Montreal Madness

After being home a stretch, it was time to continue our saga into the heart of eastern Canada. We weren't the most productive we could have been in Montreal, though we saw quite a bit, we didn't get our hands dirty anywhere. This is because it's a big city, more expensive and one of us doesn't speak the language. We called my aunt and uncle the day of to ask for a place to stay, but only their son got the message. They didn't get it by the time we'd arrived, so when we came to the door, my uncle looked at us like two strangers. On account of vastly altered appearances, that's totally acceptable and not unexpected. He got it after a little while of wondering why there were two akward men at his door, looking like they wanted something. After that, we were fully welcome, and actually stayed a little longer than anticipated, a full 4 nights. Montreal is a nice introduction to Quebec for foreigners(like my traveling partner) because you can typically get by with english, yet it is obvious what the province's main language is.
After some initial confusion, and me doing some translating, we were well on our way. We visited the Atwater market, which is a pretty stellar place, full of butchers, producers and wicked little boutiques of Quebecois products. A wider variety than your regular butcher is available at most places here. In the rest of Canada you don't get terrines, pates, torchons, or headcheese at every butcher, here you do. On top of the regular cuts, many of the butchers also dress animals, making ballotines and gallantines, or sausages and cured meats. It's an amazing thing to compare to the rest of Canadian markets.


We also went to the Jean-Talon market, which is proudly proclaimed by the Quebec tourist pamphlets as 'the largest in north america'. I don't know if that is true or not, but the market is huge. And cheap. Like, crazy cheap. It's also surrounded by useful stores and has a permanent section of built stores that are equally awesome. A large cheese store, a wicked mushroom forager, and a "boutique de les saveurs de la Quebec" are just a couple among the awesome shit here. This could be your supermarket. The marchet des saveurs was of particular value, and a place where we took a lot of notes on what was of quality. There are some really cool products in Quebec, and we'll never be able to visit them all, but a select few unique ones will get their deserved attention on our way back through the province.

Montreal was also nice for breweries. As many of you likely know and have probably over-indulged in, MTL is packed to the brim with trendy little brewpubs rocking out craft-brews for the masses. We visited a couple, notably Dieu-du-ciel, which is a new heavy hitter coming late in the game. We saw their brews as far away as Alberta, in the wine-merchants there. I said we had to visit, and when we arrived, who would have known, but it is my cousin's favorite brewery of the week. So we visit. I have to say that some beers were good, some not so wonderful. It was still a worthwhile experience, but the place was also overly jammed to the max, so no chance to talk to anyone who could tell us anything. My cousin later informed me that they have a main production facility elsewhere, and just brew here for the pub. Maybe one day I'll get around to their actual brewery, we can just slot it on the list of things regrettably missed, which is long.

We also visited the McAuslan brewery, which some people know as St. Ambroise because of it's craftily bilingual labeling. They have a window overlooking their entire production facility, but don't let people in without appointments, which we were sadly without. It was still nice to see, and they also have a back patio where you can indulge in a couple beers they serve nowhere else besides Montreal, such as their pumpkin lager. This beer is really stellar in the realm of flavoured beers, and I think McAuslan is the number one brewery in Canada for well-crafted flavoured brews. They have an amazing apricot beer as well as a raspberry beer that are both outstanding in the category. The pumpkin may just be number one.

On top of the breweries and markets, we did have an endless quest for poutine here in Montreal as well. We visited the AA restaurant, in a little bit of a back corner of town, on my cousin Tullya's recommendation. She was an awesome recommender. I'm aware that isn't a word. It was an amazing poutine, heaped high with cheese, almost in equal portions to the fries. The gravy was good, and the portion was monstrous. Just like it should be. We tried another poutine at "la banquise", a famous poutinerie, with like 26 different varietals or something. Not even close to the quality of AA. It appears skeezy poutineries are the way things should be done. I mean, at AA, she was screaming at some guy for being at the bar next door when he should be at the restaurant paying for the meal he ordered. How much more authentic can you get? It's practically like being in a home kitchen. Amazing. La banquise wasn't bad quality, but the gravy wasn't very flavourful, and my poutine with sausages was tantamount to poutine with hot dogs, which weren't even fried crispy. A somewhat dissappointing meal for a place boasting awards for best poutine. It's open 24hrs, so I can imagine it is perhaps drunk eats for the masses, who later vote for it favorably because they were wasted and it was 'the best meal of their lives'. For the record, after going out one night, I got my Montreal vice drunk food, which is of course, 2$ chow mein with peanut sauce. Like everything, inflation has taken it's toll, and it's now 2.50$. Still a steal really. You get two tiny springrolls, and a mad heap of chow mein with peanut butter sauce. Those of you who know me well know why I love this. They cook the peanut butter sauce inside peanut butter jars, in a chafing dish. It's majorly unprofessional, cheap, and tastes awesome when your wasted, but horrible when your sober. I have the field research to prove it. I once forced a portion on our DD upon a party trip to Montreal. Suffice to say I ate two portions that evening. He hated it. I loved it. The difference? Alcohol.


We also cooked in Montreal. We tried to treat our hosts to purple gnocchi, making another attempt at that vinifera flour. It was decent, and everyone said they enjoyed it, but I think it needed quite a bit of work to be worthy of a real thumbs up. The vinifera adds an odd flavour to things, not bad, just strange. To counter that flavour, we'll have to be crafty. The gnocchi also came out a little soft for my liking, but alas, thus is life. We also made an epic salad a couple days later, with pears, asparagus, leeks and soft tofu. My Montreal family are almost entirely vegetarians or vegans, and therefore gain much respect from me, but present some restrictions in terms of cooking.

After a fine and relaxed few days in what is, for my vote, by far one of the best cities in Canada, it was time to move on. There is still much to be done, and time and money are running short.