The act of eating is the response to a simple physiological need required for survival. But in reality this act is only possible if there is food available to satisfy hunger; if it exists, anything can satisfy it, as long as it is edible. If, however, there is no real hunger, then eating becomes a pleasure and is preceded by choosing well-known ingredients as well as knowing how to cook them to obtain a dish that also satisfies our tastes and activates the brain circuitry of reward, giving us pleasure. This is no small thing, but it isn’t everything. To prepare food means to follow a recipe and therefore follow previous experience that has been handed down from generation to generation.
So this action is a cultural act that consists in picking up the last link of a long chain whose initial link has been lost over time, beginning with the history of man and woven into historical events. History is not only a series of great events but also includes the progressive changes in everyday life, the evolution of uses that are apparently of no importance that shape or are shaped by great historical events. We can link the spread of food and beverages to historical events of great importance. One example is that of the American Revolution that was triggered by the tax on tea imposed upon the American colonies by the English Empire. Perhaps the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America on July 4, 1776, would not have happened or may have taken place at a different time if the Great History had not encountered tea along its path.
The book by Anne Marie Lane Jonah and Chantal Véchambre provides us with an alternative look at the Great History of Canada, studying it from the point of view of a very educated gastronomist or a gastronomic historian, if you will. Not surprisingly, Lane Jonah is a historian and Véchambre is a historian as well as a trained chef. Others who have contributed to the book are Alain Bossé, chef; Susan Lane, sommelier; Heidi Moses, manager of the archeological collection for Parks Canada; Ruby Fougère, curator for Parks Canada; Robert Pichette, journalist and writer; and Peery Jackson, photographer.
The volume begins with a beautiful, comprehensive introduction that explains perfectly its inherent structure, and covers Atlantic Canada in the period 1604 to 1758. The history begins in the early-seventeenth century with the first meeting between Nicolas Denys and the Mi’kmaq Indians. Denys, one of the first French settlers, arrived in the wake of the Sieur de Razilly. He settled in a trading post in the new territory of Acadia in 1632. The good relationship with the indigenous people fostered the sharing of their knowledge about the species and varieties of animals, especially fish, that were unknown in Europe and were therefore considered exotic. They taught the settlers new fishing techniques and new ways to preserve food. Oysters, eels, and lobsters were certainly known by the French settlers, and the Mi’kmaq taught the settlers different ways to use and store them (in chapter 1, “First Encounter: Nicolas Denys and the Mi’kmaq”).
The territory of Acadia, located between the 40th and the 48th parallels, was fertile, and the French colony overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. Port-Royal was made the capital in 1605. The colony of Acadia was never one of great strength. The French government never strongly encouraged emigration to this territory and merchants used it only to trade and earn lavishly. The French settlers who did arrive, however, became farmers. Settling permanently in the new territory, they imported plants and domestic animals that were well known in Europe, and were introduced to new ones. In food preparation, the settlers had their past experience of French cuisine, but the availability of new as well as familiar ingredients, and the need to procure what nature had to offer, gave rise to a new way of cooking that was quite distinct from that of their mother country. Then it only took two generations for the character of the settlers to change so that they were definitely no longer European, but rather Acadian.
The distance from their home country was definitely an important factor, but the instability regarding possession of the territory probably had a greater influence. The Acadian territory was of interest to the neighboring British, and it changed hands more than once in the course of history with at least six colonial wars between France and England over a seventy-year period. The French irrigation systems allowed them to have lush, productive vegetable gardens, at least until 1713, when the fertile lands began to become scarce. The availability of vegetables, meat, and fish allowed the preparation of succulent soup dishes that were the basic dish of the colonists (in chapter 2 “Acadia: The First French Cuisine in North America”).
