The pinch: at the heart of the company

Spices The pinch is the secret ingredient to sprinkle in our recipes!

I found a spice that dethrones my garden spices (and that's rare!). It's a La pincée spice jar and it's now the star of my kitchen. I discovered it when I was looking for a recipe for gravlax (my daughter loves fresh fish). A little pinch of spices and presto! our gravlax is successful!

The packaging of La pincée is really beautiful and I was curious to know where it came from. Here I am happy to learn that it is a local business in Quebec!

The little story of La pincée

Spices hold no secrets for Catherine de Gongre and François Maisonneuve, owners of La pincée. She, a designer and cook, and he, a professional graphic designer and photographer: the two have joined forces to develop the brand image and products of La pincée, quality spices with a concern for aesthetics.

They make it good and beautiful!

In 2012, Catherine invested herself full-time in the development of her business. The efforts made paid off, because the following year the company was already winning a prize. La pincée was rewarded for the design of its products by winning a grand prize for its brand image in 2013 and two Gaïa awards in the favorite Foods of Quebec and packaging range categories in 2012.

The spice collection

La pincée offers a range of eleven blends, assembled and made by hand, of carefully selected spices. The blends are created locally, in Catherine and François' workshop in La Prairie, Quebec. It must smell good!

The ingredients chosen come from suppliers from here in Quebec and elsewhere in the world, such as vanilla from Madagascar, Portuguese sea salt or Malabar pepper from India.

In addition to being Aliments du Québec certified, La pincée favors organic ingredients whenever possible and local Quebec products such as cranberries, Quebec Gorria peppers, lavender, rosemary, thyme, sage and balsam fir.

The art of creating spices

The composition of mixtures is an art ranging from the choice of flavors to that of textures and colors. “For each mixture, there is always a central ingredient and then I add colors and textures. I surround myself with what inspires me and I work on the grinding of the ingredients to discover the perfect dosage. We want to simplify life and create a mix that makes it easy to transform a dish,” explains Catherine, the artist behind La pincée.

Spices are created from raw materials according to the desired finesse and depth. These aromatic or plant-based ingredients are mixed without the taste being distorted (4). Once she's finished composing, Catherine wants to make sure the mix appeals to taste buds other than her own. “I have a dozen friends do tests. I send them a sample of the spice mix with an imposed recipe. I ask them to also make a recipe of their choice and they give me their comments. »

At La pincée, we really care about preserving the natural essence of the ingredients. The blends are preservative-free, gluten-free, oil-free, and made from whole, non-irradiated spices.

A Quebec product in grocery stores near you!

La pincée spices are available everywhere and it is Catherine and François who take care of the marketing of their products in more than one hundred points of sale in Quebec: in many local markets, delicatessens and corner grocery stores.

In my case, it's heading to Ferme Guyon in Chambly to rediscover La pincée spices, ideal for seasoning salads, meats on the barbecue or poultry and more. Let's also think outside the box and dare to put these spices in our smoothies, cocktails, desserts ++

Like a collection of perfumes

My choice fell on the spices La pincée N°6 Citronnée which will go perfectly with a good grilled fish (my daughter really likes fish). It would be just as excellent for making a lemony mayonnaise, without the acidity of the lemon which slightly alters the taste of the mayo. La pincée spice mix N°6 contains organic lemon zest and Quebec sage.

An employee of Signé Local has also already tested La pincée N°4 Gravlax spices for you. Find the gravlax recipe here. There are also recipe ideas on the La pincée website such as:

N°2 Poivrée – Strawberry heart with chocolate .

And you which number will you choose? Are you more of the sweet, plump, amber or classic type? Good spices, good recipes!

Reviewed by Marie-Eve Patry