Montreal food

I just came back from visiting my friends and family in Montreal. A trip like that is never relaxing since everyone wants a piece of you and you have a limited number of days available. So, before I left I made two lists, one for everyone I wanted to absolutely see and one for what I absolutely wanted to eat.

I organized a lunch with my dad, a lunch with my mom, a dinner with my sister and a dinner at a restaurant with every friend that could make it. It was a great visit because I managed to get to see all the important people in my life.

One day I had a rotisserie chicken meal at St-Hubert which is now a staple in Quebec. I grew up eating there, so it was fitting for me to go back and order a memory plate. Half a chicken with fries, gravy, coleslaw and a bun to dip in your gravy. You know it is still a pretty good meal although a bit salty.

The next day I managed to eat half a sugar pie and a poutine at “Cher Gerard”, a local greasy spoon where I used to bike and buy the best French fries in town. They have been open for 31 years, the daughter of the owner now operates the place - now that is a successful business. For all of you who have never heard of poutine, here it is French fries that have been blanched (pre-cooked once), re-fried crispy to order, topped with lots of fresh cheese curds that squeak between your teeth when you eat them...and then covered with gravy. Not your diet kind of meal, but once in while after skiing, after a hockey game, right before taking a plane back home or for the young crowd you can still do that. It is perfect for your late nights, an after-the-dance-club kind of meal.

I could not resist a trip to my favorite “cabane a sucre”, a maple farm Famille Constantin, to have “tire sur la neige”, which is regular maple syrup that is cooked to 238F until it gets nice and sticky, poured over snow and eaten with a wooden spoon or a Popsicle stick until your teeth hurt. It’s the best way to find out if you have cavities.

I did get a chance to eat some tourtiere (traditional meat pie) and I still love it. On my last day I had brunch with my aunt and uncle and she sent me home with a box full of “Sucre a la Crème” - English people would call it fudge, which is pretty close and another great way to test your teeth.

All in all a great trip, lots of laughs with friends, lots of sugary and fatty food that I wouldn’t normally eat all in the same week and plenty of recalled stories from the old days of all the stupid things you did wrong and try to forget. That’s what Spring Break is all about, right?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.