Gorton

Gorton is one of Quebec’s best-kept secrets, a traditional dish from the Lac-Saint-Jean region where buckwheat grew happily in the thin northern soil. Cooks simmered the grain with salt pork and onions into a thick, creamy porridge that could feed a family through the coldest winters — and stretch a little pork a very long way.

What makes it great is that cozy, rib-sticking character and the strange magic of its flavor pairings: savory pork and buckwheat, finished with a pat of butter and — if you’re traditional — a drizzle of maple syrup or molasses. It’s the kind of honest, warming food that tastes like a wood stove and a snowstorm outside the window.

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