Sourcing Supplies & Ingredients in Montreal

[riboflavinjoe]

marche lobo on parc avenue just north of milton has yellow cherries on sale today at 2.99 a lb. lobo usually has lower prices than most places in town. the red ones are at 4.99. did anyone take advantage of the loblaw's cherry blow-out, where they were 1.99 a lb? my girlfriend managed to get me about five pounds during that sale. i heard they went through 4 pallets in ONE DAY. people descended on loblaws like vultures, apparently. for some reason, lobo always has really good prices on dairy too, a lb of lactancia butter normandie style is 3.99 and a 500 ml yogourt liberte, 2.5% is 1.89, this is substantially lower than provigo just down the street.

what are the prices like for cherries at that place on darlington street, just below the plaza wilderton, are their prices usually lower than most other stores, too?

[shiv]

Chez Louis had some sour cherries when I stopped by yesterday afternoon. Not many left, though...

[skunkbunny]

Nino had sour cherries too, two days ago, but they were sitting in the sun.. so even if there're any left....

Fresh nopales at Super Mercado Gloria/Andes on St Laurent.. they usually have a few half decent dried chilies as well, poblano, ancho, one or two others..

As much as I love Mr DeVienne his prices make me a bit queasy, $7 for a small jar of star anise?

[chantal]

I know. De Vienne's prices are high but who else has mexican oregano, and great aleppo pepper. Some of the stuff he carries can be found cheaper elsewhere, and I so I don't buy too much from him, but I often wonder though how long the stuff has been sitting there in some ethnic markets. With De Vienne's stuff, it looks unmistakeably fresh. The Aleppo (smoky red pepper flakes, quite different from smoked paprika because it's brighter in flavor and color, and spicier) I bought from him was GREAT. His new store has some pretty good prices on rice (Thai black sticky-- I havent't tried it-- and red rice which is usually quite expensive). He even has metal tortilla presses. I brought mine back in a suitcase along with all the other important stuff like good almond paste, lime oil, macadamia nuts. etc. ( I must be nuts)

I inquired about tamales with our new Mexican vendor at JTM, and the owner/manager assured me they are coming soon. She also has some dried guajillo chilis, really great looking at that, for a buck. By the way, there is a great tutorial on salsa making on IECG here. Just in case you're wanting to try something a little different. (Cooked salsas are my personal favorite).

Just finished making sour cherry jam. I like it really loose and chunky which is why I like to make it. I'm hoping to go back for more tomorrow. I didn't buy them from nino, though I wish I had. I paid 10.00 for 1/1/2 lbs because I did the rounds of the stalls and I didn't see anyone else who had them-- I got there quite late. I figured that I didn't have much choice because the season on sour cherries is very short ( approx one week) so I bought them. Anyhoo. They had em at nino for $8.00 for 3 lbs and they looked better than those I bought. Live and learn. The bluberries from Lac St. Jacques are also good as usual and I am dying to try this cake with them. Hum. I think I need more blueberries too.....

Thanks everybody for keeping your eyes open for me!

[riboflavinjoe]

cherries are on sale at 2.99/lb at sama fruits in the JTM. Is it sama? you know that arab mega-store in the north end on the same side as hamel... yep, cheapest cherries i've seen. but you know, i'm all cherried out for now. i got some blueberries instead.

[carswell]

Is it sama?

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Sami.

Were these sour cherries or bings?

[riboflavinjoe]

bing

[Mr. Fagioli]

As far a peppers at JTM market, I thought I saw some well priced poblanos at the market last year, and have been looking for the same vendor but to no avail.

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I think you're probably thinking of Birri (sp?): a large open-air stall, located near the northwestern corner of the market (or slightly northeast of Première Moisson), where the offerings shift from seedlings and plants to peppers, herbs, shallots, garlic, etc., and where the employees wear green aprons. Right now they're in transition, still selling some seedlings and plants but also plenty of ready-to-eat stuff. On the pepper front, they had some lovely Hungarians on the weekend.

[chantal]

As far a peppers at JTM market, I thought I saw some well priced poblanos at the market last year, and have been looking for the same vendor but to no avail.

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I think you're probably thinking of Birri (sp?): a large open-air stall, located near the northwestern corner of the market (or slightly northeast of Première Moisson), where the offerings shift from seedlings and plants to peppers, herbs, shallots, garlic, etc., and where the employees wear green aprons. Right now they're in transition, still selling some seedlings and plants but also plenty of ready-to-eat stuff. On the pepper front, they had some lovely Hungarians on the weekend.

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Maybe though I don't remember plants or green aprons. It was just one guy selling mostly peppers. So what do you with hungarians? What do they look like? It might be fun to start a thread to talk about what we do with all the goodies we bring home from JTM.

[herbacidal]

Is there a Persian bakery in JTM? Or anywhere else in town?

[carswell]

Is there a Persian bakery in JTM?  Or anywhere else in town?

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Do you mean a bread bakery or a pastry shop?

[herbacidal]

Probably more of a pastry shop, although I imagine any Persian bakery would have both bread and pastries. I doubt they're broken down into boulangeries and patisseries like French cuisine.

