You’ve already seen the wonderful wildberry sourdough muffins recipe which I so tantalized you with (permission granted by Miche). Now experience what cooks and connoisseurs are talking about in The Boreal Gourmet: Adventures in Northern Cooking by Michele Genest. The book is more than a cookbook–it is a memoir of the cooking experience, the preparation, the friends, the mistakes, the surprises, and what might be an everlasting dinner party from recipe to recipe.
The Boreal Gourmet is a unique cookbook, with recipes that utilize all the cool things you’ll find walking around or rooted to the ground in the Yukon, but it is also a bit of Yukonalia. It is a portrait of people living, and cooking, and eating and enjoying life, in the north. From Geist’s review of the book:
I’ve always felt the best cookbooks are the ones you open with the intention of a quick browse but find yourself reading cover to cover and coming out the other end feeling like you’ve attended an inspiring dinner party hosted by the author — without leaving the comfort of your armchair. Michele Genest’s The Boreal Gourmet: Adventures in Northern Cooking (Harbour) is just this sort of cookbook. The narrative that accompanies the inventive recipes oscillates from bush survival advice to personal memoir to historical anecdote (Klondike hopefuls brought sourdough starter buried in a sack of flour with them over the Chilkoot Pass) and is simply a lovely read. The recipes themselves range from the more gourmdet — Arctic Char Poached in White Wine, Gin and Juniper Berries — to the less gourmet — Moose Lake Lasagna in a Pot (complete with tips on how to cook it in the backwoods) — and are complemented by Laurel Parry’s endearing hand-drawn illustrations.
Bear Witness 