Le fournil Blog

In a mixing bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, the extra virgin olive oil, the crushed garlic cloves, and the rosemary. 

Wash the raw shrimps. Cook them in boiling water with bay leaves, black peppercorn, parsley and salt. It only takes a couple of minutes (3-5) to cook the shrimps. Drain, cool and peel them. You can also use peeled raw shrimps. Mince shallots, garlic, parsley and basil. Add the shrimps and mix together. Add then 1 tbsp of Vezorla's Picual olive oil and 1 tbsp of Favuzzi's Lemon-White Vinegar.

Favuzzi's Arugula Pesto with Lemon EVOO Ingredients (4 servings): 150 g arugula 6 tbsp grated parmesan (or half parmesan, half pecorino)

What is levain? In English, levain is called sourdough. Levain is the culture of naturally occurring yeast in our environment; yeast is present on practically all surfaces, from our skin, fruits, counters, to the flour we use for baking and the air we breathe. When cultivating the yeast for bread making, water is added to flour, and this mixture is left to slowly ferment at room temperature for 5 days or so. During this time, small amounts of water and flour are added to the mix to “feed” the culture. When the levain is bubbly and has a pleasant order with a hint of acidity, the levain is ready for use. leasant order with a hint of acidity, the levain is ready for use.

Our all-terrain baker Claire Choux (from Lorraine, France) led a wonderful French theme night at the Cooking @ the box hosted by the Paintbox Lodge, in Canmore. A private kitchen party that the Lodge organizes regularly with different local chefs.

Claire moved to the Rockies after travelling the world; she worked as Chef de Partie Entrées (Starters) at Le Suquet, a 3 Michelin Star restaurant owned by famous Chef Michel Bras and his family, before obtaining a Work and travel visa in Canada.
Her passion for cooking motivated her to work hard for many years in some of the best kitchens and starred restaurants in France. Now, in a totally different environment, she is a loved member of our team. She moved to Canada to improve her baking skills.  As our primary baker, Claire arrives at the bakery at 3 am to create the ephemeral artwork that her breads turn into, day after long day.

Vive la France was a night of haute cuisinein a convivial (warm and friendly) atmosphere. Accompanied by Pascale (owner of the bakery) who played the role of sous-chef, Claire cooked for us a beautiful and tasteful 3-course meal.
As Chef Claire was preparing and explaining her cooking methods, we enjoyed personalised mini pains de campagne and pain Montagnard with (you guessed it) butter!  Oh, and of course, bubbles!!!

The entrée (starter) was an œuf parfait (also known as a 64° egg), nested on a cream of mushroom and a sauté of mushroom, garlic and fresh parsley, then topped with an émincé of crispy bacon (minced) and radish micro-greens. The contrast of flavours was wonderful and just made us wish to taste more.

For the plat principal (main course), Claire cooked sous-vide a perfect Alberta AAA filet mignon, rare of course, served with béarnaise sauce, pommes croquettes, sautéed asparagus and steamed orange and purple cauliflower. The plate was beautifully decorated with curled fresh asparagus and micro-green sweet pea shoots.

The final touch to what was already a phenomenal dinner was a Tarte Tatin reinvented: the apples were shaped in a dome, then laid on a sweet dough base filled with a vanilla whipped white ganache cream and decorated with streusel.
All 12 dinner guests were impressed and delighted by the menu Claire created for them.

“Do you serve almond milk?”

We hear that question every day, and yet the answer is “No”. Almonds are precious protein nuts, healthy, full of vitamins and minerals. But did you know that almond milk is also a cause of water waste and bee hive extinction? (Plus, it contains a lot of additives).
So, why drink almond milk? Taste, dairy intolerance, trend or vegetarianism? Whatever the answer, we encourage you to read this blog and hopefully gain some understating of the problems with the consumption and manufacturing of almond milk.

It takes 4.16 litres (1.1 US gallons) of water to grow a single almond; 80% of the world production is done in California, a State suffering from droughts and water shortages. More water is needed to grow twenty-eight grams (one ounce) of almonds than twenty-eight grams of lettuce, tomatoes or even broccoli.
“It takes 6.098 liters of water (1.611 US gallons) to produce 1 litre of almond milk”
- The Sustainable Restaurant Association (The Guardian).

In effect, we end up paying a premium at the till for a product that is essentially made of water and has a substantial negative impact on the environment of North America’s vegetable patch.
These demands on water have an even worst impact during droughts: almond farmers must use water from underground aquifers during those times. These aquifers were created and filled over millennia and cannot sustain the rate at which they are being drained.  Moreover, not only is the water running out, the ground is becoming unstable and caving in.
But that’s not all!
It has been estimated that 50 billion bees have been wiped out in a few months last winter (2019).
As the process of pollination requires multitudes of bees, farmers have billions of them shipped from all over North America, waking them from hibernation much too early (1 to 2 months earlier than their natural cycle), which exhausts them and renders them prone to illness.
Various species of bees are then required to cohabitate with each other, further spreading diseases.  Furthermore, almond trees are extensively sprayed with pesticides, killing the very bees meant to pollinate the trees.

 “It’s like sending the bees to war. Many don’t come back.”
- Nate Donley, Senior scientist for the Center of Biological Diversity (The Guardian)
As many beekeepers ship their hives to the almond growing regions (namely California), they are faced with rapidly dwindling numbers of bees, thus killing their businesses. The bees may survive the pollination and summer seasons, but they do not make it back to their original beekeepers.
So, we are asking ourselves again: Why use almond milk?
We will continue serving our non-dairy substitutes: soy, oat and coconut milk as they all require a fraction of the water almond milk does.
We thank you for joining us in our Green Efforts.

Read more: Mother Jones, Vox, The Guardian, BBC and National Post