Published on November 20, 2025
A Day to Discover La pincée
La pincée is the original idea of Catherine de Gongre and François Maisonneuve. The two collaborators first created spice blends to season their everyday dishes. Very quickly, friends and family also wanted to get their hands on these tasty and easy-to-use blends for everyday cooking.
Over time, Catherine and François developed La pincée as a true toolbox designed to offer countless variations of flavours and colours for any dish.
They carefully select their raw ingredients, many of which come from Québec producers, helping to promote and support the local economy.
Trained at the ITHQ and now a chef, Catherine designs all the spice blends and oversees production, sales, and procurement for the company. Meanwhile, François — artistic director and photographer — imagines the product design and develops the brand strategy, marketing, distribution, and administrative aspects.
This complementary and creative duo now offers a wide range of handcrafted spice blends made in Québec.
What inspires you when imagining your spice blends?
Catherine – For me, inspiration is everywhere! In raw ingredients, in the process of searching for new components, but also during dinners with friends, at the market, through music, in films, or at the museum. I approach creation in an artistic and instinctive way, as if spices were colours used to paint a picture and express something in our own way.
We always seek a balance of ingredients, flavours, and aromas so that each of our blends becomes a recipe in a jar. It’s essential for the blend to be visually beautiful — that it shines and is rich in flavours, colours, and textures.
How do you choose your ingredients, especially those from Québec?
First, we love meeting, discovering, and collaborating with local producers who offer exceptional ingredients. We begin with a research phase to identify which ingredients we can use in our creations and highlight in our own way.
We work with wonderful ingredients from Québec, such as: seaweed and balsam fir tips from Gaspésie, maple sugar from Beauce, cranberries from Central Québec, lavender flowers from the North Shore, Gorria pepper, thyme from Montérégie, and sage from the Eastern Townships.
Can you tell us about your collaborations with other Québec companies?
In 2017, we created a gruit-style beer infused with our La pincée Bombay Nº11 curry blend in collaboration with Martin Lallier from MonsRegius microbrewery. Later on, we partnered with micro-roaster 94 Celsius to imagine a surprising barbecue spice blend made with freshly roasted Brazilian coffee. In 2020, we designed — with the company Nos Cabanes — our famous Québec maple sugar barbecue blend.
Meeting the creator behind the Raoul & Simone artwork also inspired us to create La pincée de l’Anse, a sweet-and-salty spice mix featuring varieties of Saint Lawrence seaweed. Then, with Julien Fréchette from La Pimenterie, La pincée Pimentée was born — a very spicy blend that reuses fermented pepper pulp aged in oak barrels for six months. It was a beautiful way for us to embrace the principles of circular economy by repurposing this delicious residual material.
Over the past two years, we have worked in partnership with Station 22 to create a La pincée–style spiced rum. We designed the product together from the original maceration recipe all the way to the development of the brand L'Assemblée. These are incredible encounters that truly shape our story.
Are your blends designed for both beginners and seasoned cooks?
Absolutely! We always develop the range with flavour balance in mind for every jar. This makes it easy for anyone to make the blends their own and use them in a wide variety of recipes and fresh foods — before or after cooking — to add a finishing touch. We often like to say, “the recipe is in the jar!”
What is your favourite La pincée blend for a go-to recipe?
Catherine – I love La pincée plumée Nº9 for seasoning poultry, and of course, Classique Nº1, the very first blend we created. It pairs wonderfully with Ambré Nº8, our turmeric pepper blend, for cooking tofu or oven-roasted vegetables. A real treat!
François – I really like our 94 Celsius Coffee Barbecue blend for grilled meats and smoked salmon. La pincée de l’Anse is also perfect for making an excellent gravlax or simply as an all-purpose spice mix.
Any new project on the horizon?
More of a project to continue! Since last year, we’ve been welcoming students from the Preparatory Training for Work program at La Magdeleine high school to our workshop. The interns take part in our activities in a dynamic, challenge-filled environment. This allows them to grow and thrive in a workplace setting. All talents come together to carry out every step of the production process — from filling jars to labeling — with heart.
How many La pincée spice blends do you offer?
We currently offer a regular range of 14 spice blends, numbered in order of creation from Nº1 to Nº14, along with several limited seasonal editions and multiple creative collaborations born from entrepreneurial encounters over the past 10 years — for a total of 21 products.
Does the Aliments préparés au Québec logo on your products bring added value to your business?
Since obtaining the « Aliments préparés au Québec » certification brand in 2012 for our produits, we’ve noticed a real difference. It clearly communicates to consumers a strong sense of trust regarding the authenticity of our production and the origin of our ingredients.
Visit lapincee.ca to discover the full list of partner retailers in Québec, across Canada, or to shop quickly and easily online.
