the shrimp themselves are caught in several villages on the Saint Lawrence River estuary. Mussels, oysters, scallops, and whelks (''bourgots'') are also caught.

Salmon and trout are the most popular fish in Québec. The brook trout is nearly ubiquitous, salmon is farmed and can be caught in 118 different rivers, and Arctic char is present across nearly 100 lakes. Other fished species include lake trout, yellow perch, walleye, muskellunge, Northern pike, micropterus, rainbow smelt, Greenland halibut, mackerel, lake sturgeon, lake whitefish, Atlantic cod

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