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  • Québec Cheeses (15)

    Local cheeses, all purchased from Montréal. Related: the [l:albums/travel/montreal/poutine Poutine!] pages contain information about fresh cheese curds. Cheese Shops

    • [l:node/1154 Fromagerie Atwater]
    • [l:node/144 Fromagerie Hamel]
    • [l:node/1162 La Maison du cheddar]
    • In a pinch and after-hours - grocery stores such as IGA, Provigo, Metro, Super C, etc. There is bound to be a good place to buy cheese from where ever you stay in Montreal.
    Note that the US has some very strange, bizarre, and restrictive food import policies - see [l:travel/montreal/schwartzs-jewish-deli#comment-5229 Meat, Cheese and US Border Crossings comment] for details.

  • Jazz Fest (29)

    Summer Jazz Festival. More than just jazz. More details at: [l:travel/montreal/montreal-jazz-festival]

    • 2012 Montreal Jazz Festival (6)

      Writeup, along with some video clips also available: [l:blog/2012-07-06/montreal-jazz-festival-2012]

    • 2013 Montreal Jazz Festival (13)

      Pictures and video clips of some of the final four days at the 34th Edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival which ran from 2013-June 28 through July 7. Also included are some pictures from other events going on at the same time. The best shows for me were as usual at either the Blues stage, or the Tropiques/Groove stages next to it: [l:albums/travel/montreal/jazz-fest/2013-montreal-jazz-festival/fatoumata-diawara] [l:albums/travel/montreal/jazz-fest/2013-montreal-jazz-festival/the-harpoonist-the-axe-murderer] [l:albums/travel/montreal/jazz-fest/2013-montreal-jazz-festival/anthony-joseph-the-spasm-band] The pictures below have more info and some video snippet links too. There is also a [l:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkd3PNh_1yPTqRqrVEGJaa-9tn8C4xyhN playlist of all snippets on YouTube]. And a few more photos, including full size photos, are at the [l:https://picasaweb.google.com/104075696510996624769/2013MontrealJazzFestival?authuser=0&feat=directlink Google Picasa Album] July 9th saw the start of another festival: [l:albums/travel/montreal/jazz-fest/2013-montreal-jazz-festival/festival-de-percussions-longueuil-2013 Details on Festival de Percussions Longueuil 2013] opening show. [l:http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/default-en.aspx Official Montreal Jazz Festival] site. [l:http://montrealcompletementcirque.com/en/ Montreal Completement Cirque] site. [l:http://internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com/en/ International Fireworks Festival] site. [l:http://www.percussions.ca/ Festival de Percussions Longueuil 2013] site.

  • Poutine! (11)

    A dish unique to Quebec. [l:http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20130531-how-the-quebecois-came-to-love-poutine BBC article: How the Quebecois came to love poutine]. Fries, Gravy, and fresh Cheddar Cheese Curds (fromage en grains) make poutine! An exclamation point seems necessary for this dish. The process of making cheese from milk goes through a step that results in curds. These are small chunks of solid cheese that are not yet pressed into molds for the final aging process. Fresh cheese curds only last a day or two, therefore are only available in places where a lot of cheese is manufactured. Cheddar cheese curds are available widely in Montreal, and it is the key ingredient of poutine. Fresh cheese curds are easy to recognize - they will make a squeaking sound when you eat them. From fast food joints to celebrated chefs, there is no shortage of places to get poutine in Montreal. [l:http://www.montrealpoutine.com/ Montreal Poutine] has good information on all poutine places in that city. Poutine fries should at least start crispy, and have sufficient amount of gravy to smother the fries. The run-down looking Poutine Lafleur has pretty good poutine. This is the standalone place on Rue Wellington and not the chain of the same name. Maamm Bolduc was not as good - not enough gravy or cheese - but many consider it one of the best, so worth checking out. Many places that claim to be famous, or are very old diners that should probably have good poutine, do not. French fries may be limp and not crisp, sauce may be tasteless, and they dish may not be warm enough. So for a short visit, just try the known-to-be-good places, do not experiment. La Cantine, closed in 2012. This bistro on Mont Royal had excellent poutine, in very nice surroundings. The fries stay nice and crispy to the last bite. There is a photo provided below, which now serves as a memory only! Surprisingly, some fast food joints have good poutine too - such as La Belle Province. And Frite Alors! has amazing fries, and good poutine too. 2013: Schwartz's has gotten onto the poutine act: [l:albums/travel/montreal/schwartzs-hebrew-delicatessen/schwartzs-poutine]. It is essentially fine as a novelty item, but the basic poutine elsewhere, and the smoked-meat sandwiches at Schwartz's, are both best eaten without anything else added to either dish.

