Seasonings can be purchased at the Lac La Ronge Visitor Centre. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

unique flavours

Boreal Heartland offering new seasonings at select locations

Aug 29, 2022 | 4:32 PM

Boreal Heartland Herbal Products is test marketing a new line of seasonings in La Ronge and Saskatoon.

“We’ve been working on these seasonings for a couple of years now, doing research and looking at different plants that can be used for their flavour for seasonings,” said manager Randy Johns.

“In the research that we do with the boreal plants, I came across quite a number of companies in Quebec that have a lot of different uses for plants. Seasonings is one of them and I looked at the way they used the plants and how they process them, and so on. I thought it made sense for us to develop our own line of seasonings as well.”

Eight seasonings have been developed including chanterelle powder, sweet gale, juniper berries, wild mint, alder pepper, rosehip powder and spruce tips. They can be purchased at the Lac La Ronge Visitor Centre in Air Ronge, along with SaskMade Marketplace and Nutters in Saskatoon.

Johns explained there are still finalizations to be made on the packaging and price of the products. He noted work remains to be done to find a national distributor as well.

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“Part of the process with these boreal plants is people don’t know a whole lot about how to use them,” Johns said. “There’s a bit of an education process. We need to get the word out that there are some interesting flavours and unique things you can do with plants from the boreal forest.”

For instance, Johns mentioned chanterelle powder, sweet gale and yarrow have a flavour profile that goes well with meat. He recommends first-timers try using the chanterelle powder and Montreal spice on barbecue chicken.

Johns also has a recommendation for hamburger.

“The juniper berries and alder pepper, you grind them up in a mortar and pestle and put them in hamburger meat. They give a good burst of flavour,” he said.

During the development process, John stated chefs were brought in to work with the seasonings. They were able to provide advice about potential changes, as well as take photos of the dishes they were able to make.

Johns expects the seasonings to be officially launched in October. More information, including recipes, can be found online at the Boreal Heartland website.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno