Montreal fish markets / sushi grade

[gruyere]

Where do you very knowledgeable food people shop for fresh fish, tuna in particular (in home cooking quantities)?

[Culatello]

La Mer, Noref

[gruyere]

Is la Mer on Papineau?

Noref???

[jokhm]

Pêcheries Norref Quebec

Phone: (514)593-9999

4900, rue Molson, Montréal, QC H1Y 3J8

Added the second R and then something came up!

is this it I presume?

[carswell]

Nouveau Falero on the west side of Park just south of Bernard. On the whole, the city's best fishmonger.

And, believe it or not, Boucherie Atlantique on the southwest corner of Queen Mary and Côte-des-Neiges (a few doors north of Duc de Lorraine) has a small fish counter that sometimes sells excellent red tuna. Usually comes in on Thursday or Friday and it's not there every week, so best to give a call before making the trek (514 731-4764).

[gus_tatory]

completely agree with carswell (see above), nouveau falero, parc and bernard. have shopped there for years...

[SteveW]

Checked out Nouveau Falero Wednesday. They had biological Loup de Mer fish on their counter!!! Is it worth getting? Would this be farm-raised fish? They were charging quite a bit more for the biological Loup de Mer, than compared to their non-biological Loup de Mer fish. And found out on my visit, that last week they opened upstairs(so now they offer more products).

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Steve

[carswell]

Checked out Nouveau Falero Wednesday. They had biological Loup de Mer fish on their counter!!! Is it worth getting? Would this be farm-raised fish? They were charging quite a bit more for the biological Loup de Mer, than compared to their non-biological Loup de Mer fish.

According to the staff, they're farm-raised but fed real food (I assume that means a diet similar to what they'd eat in nautre, i.e. squid, shrimp, eels, small fish, shellfish, marine worms, etc.), not fish chow, given no antibiotics and held in pens in something approximating their natural habitat. Whatever. It's mighty good, if not quite at the level of the wildly expensive wild striped bass they sometimes sell.

[SteveW]

Tried to get the biological Loup de Mer fish today(Monday) at Nouveau Falero, but they didn't have it anymore. They told me, there's a very very very limited supply of this fish, & they get it very very rarely(the only place in Montreal that would carry it). According to the person there, they might not get this fish again for 6 months. This Loup de Mer comes from France. I told him to contact me ASAP, when they next have it in.

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Steve

[SteveW]

Today Nouveau Falero had biological Atlantic Salmon fillets from Ireland. Don't know how often they get it.

-Steve

[AndrewM]

I've bought it there several times.

[SteveW]

Is jumbo lump crab meat available in Montreal fish markets? I don't think I have ever seen it in Montreal fish markets(I've asked before). I'm only aware that some of the Montreal restaurants use jumbo lump crab meat for their crabcakes(Milos is one). In last Saturday's column by Lesley(mostly focusing on stone crabs), she gives out a recipe(courtesy of Fairmount Turnberry Isles executive sous-chef Luis Pous) for Crispy Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes. The main ingredient is jumbo lump crab meat. Of coarse if jumbo crab meat is not available, then an individual can just buy some live crabs, then at home steaming it a little bit before taking out the crab meat to make these crab cakes.

Lesley regarding stone crabs. Are stone crabs available at all in Montreal(I thought I seen it on menus(available in-season) at Milos & Faros)? Your column says '..Montrealers have no access to stone crabs(their flesh becomes dry & stringy when frozen).' Does that mean it's available in Montreal, but only frozen??

-Steve

Edited April 8, 2004 by SteveW (log)

[Lesley C]

I've bought that crab meat from Costco, frozen.

AS for the stone crab claws, I know of no source outside high end restaurants. If you see them frozen, don't bother.

[identifiler]

Snow crab just came in on Monday at Nouveau Falero.

Arrivals are Sunday Monday (Monday is New York arrival such as Tuna) and then again on Thursday I believe.

I just cooked some wild salmon this weekend. If you have to make the choice between wild alaskan and biological salmon. I suggest wild alaskan, when I asked the guy behind the counter if his biological salmon was farm raised, he said yes. I said from where, he said from Ireland. I said give me the wild stuff...

The guy agreed that I made the best choice in his opinion. Raised fish is what it is, the first factor is really the water they sit in, raised fish is still massively furnished with local waters (Ireland's water aren't the nicest in the world...). The difference is really in the species, the raised biological will have a softer meat although you have to question the constant use of coloring, be it natural or not... The Alaska wild is slightly harder, that's the way I like it.

Also just arrived this week: La Grosse de Matane, first runs.

[chopper]

Jumbo lump crab meat is available from Phillips food.

It comes from blue swimmer crabs.

here

[SteveW]

Chopper, is the jumbo lump crab meat fresh at Phillips food? I should of stated earlier 'fresh' jumbo lump crab meat(I've never seen it at Montreal fish markets).

