How I managed to recreate a cabane à sucre experience… far from Québec ! Homemade sugar shack feast in my Australian home • Photography © Bottle and Brush Studio 2025 After a few years living abroad, I started to miss the food of the cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks), those generous, maple-filled meals that mark the arrival of spring during the maple syrup harvest in Québec and share a story about it on this blog. At first, this post was about a food photography challenge (and

When fresh cheese curds and black truffle once met in my little Aussie kitchen, this rare poutine, also called my “Mission Impossible”, was finally accomplished ! Homemade classic poutine topped with fresh grated truffle • Photography © Bottle and Brush Studio 2018 Homemade truffle poutine … ho.my .god. I was lucky enough to improvise, photograph and taste this one. It happened on a sunny winter day during my first poutine photo session. Québec cheese curds are nearly imposs

More than fries, gravy and cheese, a poutine is a Québec cultural touchstone. Living abroad means moments of homesickness, and for most expatriated Canadians, especially those from Québec, this is the best remedy for homesickness! Not that it is impossible to make homemade poutine, but outside Québec’s dairy and cheese makers' zone, it can be surprisingly challenging. This probably sounds funny if you’ve never lived or travelled in La Belle Province *... but I will do my best

Best fresh on the day, these are a delicious treat available everywhere… in Québec! Cheese curds, which we call in French “ fromage en grain ” (or in slang, “ fromage en crottes ”), are unfinished cheddar curds made from fresh pasteurised milk. The moist, curdled milk pieces make a funny “squeak squeak” in the mouth, and that is why it is often called “squeaky cheese”. In the late 50s, dairy farmers created this product as a solution for selling their excess milk. Since then,

From Boreal berries to bush tucker spices: cultivating a forest-inspired kitchen garden. My little Boreal forest "props" in pots • Photography © Bottle and Brush Studio I have always been enchanted by forests, even when they frightened me. As a child and teenager, the woods were a playground. Later, as a young adult, my friends and I were “outdoor freaks,” camping and hiking in the mountains almost every weekend. From Québec to the western provinces, those adventures remain u