My friend was looking for Persian baklava. Next time, we expect to check out Greektown and JTM, and I'm sure the baklava in Greektown will be very good, but the preference was Persian.

[chantal]

Probably more of a pastry shop, although I imagine any Persian bakery would have both bread and pastries.  I doubt they're broken down into boulangeries and patisseries like French cuisine.

My friend was looking for Persian baklava.  Next time, we expect to check out Greektown and JTM, and I'm sure the baklava in Greektown will be very good, but the preference was Persian.

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Adonis has a big selection of quite good baklava. Give them a call, I'm sure they'll tell you if it's Persian or not. It doesn't look like the greek bakalava I've seen though.

[Mr. Fagioli]

As far a peppers at JTM market, I thought I saw some well priced poblanos at the market last year, and have been looking for the same vendor but to no avail.

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I think you're probably thinking of Birri (sp?): a large open-air stall, located near the northwestern corner of the market (or slightly northeast of Première Moisson), where the offerings shift from seedlings and plants to peppers, herbs, shallots, garlic, etc., and where the employees wear green aprons. Right now they're in transition, still selling some seedlings and plants but also plenty of ready-to-eat stuff. On the pepper front, they had some lovely Hungarians on the weekend.

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Maybe though I don't remember plants or green aprons. It was just one guy selling mostly peppers. So what do you with hungarians? What do they look like? It might be fun to start a thread to talk about what we do with all the goodies we bring home from JTM.

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I guess that means we can hope to see poblanos at more than one stall...

As for Hungarians, they're a pale, waxy yellow-nearly-white, and quite spicy (probably similar level to a good jalapeño). That day at Birri they had the familiar banana peppers (still abundant this past weekend), a variety with heavy ridging but essentially bell-pepper shaped, and a similarly coloured cherry pepper that may or may not have been Hungarian. As for using them...that day I only admired them. I bet they'd make great pickles, but beyond that I'd have to look for recipes. (Ripened to redness, dried, and ground, at least one of these varieties becomes the familiar Hungarian paprika.)

In any case, Birri usually has a pretty wide selection of peppers. And this weekend they were the only place where I noticed Italian cranberry beans. They were probably available elsewhere, though, just escaped my notice.

[Mr. Fagioli]

Seen and tasted this weekend: yellow corn! Was, and I hope still is, available from the stall in the westernmost allée where they advertise pesticide-free corn. Terrific. Will try to remember to remember the name of the merchant next time. There are now several corn stalls flying the organic pest-control banner, but I don't know if the yellow corn is making a serious comeback.

[chantal]

I guess that means we can hope to see poblanos at more than one stall..

Wouldn't that be nice?

As for Hungarians, they're a pale, waxy yellow-nearly-white, and quite spicy (probably similar level to a good jalapeño). That day at Birri they had the familiar banana peppers (still abundant this past weekend), a variety with heavy ridging but essentially bell-pepper shaped, and a similarly coloured cherry pepper that may or may not have been Hungarian. As for using them...that day I only admired them. I bet they'd make great pickles, but beyond that I'd have to look for recipes. (Ripened to redness, dried, and ground, at least one of these varieties becomes the familiar Hungarian paprika.)

Are those red cherry peppers the kind that are usually stuffed with feta? I like those quite a bit. I have a little function coming up this weekend that I could make those for. Do you know which ones I mean? Do i need to pickle the peppers?

And this weekend they were the only place where I noticed Italian cranberry beans. They were probably available elsewhere, though, just escaped my notice.

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I will definatley try to get those on Friday when I go to the market. I've never tried them before.

[Chrisser]

They also have Persian baklava at Akhavan on Sherbrooke W.

[carswell]

Probably more of a pastry shop, although I imagine any Persian bakery would have both bread and pastries.  I doubt they're broken down into boulangeries and patisseries like French cuisine.

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Well, I offer the following data point: for a short while there was an Iranian bakery in the Côte-des-Neiges that made only bread.

My friend was looking for Persian baklava. Next time, we expect to check out Greektown and JTM, and I'm sure the baklava in Greektown will be very good, but the preference was Persian.

Chrisser is right about Akhavan, the Iranian supermarket. Unfortunately it's nowhere near the Jean-Talon Market.

Here's a list of other Iranian groceries, some of which may sell pastries. Again, none are near the JTM.

Koohe Noor

2550 Lapiniere

(450) 676-9550

Marché Norouz

5700 Sherbrooke West

(514) 807-8747

Marché Rose

1406 St-Laurent Boulevard

(514) 849-2111

Marché St-Laurent

5780 Sherbrooke West

(514) 369-3474

Zam Zam

6260 Sherbrooke West

(514) 488-8383

An Iranian acquaintance once mentioned "Le Monde," a pastry shop she thought was on Côte-St-Luc Road, but I don't find anything of that name in that hood.

