ZERO WASTE APERITIF - POISSON BLANC GETAWAY

The water is calm on the Lac du Poisson Blanc. Four canoes, nine ladies. We rowed to our island, the sun warming our skin, with a little sunburn as a bonus for those who had neglected the cream! Shortly after, the sky became overcast, and the rain decided to fall on us. But still, it was perfect!

This trip to the Poisson Blanc Regional Park was something very special. We had given ourselves the challenge of producing almost no waste. A masson jar of waste, that's all!

The reputation of the Queen of Aperitifs is well established, so Pascale was in charge of creating a waste-free aperitif. Here are her best tips and recipes!

Preparation

It's no secret to campers! Planning and preparation is the key to a successful waste-free cocktail party. Buying in bulk, planning the transportation of food in the appropriate containers and making the right choices to minimize the creation of waste once on site are some of the habits to adopt to aim for zero waste.

Here is a list of what to bring for the aperitif:

• Masson jar or camping cup
• Gin Oshlag (glass bottle to be recycled in your local glass containers)
• Candied citrus
• Basil and mint leaves
• Sparkling water (Using a Soda Stream)
• Infused simple syrup (recipe below)

Choice of ingredients

- Citrus & Herbs -

Quick as that, you think: "I can throw my lemon in the woods, it's a fruit after all! But NO! This sweet lemon does not compost in a few days and is still considered as waste.

A simple solution to reduce your vegetable waste? Preserve citrus fruits. They are delicious to eat and add a nice punch of flavor. Use the juice from the citrus fruit before preserving the peels. It can be added to drinks!

Individual plastic bags of herbs are a no-no! So we brought our own little basil plant, literally! A little tip? To keep it longer when you get back, put it in a bowl and put water every day (yes, or!) directly in the container.

RECIPES: Grapefruit Simple Syrup|| Ginger Simple Syrup

Grapefruit simple syrup

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup grapefruit juice (juice of 2 fresh grapefruits)
• Zest of a grapefruit

Boil grapefruit juice, sugar and zest. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cool in the refrigerator.

Ginger simple syrup

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 2 slices of fresh ginger

Boil water, sugar and ginger slices. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cool in the refrigerator and remove the ginger root.

-Sparkling water-

Tonic or sparkling water comes in bottles or cans. It's hard to get away from that! That's why we decided to invest in a machine that produces sparkling water in reusable bottles.

-Choice of alcohol-

A big fan of all OSHLAG products, we chose the Dentdelion Gin and the Hibiscus Gin. These glass bottles are recyclable in glass containers in most areas.

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Cocktail recipes

PINK GIN

• 2 oz Oshlag hibiscus gin
• 2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
• 1 oz grapefruit simple syrup
• 4 oz of sparkling water
• 3 basil leaves
• 2 slices of candied grapefruit peel

SPICY GIN

• 2 oz Dentdelion Oshlag gin
• 2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz of ginger simple syrup
• 4 oz of sparkling water
• 3 basil leaves
• 2 slices of candied lemon peel

A zero-waste weekend is a challenge, it is without pretention that we tried to take it up as well as possible. Write to us if you want to have more tips.