BON VIVANT
WORLDLY DELIGHTS Lessons From the Sea By Darcy Rhyno
© MICHEL NADEAU
Learning to cook with French flair in the Magdalen Islands with a nod to its cultural roots.
LEARNING HOW TO PREPARE LOBSTER AT GOURMANDE DE NATURE COOKING CLASS
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ohanne Vigneau secures the corners of two large sheets of parchment paper to her countertop with eight dots of sticky, reduced balsamic vinegar from a squeeze bottle, then drizzles both sheets with the gooey dark liquid. I join the other participants of her Hommage à ma mer cooking class in building a Japanese-inspired salad of tender seaweeds, sesame, crushed wasabi peas and radish slices on one sheet. And we place sliced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes and succulent shoots of locally foraged sea sandwort on the other sheet. Both salads are topped with moon snails sautéed in olive oil and chopped into bite-sized pieces. Earlier, Vigneau led us through the steps 56 • Vacations ® • Spring 2022
of preparing this local delicacy, a kind of smooth-shelled northern conch. With those swirls of dark balsamic in the background and the splashes of colourful veg scattered about the parchment frames, these salads begin to resemble works of abstract art. We gather round, scoop up servings onto saucers and dig in to savour their palette of flavours. Vigneau and her team at Gourmande de Nature offer immersive dining and hands-on experiences like this one. Her kitchen also serves as the prep studio for many locally sourced and unique products. Flavoured salts, sugars and