-Steve

Edited April 8, 2004 by SteveW (log)

[cook-em-all]

The crab chopper talks about is pasteurised, canned- not frozen.

My mom lives in the florida keys, lots of stone crab down there. Go to a crab shack, lots of beer, lots of garlic butter and or cocktail sauce and hammer away.

Apparently they rip off the claws then through them back in the water and they grow back.

Identifiler, explain to me why I would want to buy farm raised salmon from Ireland and not from Canada.

[Lesley C]

I think because the Irish fish is organic. I have purchased organic, farm-raised salmon in B.C. (Tofino) but here I have only seen the Irish product.

[carswell]

Actually, I paid a pretty penny for some of that Irish organic salmon at Nouveau Falero last Friday. They also had wild Pacific salmon but, with the exception of Alaskan Copper River salmon (which I've never seen here), I prefer Atlantic. Also, the organic filets looked fresher. Anyway, I roasted it on a bed of sliced potatoes and drizzled it with an herb and garlic vinaigrette, so its qualities came through fairly unmasked. Probably the best farmed salmon I've eaten but still inferior to wild: partly a question of texture — like ID said, it lacks firmness — but also of flavour. Simili-saumon ?

[Lesley C]

I only buy the Irish organic stuff and i think it's quite nice. The salmon I purchased in Tofino (organic pink salmon) had an odd mushy texture.

[cook-em-all]

What does that mean organic.

It is certified by who exactly?

You will have a hard time in convincing me that this triple the price, organic, irsh salmon is any healthier or less bad than good old Canadian farm raised salmon.

I may be wrong, but the recent reports on farm raised salmons were european farm raised.

This organic salmon smells fishy- it sounds like marketing to me.

I've worked with the irish salmon and I did not see much of a difference from our own.

Edited April 8, 2004 by cook-em-all (log)

[Lesley C]

The feed is organic. I'm guessing it's certified by nice Irish people. They must be feeding them oatmeal and potatoes.

[identifiler]

hahaha OK people, simmer down !

Let me go back here, first of all, why on earth no one is lining up to get fresh snow crab at Falero boggles my mind. It's there go get it.

Cook-em all, I am actually saying you are better off buying the wild salmon of all the choices (this is not labelled organic). But to elaborate on your question. It is simply a question of know how. Ireland is one of the largest producer and Falero probably finds it a good deal compared to Canadian. Personnaly, I know the cages in BC very often get attacked by disease, as such Falero probably has a better stock with the Irish. However, you must understand that these fish cutlures, be it in pools or right in the water in cages, still require massive pumping of waters. The waters of Ireland aren't really known for their freshness if you ask me. Lot's of sahit dumped around there. Also, they still feed the fish with an organic coloring agent. A salmon raised ina cage that cannot bottom feed or krill feed will not get a red tint. It should be almost white meat, so they add something. I'm gonna guess somekind of biological substitute. If I have a choice, I go for wild. Organic cerification is very severe in europe. Here it is less severe and I still find it quite regulated... so in europe. As carswell says, I would rather eat Atlantic but the tatse of wild is better simply because the fish actually swims, hunts instead of ripping through the constant current of recirculated water... (a comparison would be like a fresh caught lobster and a lobster from clearwater at the airport).

3- Cook em all, 95% of salmon sold in Quebec is from Chili. I kid you not, at least 95%. Salmon, is by far, the product that has degraded the most in the last 10 years. Regular commercial raised salmon is the grocest thing in the world. I have never had farm raised BC fish so I cannot comment. However, I have a friend who works for DFO in the inlet and he has seen the groceness of these cages (think of it as some kind of salmon aviary fever...). It takes 30 times more for a wild salmon to gain the weight of it's caged cousin. DFO developped a super salmon trait. They raise atlantic by the way, sometimes they get away from the cages and displace the local population. Here is a nice example:

http://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/undergrad/pdfs/final-haas.pdf

http://www.ufishbc.com/wild_salmon.htm

Some folks might remember 3-4 years ago, 4-6 tons of salmon being crushed to bits and dumped very far off the coast of Van Island. This population had been attacked by an algal bloom that is very toxic. The only way around: Pick up the cages as fast as possible, grind down all the fish, go dump the fish pulp far away to not have it come back in the inlet. Believe me when I say that there is even a fish farm lobby in Ottawa working the proper representants.

here is a nice example of propaganda, from the culinary education center...

http://www.cheftalk.com/content/display.cf...36&type=article

So take it for what it's worth, I'm no socialist hippie with to much facial hair, I simply like my salmon wild.

Fish culture is a big deal, it's not a little enterpise,it's usually very big conglomerates who run them.

[SteveW]

The crab chopper talks about is pasteurised, canned- not frozen.

Thanks, now I see the Phillips Foods link.

-Steve

[doronin]

What are the best places to get fresh and very fresh (sushi grade) fish in Montreal?

The closer to West Island the better, but location isn't my major concern.

Freshness, quality, and... well, a price

Thanks!!