More and more small farmers are producing top-end products, such as miniature vegetables in startling colors. And speaking of vegetables, we must pay tribute to the innovation of Mirabel's hydroponic greenhouses. 

The Arundell region near Tremblant offers a micro-climate favorable to raising livestock. Here caribou aren't cows with prehistoric horns but wild game that have retained the instinct to break off branches in order to draw their food from them. The same goes for venison that can be cut with a fork and that melts in the mouth like butter. The cedar or pine jelly used in certain recipes is a reminder of the symbiosis that exists here between animal and nature.  

But the Laurentians are not only the wide expanses of the north, thick forests and legendary mountains. The region extends along Lake of Two Mountains, a prime apple-growing region. Every village is a food-lover's delight, whether for its restaurants or gourmet shops.