Three-Step Rhubarb Recipe from La Belle Histoire

Eating well is good. But eating well locally is even better! If Quebec food is found almost everywhere today, it's largely thanks to our chefs and restaurateurs, who have long cultivated relationships with local producers.

The La Belle Histoire restaurant in Sainte-Marguerite-du-Lac-Masson, in the Laurentians, is a prime example. Chef Étienne Demers and his partner Sophie Allaire, the owners, have always been committed to offering a menu that showcases the beauty and richness of our local produce. The restaurant is also part of the Aliments du Québec au menu program thanks to their remarkable sourcing of local products.

"It's funny to say, but we wanted to create a restaurant where we ourselves would want to eat," says Étienne Demers. “We wanted something simple, a short menu, all about freshness, with local, fresh products that change frequently depending on what’s available,” he adds. It makes us want to eat there too!

What better way to showcase Quebec flavors in a dessert than with rhubarb? In collaboration with Tastet, we present a refreshing recipe created by Chef Étienne Demers of La Belle Histoire. Enjoy!

Rhubarb in Three Steps

“Rhubarb is one of the first products to arrive in the spring. We really wanted to work with it in different ways and serve it as a dessert,” he explains.

Étienne particularly enjoys working with young rhubarb stalks, which he grows himself in the garden behind the restaurant. Redder and more tender, they bring a beautiful color and a more delicate, tangy flavor.

Here, he offers us a refreshing recipe that showcases rhubarb in three ways: as a compote, poached, and raw.

"The goal is to create different textures. It's also about balancing the acidity, because raw rhubarb is very, very acidic, while poached rhubarb has a slightly honeyed flavor that balances it out."