Diane Skinner
BARACHOIS: If you attended the bilingual presentation given by Nathalie Clément in Barachois on Saturday, February 17, you will have heard all about the exciting new project inspired by the Gaspesian classic, The Black Whale Cookbook, originally published in 1948.
Further, you could have sampled some “fine old recipes from the Gaspé Coast going back to Pioneer Days.” Volunteers at the Barachois Recreational Centre (Allisson-Aubut Library) prepared Madeira cakes, almond cookies, scones, old-fashioned sugar cookies, butter tarts, lemon squares, Swedish tea cakes and tea served in fine china teacups. Nathalie’s favourite recipe from the original cookbook is the corn bread which she adds, “Is perfect to accompany whatever you have cooked.” This project is funded by the Government of Quebec and the MRC du Rocher-Percé.
Nathalie Clément, photographer and founder of Nath et Compagnie Restaurant and Bookshop, Percé, was pleased to have over 60 people attend the event that was presented in the Allison-Aubut Library located in the Barachois Recreational Centre. Nathalie is busy putting the final touches on her new, updated cookbook, inspired by the original Black Whale Cookbook. The new version of the book will include recipes, photos, crafts and historical anecdotes. A portion of the new material was gathered from “testimonials, meetings and various collaborations with elders and artists.” She intends to preserve a piece of history while giving homage to the original book, and incorporating some of today’s flavours and cooking methods.
“The revival of this fabulous recipe book of a prosperous era,” states Nathalie, “rich in exchanges, know-how and “savoir-vivre” is the project. It updates the vision of the people involved in those times, into 2024. Culture is omnipresent in everything: the sounds that rock us, the breathtaking views, the scents of the sea, the touch of the wind and the urge to taste. To pay tribute to this community that is now mine.”
Nathalie Clément and her husband, Patrice Dansereau, moved to Percé in the winter of 2021 where they rented the Black Whale House and opened a year-round bookstore and café. Nathalie comes from Montreal but has been visiting her husband’s family in Percé for over 40 years. Personally, her interests include family, cooking, architecture, houses, literature and art. She previously managed a real estate agency in Plateau Mont-Royal for 25 years and she loved the urban lifestyle and was very involved in her community, but she and her husband made a big decision after retirement to move to Percé with their three children.
The presentation in Barachois on February 17 not only informed the community about her project, it allowed her to connect with people who might have new recipes made with local products
This new version of the Black Whale Cookbook is an important project because it “belongs to the collective memory of those who lived on the Coast,” states Nathalie.
The event was well-attended and showed how much interest there is in the community about the beloved Black Whale Cookbook. Nathalie Clément’s new cookbook will pay tribute to the original while updating the recipes and adding new ones.
Presently, Nathalie is finishing up the book, whose final title has not been confirmed and will include text in both French and English and is hoping to have that completed by the end of March. The next step will be finding a publisher.
Black Whale Cookbook
This unique cookbook, published in 1948, has been described as “an artistic reflection of Gaspé summers gone by.” It was written and compiled over 70 years ago by Gaspesian ladies and women from Montreal who summered in Percé. The Black Whale was the name of a craft shop that was established in Percé ten years earlier in 1938. Nobody can say for sure how the store got that name, other than the sighting of whales off the coast.
The shop was run by a group called the Percé Handicraft Committee and the President was Mrs. Ethel Renouf who is credited for compiling the numerous recipes contributed by the members. The shop sold crafts and art created by the ladies and by local artisans. Some of the food made from recipes in the Black Whale Cookbook, such as strawberry jam, were sold in the store. That particular recipe is credited to Mrs. Ethel Renouf herself.
The book is more than recipes because it offers an informative introduction and lots of information about the Gaspé Peninsula. It is more than a cookbook – it is a slice of Gaspesian history. The book contains many small articles at the beginning of each section on different kinds of
foods on such topics as Expeditions, Autumn in the Woods, Deep Sea Fishing and Sunday on the Coast. Reading through
The Black Whale Cookbook gives a real sense of how life was seven decades ago, through the eyes of the ladies who loved to cook.
Looking through the pages we can get a sense of how food preparation has changed and what foods were eaten during those times.
There were no microwaves or stand mixers. Some of the recipes included are Bonaventure Cod Tongues, Roasted Sea Pigeons, Fish Head Chowder, Seal Liver, Gaspé Ox Tails, Gaspé Frozen Pudding and Spruce Beer.
Other recipes, though historical, are still prepared today such as Johnny Cake, Fried Smelt, Fish Cakes, Pea Soup and Gaspé Boiled Dinner.
The Black Whale Cookbook was very popular at the time, so there are likely many copies of it still in existence. If you own a copy hang onto it as it is a treasure and a piece of history.