Montreal A to Z:
S is for steak spice as mix first used at Schwartz’s deli puts city on the map.
There are many icons that mark Montreal: the Olympic Stadium, Mount Royal, the Champlain Bridge and, of course, steak spice. That’s right. Steak spice. When you think of cities renowned for steaks, the ones that often come to mind are New York and Houston. While Montreal’s steak houses are also worldclass, this city has somehow become known more for the seasoning that goes on the meat. Like Buffalo is known for its wing seasoning, Montreal steak spice has an international reputation.
Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein, the city’s preeminent authority on delis and steak houses, said it all started with one man, who certainly didn’t have the image of a culinary innovator.
In his book, Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen, Brownstein credits the invention to Morris Sherman — named The Shadow because he was so skinny, when he turned sideways, that’s all you would see. Sherman and his fellow employees at the smoked meat landmark Schwartz’s were allowed to eat for free at the restaurant, but only liver steak. Since liver can have a dry taste, The Shadow sprinkled his own concoction of spices on top.
Soon enough, customers began to ask for the spice, and eventually it was also used on steaks. Many steak houses around the city eventually caught on to the concept and started to use their own blend of spices, loosely based on The Shadow’s recipe.
“He kinda invented this along the way, and he shared it afterwards,” Brownstein said. “Those were the days before zealous lawyers and (proprietary lawsuits).”
So while The Shadow can lay claim to inventing the spice, he reaped no profits from its popularity.
“Now we have something called Montreal steak spice, which is basically the standard by which all steaks should be seasoned, not just here, but throughout the continent,” Brownstein said.
Today, Schwartz’s and Lesters sell their own version of the steak spice, and the recipe is similar to The Shadow’s concoction.
The spice truly reached international fame when socalled flavour experts from London, Ont.-based McCormick Canada visited Montreal during the late 1980s and were so taken with the city’s smoked meat establishments that they wanted to put that flavour in a bottle.
That’s the story told by Keith Gibbons, CEO of McCormick Canada.
“At first, they created the product, not intentionally to sell in supermarkets, but more for the restaurant trade,” Gibbons said, explaining that there weren’t many pre-blended steak spices sold in supermarkets at the time. “We were giving out samples in restaurants, and while we weren’t selling any of these products, we got a lot of requests for samples, because people were taking the spice home. Out of that, we decided to launch it in supermarkets.
“At the time, we thought it was a breakthrough concept.”
Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Club House La Grille Montreal Steak Spice. The spice is McCormick’s top-selling seasoning, and sales continue to grow. More recently, McCormick’s has extended the Montreal Steak Spice line to barbecue sauces and marinades.
Though Club House La Grille Montreal Steak Spice has been made in London, Ont., since the beginning, it is the only product McCormick’s carries that is named after a city — all other spices are named for how they taste. Gibbons said it sells well in markets outside of Canada, and McCormick has never considered changing the name to better explain what the spice tastes like.
Gibbons said he thinks the Montreal name actually helps sell the spice internationally.
“Montreal is a well-regarded city internationally,” Gibbons said. “It’s viewed as having some cachet and it’s known as a culinary centre of great food.”
Other imitators have emerged as well. President’s Choice markets Montreal Steak Spice in Loblaws and Provigo supermarkets.
The spice is so often copied, not because grillers lack imagination, but because it con- tains the optimum ingredients to bring out the flavours of meat, said chef Jean-Fabien Levesque, who is partowner of the Maître Boucher butcher shop in Notre-Damede-Grâce.
He compared Montreal steak spice to a mirepoix, the basic flavours of carrots, celery and onions that start most stocks, soups, stews and sauces.
“The basic ingredients (for the steak spice) are paprika, for colour, pepper, lots of salt garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes.
“After that, you can put other things: some people put a bit of sugar. I would add fresh shallots, that would bring out some sweetness,” he said.
Levesque has his own version of the spice that he prepares in his shop to marinate rib-eye steaks, which he sells to his customers.
His store also sells several steak spice products, and he said at least two of them are modelled after Montreal steak spice.
Gibbons claims McCormick’s version of the spice is the authentic version, and is proud of its flavour.
“It’s such a unique blend, that’s really quite complex. It’s got savoury notes, and it’s also tame,” Gibbons said. “It was one of the first products out there that a griller could use that delivered a fantastic flavour.”