The Boreal Feast

Book excerpt: From the author of The Boreal Gourmet comes another irresistible tribute to foods of the North, and this time she devotes special attention to feasts. Michele Genest's feasts cover the whole spectrum--for small groups or large, extensively planned or spontaneous, as elaborate as a 12-course tasting menu or as simple and satisfying as a pot of Labrador tea and a piece of bannock on a hillside during a berry-picking expedition. Genest takes the reader on a journey to Norway, Finland and Sweden to discover what other northern peoples do with the same wild ingredients that live and grow in the North American boreal forest. Part travelogue, the book includes stories of hunting for cloudberries on the Dempster Highway, throwing a birthday party on the Kaskawulsh Glacier, and harvesting trumpet chanterelles in Nordland. Featuring prized northern ingredients, like morel mushrooms, birch syrup, coho salmon, spruce tips and blueberries, The Boreal Feast is a celebration of boreal food and forest. With creations like Solstice-Cured Lake Trout Gravlad Lax and Birch Syrup Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Compote, northern and southern dwellers alike will be inspired.