Going Both Ways

He says:

To start the New Year on the right foot, I made a soup with grand-pères in it (see below for recipe). Grand-pères are a Quebecois dumpling that you can add to any stew or soup. My mom used to put these simply made dumplings in all leftover soups she made during the winter. Often after the holiday season, it seemed to be the best use of turkey leftovers galore. If I was lucky, she would save some to make Grand-mères, which were the same dumpling dough poached in maple syrup and eaten as dessert!

She says:

I didn’t have “Grand-mères” and “Grand-pères” when I was growing up, and really when I think about it, there wasn’t a food that could go both ways (as in, savoury and sweet). I suppose though, that is why I like breakfast so much, for it is the meal that offers you both choices as acceptable dining options. You can have dessert at dinner, and yes at lunch too, although that tends to mean more time at the gym! At breakfast you can have one piece of toast with peanut butter and one piece with jam… you can even have both of those on the same piece. Breakfast cereals have become junk food with milk on top, but even the old-fashioned muesli had raisins or other dried fruit, and porridge had brown sugar or maple syrup. Breakfast is the chance to have sweet and savoury in the same mouthful, as if echoing the bittersweet nature of our daily existence, the yin and yang of everyday life.

Am I making too much out of this? I think not – having the chance to balance these two opposites sets you up for the day and makes you more aware of the nuances in the world around you. It helps you not take things too seriously (even Mary Poppins said a spoonful of sugar was a good thing!). Perhaps best of all, it reminds you to be young at heart, I think. The mischievous fun of trying sausages with that bit of maple syrup that lingers on your plate after the pancakes, that is youthful abandon! Even with the adventurous thinking of chefs today, it is rare to see a sweet condiment with a savoury dish, but at breakfast everyone looks the other way if you give it a try.

So, if you don’t have time to make Chef Martin’s recipe this week, live dangerously and spill some maple syrup on your scrambled eggs or dip your bacon in that bit of raspberry jam that slipped off your toast… you just might surprise yourself, and who knows? You could even start a new trend. Long live breakfast!

Chef Martin’s Tip 43: Grand-Pères et Grand-Mères

Grand-pères are dumplings served in savory dishes, and grand-mères are poached in maple syrup and water, served on a plate topped with a touch more of maple syrup.

Your 5 year-old child can do this dish, and should do this dish. It’s the perfect way to get them to make something in the kitchen and eat it afterward.

Grand-Pères

500ml Flour
20ml Baking powder
A touch of Salt
50ml melted Butter
250ml Milk

Mix together the first 3 ingredients, then add the milk and butter. Mix the whole thing into a dough, then drop some small spoons-ful of the dough into boiling soup or stew and let them cook for 10 minutes or so.

Grand-Mères
200ml Maple syrup
600ml Water
1 cup Brown sugar

Bring to a boil all the ingredients and drop small spoons-ful of the dough into the hot liquid for 10 minutes or so. Remove them with a strainer and serve with maple syrup.

“No matter what happens in the kitchen, never apologize.”
(Julia Child, 1912-2004)

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.