The big city of Montreal in the province of Quebec was the last stop for my husband and me on our recent tour of central Canada. As in Quebec City, we were surrounded by French-speaking citizens. I’ll remember Montreal mainly, though, for the simple Canadian food we ate in diners and from food trucks and pastry shops.
We’d already tried the poutine (French fries with cheese curds and gravy) in Ottawa and decided once was enough for this heavy dish. The smoked meat sandwich advertised by the food truck is a Montreal specialty, however, that along with regular fries served as just the right amount of food for lunch.
A lunch followed by dessert, though, when my husband spied another food truck selling ice cream cookie sandwiches, another Montreal claim to fame. Of course we picked different types of cookies for the top and bottom of the sandwich. I don’t want to think of how many calories were in this Montreal treat.
We didn’t hang out only at food trucks, though. On the way from Quebec City to Montreal, our bus stopped in a small town called Magog, where we tourists were to find lunch on our own. My husband and I were drawn to a place that looked “un-touristy.” A place where maybe the locals ate lunch?
Bingo. All around us, we heard only French from the mostly male clientele. Our waitress spoke enough English to take our orders, hot dogs with fries. We were served a hot dog in something more like a piece of folded bread than a typical American bun. And yes, I ate more French fries in two weeks in Canada that I eat in six months at home.
For dessert, we ordered pouding chomeur, poor man’s pudding, a traditional Quebec province dessert much like a cobbler. I wish I had a picture of the dessert, but I lost my mind and gobbled it up before thinking to snap a photo.
Incidentally, that’s the man in charge, maybe the owner, pictured here. He did come over to chat with us, switching from French to excellent English.
Another popular Canadian dessert is called Queues de Castor (Beaver Tails). These pastries, shaped roughly like a beaver’s tail, can have all kinds of fillings. We chose the apple and it was delicious.
Why a pastry in the shape of a beaver’s tail? The beaver is a national symbol of Canada, hearkening back to the country’s early history of the fur trade.
A fancy dessert we enjoyed at a sit-down dinner one night was Profiteroles au chocolat, which was so delicious it was sinful. Pastry, ice cream, nuts, and chocolate sauce–what more could you want in a decadent dessert?
Though our focus was often on food, we did enjoy the ride from Quebec City to Montreal. The countryside is dotted with vineyards, and we stopped for a wine tasting at Le Cep d’Argent (remember we’re in the French-speaking province of Quebec). There, a lady in our group was shown how to uncork a bottle of wine with a sword. Nice party trick!
This building in Montreal seemed to be made of Magna Tiles, the children’s toy of brightly colored building blocks.
Winters are so harsh in Canadian cities that many have climate-controlled underground routes for pedestrians. We ventured in one such area in Montreal, where I was surprised to see a piece of the Berlin Wall. Our guide explained the colorful side was painted after the wall was torn down. The less colorful, sparsely painted side was done while the wall was up.
The French-speaking province of Quebec has at times wanted to secede from English-dominated Canada. The tension between the French and the English here is evident in this statue of a French-Canadian woman, showing her disdain of the English. She’s facing the headquarters of the Bank of Montreal, a symbol of English power.
From Montreal, we had a direct, two-and-a-half-hour flight to Charlotte, NC, our temporary destination. A short flight, the same time zone, and a unique cultural experience.