In 1713 France ceded the colony of Acadia et de Plaisance; however, France wanted to keep a strategic place, holding on to the territory of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island, with Louisburg as its capital. Only a few Acadians moved to Louisburg. The others preferred to move into what was Port Toulouse. The less fertile land in this area led to major changes in eating habits. The Acadians, who had been farmers, were forced to become fishermen, and the first soups changed into chowder, prepared not only with pork and fish (at the beginning) but also vegetables of various kinds, particularly potatoes cut into cubes (potatoes had been grown experimentally as early as 1750). Among the toppings, in addition to aromatic herbs, pepper and cloves were popular. Sweet condiments were molasses and brown sugar (for beans). Acadians used brown sugar only at the end of preparing dishes. The availability of chicken eggs and buckwheat flour (Phagopyrum esculentum) made it possible to prepare sweet (for dessert) or salty (added to soup) crepes.
Louisburg, thriving with soldiers, fishermen, merchants, and slaves from other French colonies, was a vibrant, wealthy city, in which different cultures and culinary knowledge came into contact. For ordinary people of Louisburg the basic food for survival was bread. A soldier of the garrison received six pounds of bread, salted meat, and dried vegetables every four days. When food was scarce (as in the year 1717) the rations were only bread and ... water. For soldiers, sailors, and those who lived in Louisburg, especially in times of war, the search for wild aromatic herbs and fresh food (vegetables) was so important that some people took advantage of the breaks between one battle and the next, the time commonly used to gather the dead and wounded, to gather fresh vegetables (97). It was essential, however, to know these plants and not mistake the hemlock plant for the carrot plant as happened to a soldier and his fellow soldiers who had eaten a deadly soup (93).
In times of peace, the diet was supplemented with the meat of wild birds and prized wild animals once reserved for the upper class, but now available to people of lower rank if they hunted, because there was plenty of game outside of the city. It was in the hands of the higher social classes to maintain the original thread of French cuisine, particularly the haute cuisine.
In France, after the discovery of America, there began to be a change in the rules of cooking. The excessive use of spices was abandoned and there was a rediscovery of the true flavors of the ingredients. The widespread practice of mingling salty and sweet foods was left behind; the use of sugar cane, which was initially considered a spice, was reserved only for the preparation of sweet foods. The importance of vegetables and fruit was emphasized by giving them a prominent place. This sort of taste revolution also reached the higher echelons of the settlers who continued to follow the cooking rules and etiquette dictated by the mother country, according to their financial means (in chapter 5, “Fine Dining: Bringing Two Worlds Together”).
Since gastronomy also includes beverages, the next to the last chapter of the book (chapter 6, “The Soul of the Meal: Beverages in the 18th Century”) is devoted to alcoholic beverages and the evolution of taste with respect to the use of various types of wines. If white wines were very popular, beer received less attention. The last chapter (chapter 7, “Desserts: A Bittersweet Ending”) highlights the use of chocolate that was consumed by soldiers in the form of a drink to fight against the cold and restore their strength. A precious jewel in this chapter is the basically original text of the granting of ownership of an Acadian cake recipe (Galette des Rois) that specifies the ingredients. But there are some short and other longer documented personal stories of those who lived in Acadia, which allow the reader to peek into the lives and homes of the old French settlers.
The book finishes with an epilogue, a menu section, a culinary vocabulary list, and a series of useful notes in addition to a rich bibliography. Finally, in addition to an analytical index, there is also a recipe index. Up to this point the recipes have not been discussed simply because each chapter contains a series of recipes and numerous inserts. Each of these inserts offers insights that are woven beautifully into the texts of the chapters. The original historical and archaeological sources of these notes are rigorously documented.
The beauty of the book is a wonder to behold. The pictures and reproductions of figures and maps from ancient texts are extremely beautiful. Simply opening and leafing through the book allows one to plunge into and breathe the scent of past history. One can read the book in one breath, at least the first time; then you can and should read it again to fully appreciate the rigor with which it is written, and the wealth of information about the history of the French colonies and the history of French gastronomy that was transported, modified and given life on another continent.
The book, written in English and in French, is a jewel that will be useful to historians in general, and specifically to gastronomic historians, more or less professional chefs, and even those who simply want to experiment with recipes of the French cuisine that was becoming established in Canada in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
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[Review length: 1730 words • Review posted on November 14, 2013]