Île d`Orléans: Savor the flavors with a day trip from Québec City

Île d’Orléans: Savor the flavors with a
day trip from Québec City
Posted by Linda Fasteson on May 18, 2015
Île d’Orléans, Quebec
Québec City is renowned for its cuisine. For another culinary adventure in the flavors of
the province just go across the bridge to the agricultural island, Île d’Orléans. Restaurant
menus, an audio guide in French or English, and maps of the tours and circuits are
available at the island’s Saint-Pierre-del’Île-d’Orléans tourist information bureau. Follow
the trails to meet the producers, sample their wares, and bring home some souvenirs to
enjoy with friends and family.
There are cozy inns and historic manor houses, maple farms and sugar shacks, art
galleries and craft shops. Savor sweet confections at the chocolaterie or bakeries, sip
cider at the ciderie wine at the vineyard, or fruit liqueur at the source. Sample local
cheese, ice cream, maple products, and jams.
migrating snow geese, Île d’Orléans
Depending on the season, pick your own strawberries, apples, or raspberries. You can
fish for trout, with tackle and bait provided. Buy duck meat, pâtes, rillettes, confits,
cracklings or poutine with liver pâte. Too much to take with you? Domaine Steinbach
will ship your purchases home.
Looch, Confiturerie Tigidou, Île d’Orléans, Quebec
This time, we began with a stop at Confiturerie Tigidou, owned by Catherine Trudel and
Vincent Paris, two Île d’Orléans natives who traveled the world, met, and returned. They
refer to themselves as native sorcerers, creative foodies, and garden apothecaries.
Tigidou proprietors, Catherine Trudel and Vincent Paris, Île d’Orléans
The couple bought a 200 year old house and named their enterprise for the expression
“C’est tiguidou!” , meaning “It’s perfect!”
Tigidou, Île d’Orléans
Tigidou, Île d’Orléans
They began making unique jams exclusively from island berries, adding organic sugar,
their garden herbs and spices from northern Quebec. and started “spreading the love, one
jar at a time”. They also cater small events and offer lodging on the second floor.
Tigidou, Île d’Orléans
We were off to sample the first kind of cheese made in North America, at Les Fromages
de l’isle d’Orléans. The cheese is eaten hot, right from the frying pan where it is cooked
for 2-3 minutes on each side.
fromagerie sign, Île d’Orléans
Le Paillasson de l’isle d’Orléans, Quebec
Co-proprietors Jocelyn Labbé, a retired teacher with a passion for history, and Diane
Marcoux were in traditional costume inside a boutique packed with local food specialties.
Fromagerie, Île d’Orléans
The secret to replicating the original cheese recipe for their Le Paillasson de l’isle
d’Orléans, which translates “the mat of the Island of Orleans” , they said, is in the
microorganisms in the drying mat made of island reeds.
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Our final stop was Cassis Monna & Filles. It is an économusée, a concept originating in
Quebec to keep the cultural heritage alive through authentic local crafts and foods.
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Interpretation centers provide information on the history and production processes of the
product sold.
Bernard Monna and daughter Anne in the barn, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans,
Quebec
Bernard Monna, originally from Southern France, is from a family that has been creating
liqueurs for four generations. He and his two daughters, Catherine and Anne were the
first in Quebec to grow blackcurrants, a berry long known for its medicinal qualities.
Bernard Monna’s daughters, Catherine and Anne, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans,
Quebec
Their boutique is filled with an array of high-quailty products made from the berry, like
The Capiteux, a Madeiran wine, and their award-winning crème de cassis, a ruby red fruit
liqueur topped with white wine to make the French cocktail known as Kir or champagne
for Kir Royale.
Kir Royale, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
There are free tastings in the wine cellar. Specialties like chicken liver mousse with
Capiteux and chocolat de Mathieu à la crème de cassis may be enjoyed at the gourmet
snack bar and terrace.
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Kir Royale, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
The boutique features an array of black currant delicacies, including mustards, wine jelly,
onion jam and syrups, and vinaigrette.
Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
cassis, Île d’Orléans
nougat, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans
biscuits, Cassis Monna & Filles, Île d’Orléans