POUTINE AND BEER BIG HIT WITH FOOD TOURISTS

The fame St-Albert’s cheese curds and the gourmet-quality poutine available at the village’s cheese factory could soon draw international food fans from New York and Vermont states to PrescottRussell before the year is over.

“How can you not like poutine?” said Tara Pereira, an official with the Vermont Fresh Network, during a Wednesday visit to the St-Albert Cheese Factory.

Pereira and other members of a group representing state agricultural bureaus, tourism agencies, university departments, and businesses in New York and Vermont were on a tour through Eastern Ontario and Western Québec organized by CANAMEX, an agency involved in developing bilateral business projects between Canada and the United States, which relate to agriculture.

The focus of the tour was promotion of a

David Gillespie, CANAMEX founder and spokesman, noted that feedback so far from everyone in the tour group is very positive about Prescott-Russell’s popularity potential as part of the international food tour route.

planned international food trail project linking the states of New York and Vermont with the provinces of Ontario and Québec. PrescottRussell is part of the Ontario section of the tour route along with Ottawa and the October 17 stopover featured visits at the St-Albert Cheese Factory and at La Brasserie Etienne Brule Brewery in Embrun, one of several craft breweries in Prescott-Russell.

David Gillespie, CANAMEX founder and spokesman, noted that feedback so far from everyone in the tour group is very positive about Prescott-Russell’s popularity potential as part of the international food tour route.

“From what everybody said, they’d like to be back here again tomorrow,” Gillespie said. “It (food trail project) looks very good.”

—photo Gregg Chamberlain Alissa Matthews (left) and Tara Pereira, both from Vermont, enjoyed their taste of genuine poutine from the St-Albert Cheese Factory. The two were part of the Canamex tour group of delegates from various government, business, and university groups from New York and Vermont states sampling local beverages and cuisine, as part of an international food trail touring partnership between the two states and the provinces of Ontario and Québec.

—photo Gregg Chamberlain Le fonctionnement de la Brasserie Étienne Brulé, l’une des deux brasseries artisanales d’Embrun, et de la Fromagerie St-Albert s’est révélé très intriguant pour certains membres du groupe de délégués du circuit Canamex, lors de leur passage dans la région Prescott-Russell le 18 octobre dernier. Le groupe comprend des représentants de divers groupes gouvernementaux, d’entreprises et d’universités des États de New York et du Vermont qui ont dégusté les boissons et la cuisine locales, dans le cadre d’un partenariat international de tournée de sentiers alimentaires entre les deux États et les provinces de l’Ontario et du Québec.