Montreal's Jean-Talon Market is offering a world of food all in one place

GLOBE TROTTING: Marche Jean-Talon at 7070 Avenue Henri Julien is a large produce market in Montreal offering fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as prepared food from the province of Quebec and around the world. You can take the subway to the Jean-Talon Station, a couple of blocks away.

EVERYTHING BUT TOOTHPICKS: I don't know of any other produce market that gives free samples.

NO PESTICIDES: One stand offers Lebanese-style cucumbers grown in Quebec without pesticides.

NORTH OF THE BORDER: One stand sells tortas and tacos stuffed with cochinita pibil, a traditional slow-roasted Mexican dish of shredded pork prepared in a sauce of orange and lime juices, and vinegar, seasoned with chili powder, cumin and achiote, above and below. 

QUICK LUNCH: You'll pay $5.50 Canadian for three tacos or a sandwich. Visitors from the United States get a discount because of the strength of the U.S. against the Canadian dollar.

SAY CHEESE: Freshly made sandwiches are filled with Quebec cheeses. 

FISH FRY: Aqua Mare is a full-service market with a well-iced display of wild-caught fish, as well as live lobsters, but the shop also prepares fried seafood you can eat on picnic tables outside. Opposite the store, another vendor serves freshly shucked oysters for $2 to $3 apiece.

SMELTS IN THE MOUTH: An order of fried smelts and shrimp with spicy mayonnaise is enough for two as a snack ($10 Canadian).

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Less than a block from the produce market, Boucherie Al Kahir at 300 Rue Jean-Talon East, Montreal, is a Moroccan butcher shop that also sells a wide variety of prepared food, spices and bread. 

SPREAD THE JOY: The butcher shop offers hummus, baba ghanoush and the less familiar zaalouk, made with eggplant, tomatoes, oil and parsley.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: In Morocco, pastilla is a pigeon pie, but in Montreal, Boucherie Al Kahir makes them with chicken or seafood.

BREAKING BREAD: The butcher shop's bread corner. I can find fresh Middle Eastern pocket bread baked in Montreal when I shop at Fattal's and other stores in the South Paterson section of Paterson, N.J.

TORTILLAS AND MORE: On the corner opposite the Moroccan butcher shop, La Tortilleria bakes tortillas in the front of the shop and prepares tacos and other Mexican specialties in a kitchen in the back to take out or eat there.

SPICE OF LIFE: Marche Jean-Talon is ringed with food stores, including Vrac en Folie, a shop at 274 Rue Jean-Talon East with hundreds of spices. Unfortunately, the za'atar spice mixture sold here contains soy. I found a much better version at Boucherie Al Kahir. Vrac en Folie did have ground cardamom to mix in Turkish coffee or espresso.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

Nibbling around the edges of the biggest farmer's market in Montreal

An order of fried smelts ($9.99) is just one of the items prepared by Aqua Mare, a fish store in the Jean Talon Market.

Fried fish and other seafood can be eaten at picnic tables or taken out. Aqua Mare offers fried seafood Fridays through Sundays only.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- This French Canadian city is renowned for its food and its music festivals.

So, when we're here for the 10-day International Jazz Festival, we always visit the biggest farmer's market in the city, and sample food fresh from local fields and waters.

Along with produce from Quebec, visitors to the Jean Talon Market will find food stands and restaurants selling everything from homemade soups to freshly shucked oysters.  

Today, I saw one stand selling Vietnamese pho, the anise-flavored soup, and summer rolls of vegetables, and another one offering freshly made juices.

Most take only cash. Prices are given in Canadian dollars. At the moment, each U.S. dollar is worth about $1.20 Canadian, but exchange fees can cut into that.

On Thursday, I tried fresh oysters, and today, we returned to try a homemade soup and to order fried smelts to go.

On Thursday, I ordered four delicately flavored Canadian oysters from La Boite Aux Huitres ($11.50), below. The oyster bar is opposite the fish store that sells fried smelts and other seafood.

No frills, just fresh oysters. The beautiful shell of one of the oysters I had, below.

Not far from the fish store and oyster bar, Le Tartarin prepares homemade soups you can eat there or take home. Today, I had a large bowl of lentil soup made with red pepper and fragrant cumin, and garnished with chopped fresh parsley ($5.95).

Fresh asparagus grown in Quebec.

Jean Talon Market is open 7 days a week starting at 7 a.m.

Free fruit and vegetable samples are provided, but not toothpicks, above and below.

Take a number at this cheese store opposite the market, and bring plenty of money. 

A cheese called Le Gaulas costs more than $26 a pound.

At  Boucherie Al Khair, a Moroccan butcher shop about a block from the market, I saw homemade kibbe and falafel, above, but purchased two small containers of Ras el Hanout, a mixture of spices ($2.50 for 60 grams). The store is at 300 Rue Jean Talon.

Mabrouka is an extra-virgin olive oil from Morocco sold at Boucherie Al Khair. "Mabrouk" or "mabrook" is an Arabic word used to congratulate someone on a special occasion, such as a wedding or the birth of a child.

Details

Jean Talon Market, 7070 Avenue Henri Julien, Montreal, QC; 1-514-277-1588. 

Metro stop: Jean Talon. Look for Rue Jean Talon exit, which is closest to the market.