As you know, I love taking on challenges. And today, I am very happy to announce that I have taken on quite a challenge. Alexandre Grégoire and Valérie Beaupré, the couple behind Prêts pour la route, approached me a few months ago with a great project: to create dry marinades representative of their travels. “OMG!!” 😱
In case you don't know, Alexandre and Valérie have been traveling on the road full-time in different RVs for almost 6 years. Initially, they had rented their house to do a 1-year road trip, but they fell in love with this lifestyle so much that they decided to sell everything upon their return and hit the road for good. Having been "homeless" since 2018, they now travel everywhere between Mexico and Alaska. They even changed vehicles recently to conquer Europe and the rest of the world. It's an exciting life, you know, we change the world, 1 BBQ at a time, they travel the world, 1 road at a time. 😜 (By the way, they document their travels on social media and even released a book recently. I encourage you to watch/read it, it's really interesting! 🤩)
And now, you may be wondering how BBQ Québec came to collaborate with them to create products. It's simple, a few years ago, Alexandre and Valérie met Max and Ariane and they started talking about what they were doing and started working together on different projects.
Alexandre and Valérie know all about BBQ. They've always been crazy about it; a BBQ was even one of the first purchases they made when they had a house. The difference is that when they had a BBQ at home, it wasn't necessarily their main cooking method, they used it more for fun. On the road, however, it's THEIR number 1 cooking method. It's perfect for them because it's quick, their food tastes better and it leaves them with almost no dishes to do. (Because yes, when you live on the road, it's important to save as much water as possible.) And that's what they say, not me! 😜 That's why they use their compact charcoal BBQ as often as possible during their trips.
Even before meeting Max and Ariane, however, Alexandre and Valérie already knew BBQ Québec and our products. For them, we are THE reference in the world of BBQ. Then, after chatting with Max and Ariane several times, they were very happy that we were making their dream of creating dry marinades with them come true.
I say their dream, because even if they film their adventures or describe them, they can't let people taste the flavors they discover while traveling through a screen or pages. So just as much for them, to be able to remember memories, as to share their taste experiences with their loved ones and subscribers, they wanted me to help them bring their discoveries to life. So they made a "top 3" of the flavors they wanted to bring back to Quebec and asked me to make them with them. Each of these flavors came from 3 significant moments.
It was quite an honour for me. Working with Quebec entrepreneurs who also love BBQ is a source of pride. It was also quite a challenge, because I had to "bring out the flavour" of the trip. Since it was an experience they had lived, I had to make sure to make them relive the moments in question and that each dry rub recalled or revived the taste they talked about in their videos and their book. Their palates and my knowledge of seasonings had to form a whole; we had to merge, like a steak searing on a cast iron grill. 🥩
With the Ready for Alaska dry rub , their wish was to reproduce the taste of the best salmon they had ever eaten in their lives. They were in Alaska, in the middle of nowhere, and they were fishing surrounded by bears. They seasoned their salmon with the spices that were on their boat, including coarse salt and herbs, and had an extraordinary time.
For the Ready for Rodeo dry rub , they wanted to recreate the taste of a recipe a friend of theirs made for them in Louisiana. They met this person at a campground in Calgary where all the cowboys were for the stampede. Once at their friend's house, he cooked them an exceptional steak with notes of pepper, lemon and garlic. It was really good.
Finally, for the Ready for Mexico dry rub , they wanted it to refer to the street vendors who would walk the beaches of Mexico with big trays of fruit. In this case, however, it wasn’t really the moment that stood out to them, but rather the flavor. The fruit was dipped in a spicy sauce with several spices and lemon juice. Alexandre and Valérie were determined to introduce everyone to this flavor combination.
So it was with their testimonies that I got to work. Together, we tasted a lot of things and did a lot of tests. And… we succeeded! Honestly, I would tell you that the 3 dry marinades that we made together are among the best products that I have ever made. 💯 Seriously, they are phenomenal. They are unlike anything we are used to in Quebec, and the experience in the mouth is incredible. These dry marinades, they make you live a moment. Literally. 😍 (Alexandre and Valérie even told me that they were “beyond their expectations”, so this is serious! 🙌)
If you ever want to know more about each of these dry marinades, I invite you to consult my other articles, right here 👇:
- More information about the dry marinade Ready for Alaska
- More information on the dry marinade Ready for the rodeo
- More information about the dry marinade Ready for Mexico
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who contributed from afar and from close by to the birth of these delicious dry marinades. With, of course, special congratulations to Alexandre and Valérie who now have great products in store. "Good job!" 👌
Now go try this, you'll freak out! 😍
Happy BBQ!