BD Balado, Épisode 45 : Simon Thibault, celui qui fait revivre la cuisine acadienne

Lors d’un séjour en Péninsule Acadienne l’été dernier, j’ai mangé une bonne dizaine de repas, dont plusieurs exceptionnels. Les chefs rencontrés nous ont servi des plats préparés dans les règles de l’art et cuisinés à la perfection. Par contre, je n’y ai mangé qu’un seul plat traditionnel acadien et c’était au Village historique acadien. J’ai donc voulu en savoir plus sur cette mystérieuse cuisine. Et le pro de la cuisine acadienne, c’est Simon Thibault qui a publié cette année Pantry and Palate: Remembering And Rediscovering Acadian Food.

Partez à la découverte avec moi !

En prime, Simon m’a permis de partager avec vous une recette du livre. Comme le livre a été publié en anglais, c’est dans la langue de John A. Macdonald que je vous la présente.

Vous pouvez vous procurer Pantry and Palate sur le site de la maison d’édition Nimbus Publishing où dans les bonne librairies.

Pour tout savoir sur le Festival Devour, vous pouvez consulter leur site internet et les suivre sur Facebook, Twitter et Instagram.

Vous pouvez suivre Simon Thibault sur Instagram et Twitter.

 

Fricot aux poutines rapées

(Recipe adapted from La Cuisine Acadienne d’Aujourdh’ui by Les Dames
Patronesses de la C.J.A, Inc., July 1963, with thanks to Germaine Comeau.)
This adaptation was first published in East Coast Living magazine as part
of a story I wrote on preserving old recipes.
This recipe is based on one published in a 1960s booklet by Les Dames
Patronesses, a ladies’ auxiliary based in the Acadian community of
Clare, Nova Scotia. The recipe was spartan, direct, and made for women
who knew what to expect in making such a dish. The dumplings
are not obvious to make at first glance. This is not to say that they are
difficult, but it’s not necessarily a type of dumpling that is well known
outside of specific regions. There are a few extra details in the recipe
method for those who have never made this type of potato dumpling
before.
1 whole chicken, preferably a stewing hen, about 2 pounds
1 onion, minced
3−4 small carrots, diced
7−8 potatoes
2–3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salted onions (optional)
salt and pepper
oil or butter, roughly 2 tablespoons
• Cook minced onion in a small amount of oil or butter, adding a pinch
of salt to help onion sweat until it turns translucent.
• Add bay leaves, aromatics, and carrots. Stir together until carrots and
aromatics become fragrant.
• Sear chicken on all sides in the pot. This will help create a richer stock.
Once you’ve seared chicken, add enough cold water to cover the bird.
Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to simmer, skimming off the scum
that will rise to the top to ensure a clear broth. Cook for about 1 hour
or until chicken is almost to the point of falling apart.
• Remove chicken from the pot and strain the stock through a sieve,
reserving the liquid and discarding herbs and onion.
• Shred chicken, discarding bones and skin.
• At this point you can refrigerate stock and chicken separately overnight
and finish the recipe later, or continue on.
• Return the stock to the pot and heat on the stove. While heating, peel
and dice 1 or 2 potatoes into small cubes. Add them to your stock. Add
the shredded chicken.
• Grate remainder of potatoes as finely as possible, using either the small
holes on a box grater or, for an even finer texture, a juicer. If using a
juicer, discard the liquid, reserving the potato pulp. If grating by hand,
place rasped potatoes in a muslin or cotton bag and squeeze out as
much liquid as possible. Place potatoes in a bowl.
• Bring stock to a roiling boil. Add 1/2 cup of boiling hot stock to your
grated potatoes and mix quickly. The potato mixture needs to be
cooked by the hot stock. Add more stock to potatoes if necessary until
it has the consistency of porridge.
• Spoon out portions of potato mixture, about 1 tablespoon at a time,
and add them into the boiling soup along with the shredded chicken.
Try and make them all the same size for even cooking.
• Cover soup and cook the dumplings for about 10−15 minutes.
• Season soup with salt and pepper. Serve piping hot, with bread and
butter.

Excerpted from Pantry and Palate
2017, Simon ThibaultAll rights reserved. Published by Nimbus Publishing