The Charcutier master Jean-Simon Petit found his new lair: the Mihouli farm, in Lacolle. The chef takes care of the restoration part of this farm which cultivates arctic minikiwis and kalette, small chou chou.
“Being in the kitchen was missing,” said Jean-Simon Petit, who worked for many years on the Farm of the Quatre-Temps where he developed a project-greatly praised-of farm charcuterie. Upon passing The pressthe chef and his cook, Simon O’Reilly, already activated in the open kitchen with his breathtaking view of the Montérégiens fields.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The thick Baloney steak made by the chief, with mustard with cider and marinated squash
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The beet is available in multiple ways in this dessert: grated in the cake, its candied stems and in sauce.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The chef found a commercial barbotter fisherman, who fishes in the waters border the farm. You can test the product with the rillettes that are accompanied by homemade sourdough crackers.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
Mimosas eggs with nduja house
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On Thursdays and Friday evenings, they welcome the guests at the barbotte refreshment bar where they serve hyperlocal dishes. Carrots cooked in the wood oven and its crunchy tops, mimosa eggs with nduja house, beet cake decorated with sister cheese Angèle from the Fritz Kaiser cheese dairy, the products come from the area and are worked in full, underlines the chef. Several winks refer to the barbot: the fish caught nearby in the Richelieu is valued in rillettes and canned. The barbot is also a dice game that was popular during prohibition – you can play the farm – and the name of the rank where the establishment is. And don’t worry, the chef is still having fun making cold meats. These days, you can taste its famous artisanal Baloney seized with a pan and accompanied by marinated squash.
Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The cook Simon O’Reilly cook the carrots in the wood oven.
Saturday evenings at La Buvette are reserved for a guest chief (Catherine Couvet Desrosiers, Seth Gabrielse), who imagines a table d’hôte menu. During the weekends, the curious can also enjoy common terroir space during the day where pizzas are served in sourdough, cooked in the wood oven, and European hot dogs. It is the owner Nadine Gelly who takes care of the Ferme drinks menu. The Montérégiens wines – the best, according to her – and the beers in the region are put forward. For the Kiwis and Kalettes produced on the farm, you have to wait until the end of the summer to have the chance to taste it.
Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The Mihouli farm only serves wines from the region.
A maturity farm
Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The refreshment bar and the cottage are in this building.
This is the first year that the whole food supply of the farm is deployed, underlines the owner, who launched the big project three years ago with her spouse Claude Gagnon. In addition to the refreshment bar and the outdoor taste area, the couple has been offering a pretty cottage over the restaurant for some time. A farm shop, where farm products will be found and those developed by chef Jean-Simon Petit, will open at the end of the summer, promises Nadine Gelly.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The couple behind the Mihouli farm, Nadine Gelly and Claude Gagnon
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
The little kiwis will be ready at the end of the summer.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
Fall wheat, buckwheat, popcorn corn surround the kiwis and kalettes out of the 20 acres of the farm, where nothing pushed barely three years ago.
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Photo Olivier Jean, La Presse
Kalette plants, a hybrid between Brussels cabbage and kale
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The Kiwis vines, carefully maintained by the couple, also reached maturity. They will produce many kiwis, and even more next year, who can be picked up or tasted on site. It should be noted: the kiwis require a few days after their harvest to be ripe. The couple hopes that their farm will be a gathering place to discover the riches of Montérégie through their taste experiences and their extraordinary products.
9, row of the barbot, Lacolle
Consult the Mihouli farm website