Last week I attended a unique dinner that was held for 4 night only during the Montreal First People Festival. This Native American insipred gourmet meal was held in the restaurant of the Modern Art Museum, Bistro Le Contemporain.
This was a wonderful and very different dinner, definitely not vegetarian friendly. As a matter of fact over 6 courses we had 9 different sources of animal protein.
Of course for our lifestyle this sounds way to much but back then, when people lived in nature without any major protection from the elements and had a day full of hard labor, protein was essential to your survival. I hope to find some native recipe to try out myself soon.
Menu of Gastronomie à l’amérindienne, as best as I could translate.
1st service
Shellfish smoked with dried herbs, herring roe and sea foam spinach.
2nd service
Scallop baked on rock, smoked duck, sea plantain and lemon balm, frozen raspberries, dunes pepper meringue.
3rd service
Almost cooked Arctic char, beans in maple sap, goose confit, salicornia, raw squash, grilled leather and a fat fumet of dried mushrooms.
4th service
Duck egg, chanterelles raw and cooked, frog meat, maritime parsley juice, spergularia, crispy wild rice.
5th service
Slow cooked bison, black bean chiffon, roasted corn and popcorn with Oaxaca peppers, roasted squash foam.
Bannock bread was supplied with the whole meal.
6th service
Fried bannock, blueberry gel, corn ice cream, wintergreen meringue.
Evelyne, This looks like the most original, creative dining experience I’ve seen in a long time. (of course I’ve been living in rural Western Kentucky for the last twenty-two months), but still…:)I’m pinning a few on my “Food” board. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos.
What an interesting meal! The food looks gorgeous and tasty! Delicious! What a treat to attend!
This sounds like a very interesting gastronomic experience.
You were really lucky to attend this event, Evelyn.
The presentation is gorgeous as well, everything looks so appetizing!
Couldn’t even decide for a fav, maybe the scallops?
The Almost cooked Arctic char Daniela, definitely my pick
Very very interesting post, and whoever decided to do this even is very creative. I’d love to attend this kind of unique food event! You are lucky! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn’t think how much protein was consumed back then, but it totally makes sense considering labor intensive life it was. Thanks for the fun post!
How much do you love bison?? Actually every course looks fabulous – I was lucky enough to judge a cooking contest once in which one of the chefs was from the Cafe at the Museum of the American Indian in DC. I just loved the cuisine … what a fun dinner, lucky girl!!
oh, how beautiful!!! This is fabulous, Evelyne!
Wow, amazing meal Evelyne…everything looks fabulous!
Hope you are enjoying your week 😀
Wut. This is Native American cuisine? I’d pay to eat this in a restaurant.
All those “cultural” events were wrong then, so much for only eating buffalo.
Wow looks amazing! The Arctic Char especially!
Gosh! That looks awesome!!!
What a fascinating meal! From the rock serving to the frog, it sounds very innovative! 😀
G’day and what an unusual event Evelyne, true!
The event is unique and the bison looks like it would have melted in your mouth too!
Cheers! Joanne
What a unique and beautiful menu! Such a fun event to attend.
What a great and very different menu and so artistically presented. Lucky you!
is that a big ol’ hair on that egg?
Honestly do you think I would post a pic with a hair on it 😉 No it is not, it is a thin and long dried herb
What a gourmet meal!
I don’t know which dish to choose! I love them all! You are so lucky for attending!
What a beautiful meal and unique idea. I love seafood and I know I would have had so much fun at this event!
I can’t tell you how much I adore this menu!
How fortunate you were to attend, Evelyne.
LL
…pinning…
It was a wonderful experience LL, thank you for pinning!