What?
Since 2006. A blog about food, cooking, and my life as a Québec chef in the wild. My rants and raves, typical foodie stuff, and then some. My personal lists, some food writing, and links to higher learning.*see note below (still active sporadically, but most of this site is outdated). It remains a source of English content and info for our Jardins Sauvages customers.
Why?
Because I need(ed) a blog. I’m consumed with all things food, and I love to write. I need an outlet when I’m up late at night and wired. Maybe I just need to organize my craziness inorder to be a better cook and human bean. Mostly, I want to share my constant exploration of the wonderful world of food, to exhange and have fun.
I want people to get excited along with me about a new gem of a restaurant, a new Québecois product on the market, a green kitchen product that works, or about what’s in season, about the edible weeds growing in your backyard. I want to discuss food industry trends, and introduce readers to the artisans, chefs, farmers, foragers and food writers that color my world.
I also want to shake things up a bit and make people think about their food choices. As food ethics become more important to me, I hope to bring food centric people to these real issues, to help spur the dialogue inorder to help bring it mainstream. I want everyone to care about where their food comes from, to value it and the people who produce it, to shun industrial food and opt for the small, local artisanal product. I want to promote the spirit of eating well while doing good. The Slowfood movement encompasses my feelings the best. I want to encourage people to join a C.S.A., to read Michael Pollan, to shop at La Maison Verte, to use their purchasing power to make a difference. And to spend time at the table eating real food, period.
Who ?
Nancy Hinton...
I am fourty seven years old, an anglo from Quebec City, and a chef by profession. Formerly the chef de cuisine at L'Eau à la Bouche, I now cook at “la Table des Jardins Sauvages”, a woodland table specializing in wild plants and mushrooms just outside Montreal, and I write, consult and teach on the side. In spirit, I’m a proud Québecoise who loves Montreal, and the country too, more and more by the day. I’m a fiesty, passionate, idealistic, slightly obsessive-compulsive insomniac, who loves life, the seasons, and my job. I love food and cooking, and making people happy. I love to work hard and play hard. I love fire and knives; I love fresh herbs, tomatoes, almonds and cheese. I love curry, and meat broths, and everything anise flavored. I love anything from a pig, anything green, and anything pickled. I love good coffee and wine, and eating with chopsticks. I love the smell of men’s cologne, of woodsmoke, and of fresh coriander. I love making lists and checking things off. When not in the kitchen, I love newspapers, reading, rollerblading and snowshoeing. I love essential oils, making my own soap, lotions and medicine. I love CBC radio, I LOVE Leonard Cohen, and I love the sky. When I'm not having kitchen juice nightmares, I dream of flying on clouds of lavender.
Where?
In and around Montreal, Québéc, Canada. In St-Roch de l'Achigan (in the Lanaudière) most/all of the time now. And always on the web at www.soupnancy.squarespace.com. On Twitter and Instagram @soupnancy, on Facebook, Les Jardins Sauvages.
Note: This blog is now quite outdated in the new landscape of social media, techy platforms etc.. and the truth is, I have little desire to keep up. I'm a total country girl now, doing her thing more quietly, not to mention without access to a stable high-speed connection. I still keep up the Main Journal and'Bits & Bites' here and there for the heck of it, and for my old school, loyal followers. For more on wild edibles, photos and Jardins Sauvages news, there is always the Jardins Sauvages Facebook page. Or Twitter/Instagram @soupnancy