Who hasn't been afraid one day of getting lost in the forest and dying there, cut up by a wild animal or of hunger after several days of wandering? Too used to receiving everything cooked on our plate and shopping at Costcos and Walmarts around the world, we have lost our sense of resourcefulness and curiosity.

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This subversive book will help us find him. “Cantine sauvage is a snub to the MAPAQ and Sépaq of this world, which regulate our every step and our bites. » Appetizing project.

The two authors therefore lead us, we who have forgotten where we come from, out of the aisles of supermarkets to invite us to eat differently, directly from our rivers and lakes and even in the open sea, or in the forest, in gardens to in the open sky – with discretion and moderation, of course – or even in less traveled alleys. And along the way, they give us their good tips and some recipes.

The St. Lawrence River and its thousands of tributaries drain a quarter of the planet's freshwater reserves. There are several varieties of fish that you never find at the fishmonger. The same goes for the sea urchin, which can easily be fished “with a mop” in the St. Lawrence estuary as far as Cacouna. This small crustacean, of which only the gonads are eaten, i.e. "male or female sexual glands of orange color, sips of sea water, unctuous and sweet", also called sea urchin coral, is also unknown on our lists. groceries. Yet the Japanese love it and buy almost all of our production.

You are on vacation in Gaspésie and you feel like eating a freshly picked lobster? No need for a lobster trap, rather cumbersome when camping! With an apnea mask and a stick, venture into shallow, rocky bottoms planted with algae. You will discover an unsuspected world: “You will undoubtedly come across a confrontation between aggressive crustaceans. Surely males... Interpose yourself with your stick and drive the most combative ones (are they all stupid?) towards the shore, until they are within reach. [...] With your hands, preferably gloved, grasp them firmly by the back, without fear. “The sea being very cold, plan a good fire to warm you up and cook the shellfish, advise the authors with humor.

Even in town

You have the taste of meat, but you find the prices too high, especially if you practice voluntary simplicity? The forest will be your best provider, especially if you still have the soul of a woodsman. While walking along the secondary roads (they are less dangerous for humans), you will discover many dead wild animals following a collision with a vehicle. Just spot the still warm corpses before the raptors and other urubus. Hares, raccoons, muskrats, marmots or whistlers, grouse and other woodcocks can meet your protein needs, say the authors who go there with a few recipes. With any luck, especially during the rut, you'll get a reckless deer hit by a careless vehicle driver. You will only have to skin it with a sharp knife like our Native American brothers do.

But if you're a die-hard city dweller, like Plateau Mont-Royal, the squirrel or cuy, as Latin Americans call it (a kind of guinea pig), is right up your alley and easy to catch with a little imagination. The authors recommend the utmost discretion so as not to offend the sensitive souls among your balcony neighbors.

“The squirrel skewer in its soy-maple syrup and balsamic vinegar lacquer” will have a little taste of coming back to it.

Wild plants are also entitled to their quarter of an hour of glory. But you have to pick them with caution, because some are deadly, the authors warn us. Dandelions, milkweed, fiddleheads, St. Barbe grass, mushrooms or, along the flats, kelp, Scottish lovage, glasswort and other plantain will enhance your land and sea catches. Without forgetting the berries, from blueberries to currants, including saskatoon berries, cloudberries and pimbinas.

After reading this informative and funny book, you will never see the nature around us the same way.

THE SECRET LIFE OF INSECTS

This captivating book on the secret life of insects is certainly a complement to Cantine sauvage. The late Georges Brossard, founder of the Insectarium, would be delighted, even if this is not a tasting of edible insects. This small world that lives, frolics and struggles at our feet has a lot to teach us. These thousands of insects, fungi and bacteria that move around and in the dead tree, for example, or around an animal carcass "take care to make what is dead biodegradable and allow it to know a new life ". So they have their uses. Even those mosquitoes that often make life impossible for us. They are also used for pollination, spreading seeds everywhere, and see to the drainage of the soil. Others produce precious honey and antibiotics. In short, “insects are the little cogs that keep the world clock running smoothly.” Fascinating ! Let's think twice before crushing them.

420 GRAMMES

In this book written with an open heart, the comic author Philippe Meilleur tells us about his addiction to cannabis. "I'm in my mid-30s and I've gotten to the point where weed is essential to my homeostasis," he says. In my body, cannabinoids are on par with oxygen, water and Papa Roach's Infest album: I need them to survive. For fifteen years, he has smoked pot every day. Then one day, he decides to try to end this addiction. What he discovers is not trivial: even if he is a week, a month, a year without smoking, he will always be dependent. “Because the day you get off the ship, you are filled with a feeling of shame, and that feeling of shame makes you smoke more. Sobriety is a better prison than consumption. But it's still a prison. »