Montrealissimo
F OR A COUNTRY as large and young as Canada, the whole notion of a national cuisine is nonsense. Food has always been on the move. But even more importantly so have the world’s peoples. Our culinary landscape is unique, our identity is inclusive and our food life revolves around the innovative.
AS AUGUST 5TH is Food Day Canada/ Journée des terroirs, we honour one of the most proud and vibrant diasporas in our midst — the Italians. With backyards and culinary traditions passed down through countless generations, they have made huge swaths of Canada bloom.
Five centuries ago two Italian adventurers who had a penchant for sailing set off on individual voyages in search of the Orient. The first, Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), allied himself with the Queen of Spain and the second, a Venetian sailor named Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), convinced Henry VII of England to fund his swift boat, the Matthew. The race for riches was on.
Columbus reached the islands of the Caribbean in 1492 and in 1497 Cabot planted the first British and Venetian flags on a far greater prize, the continent of North America.
Although Italians have played many roles, from explorers to priests, in what is now Canada, the first major group to really settle here was after the War of 1812. They’d defended Lower Canada (Quebec) from American attacks and two hundred or so soldiers were granted land in Quebec’s Eastern Townships and in Montreal. By 1881 that city was the home of the first Italian consulate in Canada and welcomed waves of Italian immigration that began in the 1800s and has continued to today.
One might wonder how different our lives would be if Italy with all its lust for the good life and great cuisine had settled the New World. Thankfully today we have glimpses of it in the celebrations and joie de vivre that permeate the city of Montreal and throughout the pages of a new French language book, Montrealissimo, written by one of the city’s most energetic chefs, Michele Forgione and veteran food writer, Lynne Faubert.
With Food Day Canada in the offing on August 5th, Italian Week from August 11–13th and Montreal’s 375th Anniversary, there could hardly be a better time to arm yourself with a healthy appetite, tuck their book under your arm, grab a Metro pass and really taste this spectacular city. Experience the Italian love of culinary excellence using Canadian ingredients!
Begin with Marche Jean-Talon (c.1933) at the heart of the neighbourhood known as Little Italy. Jean-Talon is possibly the finest year- round market in Canada.
…In 1497 Cabot planted the first British and Venetian flags on the continent of North America
Les Cochon Tout Ronds have been curing pork since 2004 and this past year, their jambon sec (prosciutto) was named the best outside of Italy. They also sell hard to find, authentic guanciale, the essential ingredient for carbonara, and a marvelous dry fennel sausage. If you’re travelling and want to have your purchase vacuum-sealed, head to Boucherie Prince Noir and for a nominal charge, they’ll seal if perfectly. And while you’re there, you can marvel at the array of meat — from partridge and quail to lamb and venison — that lucky Montrealers, both chefs and home cooks, have to choose from. Watch fresh pasta being made at Pastificio and then head to Les Jardins Sauvages for the most interesting fresh and dried mushrooms anywhere in the nation. It’s there that award-winning Chef Nancy Hinton sells her very seasonal wild edibles, from tiny pickled milkweed pods to stinging nettles, that she and her husband François Brouillard forage from their acreage outside of the city.
One could spend weeks exploring and revelling in this market from what seem to be walls of maple products and buckets of flowers to Quebec’s renowned raw milk cheeses!
A bit further afield in Old Montreal you’ll find eating experiences that are raising the standard of the new Italian cuisine across Canada. Men and women who are using the ingredients of our nation, from locally grown and milled flour to buffalo milk made into the creamiest mozzarella, to create an authentic taste of ‘home’.
There are author/chef Michele Forgione’s own restaurants Impasto, Pizzeria Gema and Chez Tousignant, the coolest ‘snack bar’ in the city where even the hot dogs are made on site. As Michele emphasizes, “We carry the spirit of Italian cuisine but I’m not in Italy.” To that end his ingredients, at all three locations, are largely Quebec-grown. They
make everything from the pepperoni to the pasta.
Across the road you’ll find one of the most unusual shops I’ve ever visited. Owned and operated by Elena and Rudy Venditelli, the front room of Quincaillerie Dante overflows with an incredible collection of cooking gear. In the back, unlike any other cookware store in the nation, there’s a hunting shop — both the Italian community and Quebecers are renowned for their love of the hunt. Next door is Elena’s cooking school, Mezzaluna, where she and her star-chef son, Stefano Faita, demonstrate and teach alongside their friends, many of Montreal’s top chefs.
Nearby at Pasticceria Alati-Caserta, operated by the Calderone family since 1966, the counters are full of authentic pastries - sfogliatella, Salerno’s complex, manylayered pastry, and their signature cannoli, crisp and piped full of soft whipped cream. Don’t miss this bakery!
Have a coffee at San Gennaro Café on rue Saint Zotique. You can almost feel the neighbourhood’s heart beating here. The bonbolini are the plump sugary cousins of doughnuts… the favourite is filled with nutella. As the morning wears on, huge pans of pizza-to-go appear — you can watch them being baked as well-dressed Italian men and women come for a quick espresso and office workers grab lunch.
Milano Fruiterie is the first Italian specialty supermarket in Quebec, founded by Vincenzo Zaurrini in 1954 on boul. Saint-Laurent. It’s a must visit, even just to see the array of balsamic vinegars and olive oils.
At the edge of Little Italy, on the corner of ChristofeColumbe and Beaubien, is L’Automne, a boulangerie owned by two protégées of James MacGuire, the legendary baker who brought artisan bread to Canada. This is where you’ll find what are likely to be the finest croissants in the city.
In other parts of the city, the graceful, eloquent Chef Graziella Baptista has elevated Italian cuisine to a fine art in her simply named restaurant, Graziella on McGill Street. She is a culinary perfectionist who, with her sommelier husband, will serve forth the clearest Parmesan broth with perfectly round, light-as-air gnocchi made with rapini, or a magnificent ossobuco alla Milanese.
She writes, “It’s all about the dishes, of course, but ingredients — and combinations of ingredients — are key. Inspired by a season, a region, the pleasant memory of a trip somewhere, a friendship with a grower, an impulsive stop at the market … provided they remain authentic.”
At Mercuri on Wellington Street the open fire roasts everything from winter squash to amazing ribs basted with mango barbecue sauce. The pasta is exceptional! Chef Joe Mercuri has established himself as one of the city’s leading young restaurateurs.
Nearby Le Serpent, named after the crazily convoluted pipes that snake across the roof of this old high-ceilinged factory, Chef Michele Mercuri — Joe’s cousin — is one of three partners who have created an atmosphere of industrial chic. This is another version of the ‘new Italian’, from the cocktails (try the Air Cobra, a potent mixture of bourbon, Amaro, Aperol and lemon) and appetizers (we loved the fresh oysters with maple vinaigrette) to an amazing, seasonal lobster risotto.