Cuisines

Next time you want to impress, or bore, someone at a cocktail party, toss out this:  Which are the original cuisines of the world?  I guarantee you, no one will get it right.  I had no idea myself until a Canadian ambassador friend of mine, who had lived all over the world, informed me.  Barry Steers, God rest his soul, had been in the Canadian foreign service all his life and knew many obscure tidbits such as this. 

Over dinner one night at the Gatineau Fish & Game Club (more about this venerable place shortly) Barry started talking about international cuisine and said, "Well, the five founding cuisines of civilization are Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Franco-Italian and Byzantine."  Really?  I asked the usual questions about German, English (now, there's a laugh), American, Japanese, Scandinavian.....etc., etc.  Nope, it turns out thems the only five. 

Why is this interesting?  Well, while the rest of the world was waging war, the original cuisine guys were cooking.  I know this sounds simplistic, but it makes sense.

Back to the GF & GC.  We were introduced to this club in 1983 by a childhood friend of B's.  We had just married and had four kids between us, all under the age of 11.  We needed a summer cottage and this club was just the ticket.  Up notorious old highway #105 we ventured.  About 110 kms into the Gatineau Hills -- between Gracefield and Maniwaki -- (you know this place, Dan), we found nirvana for a month every July. 

Founded in 1894 by a group of Canadian and American fisher/hunters, who wanted to get away from their wives, the club is unique.  It has not been "modernized", in other words, it still has the same board and batten cladding, the same wide pine floors, the same huge, open fireplaces, the same satin eiderdowns and the same old wood stoves as when first built.  What an amazing building!  The second floor features an open balcony that runs around all four sides -- a great place to sit on one of the ancient homemade cedar benches and relax.  For 20 years we rented cottage number 2, or "2 Annex", as it was officially called, and enjoyed the best holiday ever.  It was great fun meeting members who came from all over the world, places such as England (a lord), the US, South America and Canada.  I learned those of us who appreciate loons and nature aren't all that different, when you get right down to it.

One amusing fact is that originally the club was "men only".  In the '60s they finally built a ladies' dining room by closing off one section of the ground-floor balcony.  What hell that must have raised!!  Still, women were not allowed upstairs, so they built a washroom beside the office to accomodate "female" requirements.  But guess what, some members still long for the good-old-men-only days.  Face it, we're not that far from the burkha. 

Lots of doctors were members and would bring their "black bags" along to treat anyone with swimmers' ear or any other minor malady that might arise.  Hey, have your OHIP number ready.  Our kids and their chums spent idyllic days swimming and lazing in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  B was elected president and transformed the finances with his brilliant formulas for dining and tree-cutting, turning the red ink into black, resulting in a waiting list for membership.  He is brilliant with numbers and "heavy lifting".

Recently, two of our kids, after 20 years, visited childhood chums from the club in South Padre Island.  The friendships never fade.