“Ça fesse, c’t’affaire-là!” exclaims Tititte Desrosiers in Michel Tremblay’s La Traversée des Sentiments, as she downs a shot of caribou.

In this final installment of “what are Michel Tremblay’s characters drinking?” we’re moving on from tea and milk to something more potent.

Caribou, Tremblay explains, is a drink with a reputation. It goes straight to your head, then makes it spin. Next, you can expect to go hot all over. These effects are quick to present themselves and are long lasting.

In the novel, Simon’s version is home brewed and is, I suspect – given its effect on those who imbibe – of considerably higher alcoholic content than the 22.9% version offered by the SAQ. The agreed upon ingredients are wine (often fortified), spirits and something to sweeten it

But before the digestif comes the meal: a roast of both pork and beef, darted with whole garlic cloves, roast potatoes, canned peas and carrot purée. For dessert, a raspberry tart.

Unlike Rose, I did not gather the raspberries from those bushes behind the outhouses. I will leave raspberry gathering to your discretion. Here is my tart, with some added apple for good measure.

Apple Raspberry Tart

Tremblay, Michel. La Traversée Des Sentiments: Roman. Montréal: Leméac, 2009. Print.

Photos and Text by Alexia Moyer