  • STM - Métro and Bus (8)

    Montreal subway and bus system. External link: Photographer [l:https://instagram.com/explore/tags/mtlmetroproject/ Chris Forsyth's #mtlmetroproject]

  • Le Petit Alep (10)

    Great good, awesome ambiance. Near Jean Talon metro station.

  • Marché Adonis (4)

    Excellent middle-eastern grocery store - large selection of fruits, ready-made food, feta cheeses, tzatziki, and sweets. They now have a home page: [l:http://www.adonisproducts.com/pages/accueil_en.asp adonisproducts.com] DISCLAIMER: please note that this web page has no association with the Marché Adonis business. And this site is not in Quebec, so English readers are the majority here, and French may not be understood by most. Thank you!

  • Marché Jean-Talon (8)

    The Jean-Talon market is a couple of blocks east of the intersection of Jean-Talon and St-Laurent, near the the Jean-Talon metro station. Newly refurbished in 2005, visit this place for fresh fruit, groceries, cheeses, bread, fish, desserts. Great food available in the market itself, additionally, surrounding area is Little Italy, which has many good restaurants.

  • Schwartz's - Hebrew Delicatessen (12)

    Absolutely the most addictive food in the world, the best smoked-meat in the world.

2011 Novalima (video)

Sun, 2011–Jul–03
2011 Novalima (video)

2011-July-2 at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

See a Novalima video snippet

2011 Main Stage (and videos)

Sun, 2011–Jul–03
2011 Main Stage (and videos)

A street section was paved over to make a permanent viewing area. So now this new main stage can hold even larger crowds...

Some video snippets from performances at this and different venues at the festival:
2011-July-4 performances:

The main event of the whole concert, originally formed in Athens, Georgia, USA - the B-52s:
B-52s Rock Lobster
Fireworks after B-52s
From Jazz Fest blurb: "Over close to 30 years of funky existence, they've sold more than 20 million albums to wigged-out fans and laced the culture with plenty of hits including global smashes Rock Lobster, Planet Claire and Love Shack. They've stamped their musical signature, idiosyncratic style and beehive hairdos in every corner of alternative pop-rock, from post-punk to dance, from garage rock to new wave. They've got a reputation as the world's greatest party band."

And at 11PM, the last performance of entire festival:
Nina Attal (1)
Nina Attal (2)
Nina Attal (10 min clip)
From Jazz Fest blurb: "Now blazing across Festival radar, this blueswoman sings, slings guitar like a rock goddess and writes her own songs… at the tender age of 19! One smokin’ solo is enough to convince anyone of this young lady’s incredible talent!"

2011-July-2 performances:

Alex Wilson (1)
Alex Wilson (2)
Alex Wilson (3)
"Alex Wilson: Fusion of blues and rock"

Side performace - a seesaw

Cheese Tasting - Board 2

Thu, 2009–Dec–10
Cheese Tasting - Board 2

Budgeting amounts for cheese varies a lot with the type of cheese, and whether there is food before or after the tasting.

Given all that, some numbers that might work: around 18-20 grams/person/cheese, and a total of around 180-200 gms/person, followed by a small dinner. The higher numbers will most likely result in some left-overs. Other sources have suggested 10-40 gms/person/cheese, and 75-200 gms/person total, so this might depend on group appetites.

So, for creamy, soft cheeses, the higher amounts are appropriate, while the lower amounts should be applied to firmer, more intense cheeses. For 10 people, this means a total of 2 kilos will provide a good buffer, with some left-overs. Six different cheese would offer a good variety, which means around 300 to 400 gms of each cheese. For the board below of 7 cheeses, 250-350 gms per cheese would be appropriate.

1: Le Fleurmier de Charlevoix
2: Belle de Jersey - Saguenay

3: Tomme du Maréchal - Buckland
4: Le Cendrillon - St-Raymond-de-Portneuf
5: Barre a Boulard - St-Raymond-de-Portneuf

6: Bleu d'Élizabeth
7: Bleu Bénédictin - St-Benoit-du-Lac

[Dec 2009]

Cheese Tasting - Board 1

Thu, 2009–Dec–10
Cheese Tasting - Board 1

1: Belle de Jersey - Saguenay
2: Jersey du Fjord - Saguenay

3: Baluchon Biologique - Ste-Anne-de-la-Perade

4: Tomme du Maréchal - Buckland
5: Le Cendrillon - St-Raymond-de-Portneuf
6: Barre a Boulard - St-Raymond-de-Portneuf

7: Bleu d'Élizabeth
8: Bleu Bénédictin - St-Benoit-du-Lac

9: Fromage en Grains - St-Guillaume (to be eaten within 2 days of purchase).
This is a snacking cheese, can start with this, end with this, and nibble at any time.

See Cheese Tasting - Board 2 for how much amounts to budget for cheese tastings.

