Guess what this symbol means?

Mr NQN and I take to wandering around Montreal in search of the best food on offer. We walk past this sign and I point it out to him. Surely it’s a sign for cherry stand right? I thought that perhaps food was so important that they had permanently designated stands (hey in NQN world there would be gardens made of lollipops and macarons on sticks and fruit trees would line the streets). It turns out that this is the symbol for a fire hydrant, not cherries-ha!

Anyway, enough about hydrants (I never thought I’d say that) but I know what you’re interested in right? The food of course! We’re off to visit two of the well known markets in Montreal, Atwater and Jean-Talon. Each neighbourhood has it’s own bakery, chocolatier and cheese shop and Montrealers generally shop at these fresh markets for fresh food rather than at huge supermarkets.

There are three things that Montreal is known for:

1. Dairy

2. Apples

3. Maple syrup (of course)

Montreal has about 650 varieties of apples which are a hardy fruit that last throughout Winter. 95% of maple syrup is from Canada and 85% of this is produced in Quebec.

We start at the Atwater markets which are housed in an Art Deco building. The markets were started by a Montreal mayor during the 1920′s Depression. It was a way to keep the male population employed and the markets were often started in the poorer areas of Montreal. The Atwater market is the largest flower market in Montreal and it’s a busy one. On a Saturday 9,000 baguettes alone are sold. Our guide Ruby shows us the pates that are available and there is a dazzling array of them. The most popular one is the Cretons which is a pate with pork, herbs and spices.

The mayor after the one that set up the market was a gourmet chef and he decreed that the meat had to be in a different section from everything else. Interestingly, he was also against the idea of street food so as a result there is literally no street food to be had in Montreal.

We start off at Premiere Moisson which means first of the harvest. Mr NQN and I try the mille feuille. You may know I am, afflicted with pastryitis. I adore the stuff (I blame my butter loving mother) and I’m eager to see how the pastries stack up to Paris’s. Ruby buys us a mille feuille and a bowl of coffee and a bottle of water.

Mille Feuille (cut in half)

Bowl of coffee

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