Nation-20-11

It was all about quality, purity and going
organic at this year’s Manger Santé et
Vivre Vert March 15-17, when the
Nation made its annual pilgrimage to
investigate trends and sample the latest
healthy food fare.
While in previous years a particular
buzz food – such as blueberries, pomegranate
or elderberries – has always
been touted as the newest miracle cure,
this time it seemed every booth had an
organic/purity slant.
With so much talk in the media about
food safety and product recalls,
Canadian and US refusals to label genetically
modified (GMO) foods and unsustainable
farming practices leading to
major issues like soil erosion, it’s a wonder
that we hadn’t seen this trend being
pushed sooner.
Perusing the aisles of this mega-show
with thousands of other patrons, the first
thing I came across was a tomatopacked
kiosk labeled, “Le Pays de
Tomate” (“Tomato Land”) hosted by
Tomates Lacoste.
“These are tomatoes produced in
the Charlevoix region in eastern
Quebec. They have an incredible quality
as the water in that region is very pure
and crystalline and the air is fine and
fresh and so environment is ideal. They
are the best tomatoes on earth!”
exclaimed Fanny Drouin of Tomates
Lacoste.
Sampling the merchandise, the cherry
tomatoes were amazingly fresh; they
were sweet, firm and bursting with
juices upon first bite. They possessed a
candy-like quality so you could almost
eat them like a treat instead of a dietary
staple.
Next up, I was drawn to the Épices
de Marie Michèle booth to enjoy a variety
of new salt, spice and flavoured oil
products from this Quebec company.
They were offering tastings of
flavoured oils. There was a lovely “garden”
olive oil that was seasoned with
various vegetables and herbs that is ideal
for salads. They also featured shallot
Fun at the food show
The Manger Santé et Vivre Vert expo serves up a bevy of new eats
by Amy German
(onion) oil as well as a grape-seed oil that
was perfumed with vanilla. While mesmerizing
on its own, they suggested
using it on waffles and pancakes or in
muffins.
What was really interesting was that
it contained absolutely no sugar and yet
was so reminiscent of the vanilla birthday
cake of my childhood that I found myself
swept up in nostalgia. It was truly
impressive.
Michèle said that using this oil for
cooking pancakes or waffles produced
incredible results.
For more info: www.lesepices.ca/
www.nationnews.ca April 5, 2013 the Nation 33