Fromage en grains - plain, tomato, pesto.

Tue, 2009–Dec–08
Fromage en grains - plain, tomato, pesto.

Plain, dried tomato (tomate sècheés), and pesto flavored cheese curds (fromage en grains). From La Maison du Cheddar. They also sell them in a cone for snacking, and by the kilo. Best eaten when fresh.

Harrisa - L'Olivier

Tue, 2009–Dec–08
Harrisa - L'Olivier

260 Place du Marché du Nord, Jean Talon Market.

Harissa is a hot red pepper paste used in North African cooking. This variety at L'Olivier has lemon juice in addition to the hot and spicy red pepper, garlic, olive oil.

Not surprisingly, it goes great with Indian food.

L'Olivier also has an outdoor barbecue making merguez sausage and other sandwiches.

Tomme du Maréchal - Buckland

Sun, 2009–Dec–06
Tomme du Maréchal - Buckland

Cuisine du Quebec info:

Fromage fermier de chèvre affiné 3 mois.
Pâte demi-ferme à croûte naturelle
Lait de chèvre entier, cru

Ripened 3 months, semi-firm with natural rind. Raw goat's milk cheese.

Produced by: Chèvrerie du Buckland.

The picture is of the farmer selling the cheese from his car, on a makeshift, temporary table in the Jean-Talon market. There were younger cheeses available (small rounds in the basket), as well the aged Tomme du Maréchal which is the main cheese on the table.

La Belle Province - Multiple

Sun, 2009–Dec–06
La Belle Province - Multiple

La Belle Province at multiple locations. Not all are that good, though.
Very good poutine at 1 Rue Ste-catherine E (corner St Laurent).
Also: 1216 rue Peel (between boul. René-Lévesque O. & rue Ste-Catherine O., next to the Tourist Info office).

This is pretty good poutine, the fries maintain their crispiness at the start and unless totally smothered by the sauce. The cheese is not as fresh (tastes good, but no "squeak") as in the better places. Right amount of sauce, and a good amount of cheese. So, not bad at all - for a fast-food joint, this is pretty good. Have never eaten anything else here, but have heard good things about the hot-dogs.

La Belle Province looks like a franchise, but certainly does not seem up to the McDonalds standards - it seems some restaurants use the name and logo but may not be following the exact same procedures. For example, the La Belle Province at 3001 Notre-Dame near Atwater Market is a sit-down type of restaurant and the poutine there was not as good - fries were too mushy.

So, even though this is a standard greasy spot, some locations have pretty good poutine. Certainly the two listed on top of this post are pretty good.

La Maison du Cheddar - Fromage en grains

Sat, 2009–Dec–05
La Maison du Cheddar - Fromage en grains

1311 avenue Van Horne, 514-904-0011
Near métro Outremont, La Maison du Cheddar serves fresh cheese curds - plain, and flavored with pesto, or with tomatoes. They also have a small seating area, and serve items like grilled cheese sandwiches.

Notre fromage en grains nous vient de la coopérative Agrilait de Saint-Guillaume. Affiné pendant la nuit, il nous est livré chaque matin au summum de sa fraîcheur. "Refined during the night, it is delivered to us the next morning, fresh"
La Maison du Cheddar fromage en grain - fresh cheese curds - fresh every day from St-Guillaume.

Comes in flavored varieties too - pesto, and tomato. Plain is definitely the best, though.The picture shows the shop area from where the cheese is served.

The cheese when fresh does "squeak" when you eat it, but it does not travel well. Even within one day of traveling in 30F weather, the cheese had lost it squeakiness. One web site suggested not putting it in the fridge as a way to maintain the squeak, maybe that is the way do it. Normally, it should stay fresh for around 48 hours. There are vacuum packed packages in the super-markets that have a week of life (as per the date stamped on them) - maybe those are better for eating a day or two later.

Bleu Bénédictin - St-Benoit-du-Lac

Sat, 2009–Dec–05
Bleu Bénédictin - St-Benoit-du-Lac

Abbaye De St-Benoît-Du-Lac: Opened in 1943, this cheese factory, run by the Benedictine monks of the Saint-Benoit-du-Lac Monastery in the Eastern Townships, produces an array of heavenly cheeses.

Bleu Bénédictin Pâte persillée, demi-ferme, fait de lait entier, avec croûte naturelle, affinée en surface et dans la masse avec le penicillium roqueforti. Meule d'environ deux (2) Kg avec croûte grise ou blanchâtre. La pâte demi-ferme est crémeuse surtout dans le centre de la meule. Odeur de champignon et saveur riche de crème liée à une petite touche de sel.

Fromage CDA: the Bleu Bénédictin has a soft melting center and a lovely lingering taste. Retaining its natural rind lends this cheese its wild mushroom aroma and woody taste.