Kamouraska

So there were two funky food areas around Quebec city, which we had to choose in between. L'ile d'Orleans has quite a bit going on, but was completely out of the way. Instead we chose Kamouraska, which we had heard of in Montreal, and was totally en route to New Brunswick. It was definitely not the best weather to be traveling in, and we were just out of season, but nevertheless, a worthwhile journey into Quebec. We hit the coast with a few starting places to visit after a quick run into tourist information. We first hit Rimouski and visited a fish vendor, in between bouts of torrential rain. This place was pretty wicked because it had whelks in stock, which I've never seen before. For the rest of you who are like me, whelks are basically sea snails. They are dumb enough to fall into pyramid traps, and the Quebecois fisherman eat them like a snack, just cooked and in salt water. We decided we had to break traditions, and bought a container full. After the fish vendor we made our way up the coast in search of a grocery to stock up provisions. We ended up not being able to find one for several small towns, and resorting to a small grocery very far from where we intended to be. The set bonuses were that the owner was extremely gracious, and though we ate barely a local scrap of food that evening, he let us sleep in his parking lot and use his internet the following morning. After that, we needed to get some things done, which included visiting a German bakery post-seasonal closure. We just walked over the closed sign and went to check it out. Turned out to be a great decision, because we got a great contact there in the form of Johann, a badass German/French/English baker. His facility is small and homey, part of his house, and awesome. His bakery itself looks out on the St.Lawrence. Amazing view.

After Jochen we went to a little smokehouse he recommended we check out in the next town. It was run by a gentleman named Marius, an extremely generous chap, definite fisherman in the blood. He comes from Gaspe, where he says "each house smokes their own". Although in french, because he speaks absolutely no english. Nevertheless, he was really magnanimous(big word!) and gave us loads of fish to try out. The smoked herring was worth visiting the entire region for. That's not an exaggeration. It's totally beyond controlling the stupid face you make when it melts on the tongue. We also tried the bourgots, which we had already bling-bought without trying. Also some local sturgeon and haddock. He was nice enough that we even tried to buy things, which he gave to us instead of letting us pay. Marius is his name, and being wickedly kind to strangers is his game. After he showed us his actual facility for smoking, we tried to purchase a 'merrine'. Play on 'terrine', sort of a seafood mousse sausage with a slice of salmon down the center. Mainly made from meat left on the bone after filetting, which makes it extra cool because it's part of the waste not, want not ethos. Later we put that in the bottom of a cool chowder we cooked up. Pretty excellent.

After Marius' smokehouse we headed even further in Bas St-Laurent but decided that we should trek through to New Brunswick fast because the language barrier puts a cramp in our gameplans. We can't exactly work somewhere if I have to translate everything anyone instructs us to do and we can't do two separate jobs. We checked into a few last things to do before we would leave, tried to visit a lamb farm and failed(they weren't present), and then got on our way. It was time to leave, the bad weather was too much, and it was impossible to get as far in depth as we'd like. Quebec is a conquest I'll approach slowly from multiple angles in the future.