Iranian restos:

Byblos Cafe

1499 Laurier East

(514) 523-9396

Cheminee Restaurant

5876 Upper Lachine

(514) 481-0123

La Maison 59

6556 Sherbrooke West

(514) 483-6555

La Maison de Kebab

820 Atwater (Metro Lionel-Groulx)

(514) 933-0933, 933-7726

Quartier Perse Restaurant

4241 Decarie Boulevard (Metro Villa-Maria)

(514) 488-6367

5899 Sherbrooke West

(514) 482-0009

Tehran Restaurant

5065 de Maisonneuve West (Metro Vendome)

(514) 488-0400

Yekta Bistro

5893 Sherbrooke West

(514) 485-7077

Lastly, Nocochi, located downtown in the shadow of Concordia University, offers a wide variety of New Age sweets, many of them Persian in inspiration. Here's our own MaeveH's review.

As for the city's Greek and Middle Eastern pastries (along with Italian and Portuguese), you'll find our most extended discussion to date here.

[Mr. Fagioli]

Arrived at JTM: poblano peppers, at Birri as described above. $3.50 for six smallish peppers. Didn't see any more during a tour of the other stalls...and they weren't exactly abundant at Birri.

They're also selling trays of what they're calling jalapeños but I suspect are serranos (they're much smaller, skinnier and pointier than the big jalapeños we usually see). About 50 peppers to the $4 tray.

[chantal]

Arrived at JTM: poblano peppers, at Birri as described above. $3.50 for six smallish peppers. Didn't see any more during a tour of the other stalls...and they weren't exactly abundant at Birri.

They're also selling trays of what they're calling jalapeños but I suspect are serranos (they're much smaller, skinnier and pointier than the big jalapeños we usually see). About 50 peppers to the $4 tray.

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Thanks Mr. Fagioli, That's a good price for them (poblanos). I'll get some during the week. I am really wishing I had a bigger freezer right now.

As for the suspect jalepenos, they might be jalepenos. I've never seen them quite as fat as I have here, not very spicy either.

[Mr. Fagioli]

Thanks Mr. Fagioli,  That's a good price for them (poblanos). I'll get some during the week.  I am really wishing I had a bigger freezer right now.

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A little off-topic for this forum, but you know what to do and you're here....

How do you freeze them? Roast, peel, remove seeds + membrane, pack in oil? That's my best guess, but I'm curious to know just what you would do. I suppose drying requires a proper food dehydrator, and not just a regular oven or convection oven?

Anyway, I hope you find the quantities you want. On the weekend they were really not very abundant.

[Mr. Fagioli]

More peppery sightings:

Super Marché Andes (4387 St-Laurent) has a decent selection of Goya-brand dried peppers right now (ancho, pasilla, couple of others) that look to be in good condition (except the chipotles). Forgot to note the price, but everything's usually quite reasonable there. Fresh pear cactus also on offer today.

[chantal]

Hi Mr Bean,

I got 6 really gorgeous poblanos yesterday at birri, thanks. I can' t decide if I want to use them or freeze them though.

There are different things you can do. You can roast then seed them, then freeze them in containers or ziplocs. Peel the skin off after you defrost them-- gives them an added layer of freezer burn protection. I've never used oil, but you could try one container that way. You could try to dry them in the oven and then freeze them. I don't know if that would be good with poblanos since they are really at their best --IMHO--when charred and roasted (and put in warm potato salad ). I remember reading that you can blanch peppers, then freeze them too. That might be another idea.

Bad news from mexican vendor. Looks like will be loosing their spot at JTM soon. I spoke with the owner yesterday and she says they will probably have to go back to selling stuff out of the restuarant on St. Denis.

[poutine]

Since we're now entering prime time corn on the cob season, I picked up some yellow corn at JTM last week. When I asked the vendor if the corn was sweet, he cracked open an ear, broke it in half & handed me a half-cob. Probably could have eaten the whole cob raw but thought I ought not to. Just by pinching a few kernals, its juice literally squirted me in the face & all I tasted was pure sugar. I can't remember the last time I tasted corn that sweet (last summer I could not find ANY sweet corn). At home, I quickly cut the corn off the cob (juice squirting everywhere) & very briefly nuked about a cup. A touch of salt & pat of butter & I was ooohing & aweing for a long time. The corn was orgasmic!

I don't know about the mixed yellow/white corn, but if you can find any of the yellow, buy some. I'm going back to JT this coming weekend to seek out my "corn guy"; gotta get me lots.

[carswell]

Last weekend, the only stall I found selling yellow corn was on the west side of the second allée (counting from the west) about 100 feet from the north (Fromagerie Hamel) end. Staffed by a middle-aged Québécoise who said the corn came from St-Marc-sur-Richelieu. I bought a half dozen ears and made them into one of my late summer favourites, chilled purée of corn soup (nothing but corn, water and a half a bay leaf) drizzled with truffle oil and garnished with chives (chervil and a basil chiffonade are worthy alternatives). Sorry to say that the soup was so sweet it would have been better as dessert. Next time, I'll try to find some Silver Queen for the soup and will save the yellow ears for grilling.

BTW, Chez Louis and Chez Nino both had lobster mushrooms. Black fig season is upon us. Havre aux glace's new melon-lime sorbet is delicious if subtile. And La Dépense has a wide variety of rices, flours, condiments, etc., including a decent selection of Indian staples like papadoms, pickles and chutneys. The place just gets better and better.