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. 

Why I drove 350 miles to buy men's briefs at Costco

Shoppers checking out at the Costco Wholesale in Montreal last Sunday morning. The Canadian warehouse store was both familiar and different than the Costcos in North Jersey where I normally shop.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The last time I shopped at my hometown Costco Wholesale, I couldn't find a few items, including Kirkland Signature Men's Briefs.

But I found them at the Costco Wholesale in Montreal -- in three colors, no less -- after driving 350 miles to attend the Canadian city's International Jazz Festival.

Our two visits to Costco in  Montreal were both familiar and different than the North Jersey warehouse stores in Hackensack and Wayne I usually patronize.

The Montreal Costco sells wine and beer, and has a gas station, but it is the only one in the province of Quebec that doesn't have a pharmacy.

And the Canadian store's food stand serves coffee, latte and cappuccino, something I really miss in Hackensack, especially when I need a mid-afternoon pickup while shopping there.

Costco members in Montreal also can buy cartons of cigarettes at a nice discount, according to one woman I spoke with while she waited on line to do just that.

I've been enjoying the wild sockeye salmon I buy in Hackensack, but Costco members in Montreal can buy fillets or an entire wild salmon, minus the head.

Costco members in Montreal waiting to purchase cartons of cigarettes.

Made-in-Canada men's briefs

The men's briefs sold by Costco at the Montreal warehouse store are made by Stanfield's Limited in Nova Scotia.

Kirkland Signature Men's Briefs are available only in white, but Stanfield's briefs come in white, gray and black, and I bought a package of each.

A package of five 100% combed cotton briefs are $19.99 Canadian (one U.S. dollar is worth about $1.05 Canadian).

My waist measures 37-38 inches, and I bought one package of L/G briefs (38-40).

But I found they are cut small, and returned them the next day for three packages of XL/TG (42-44), which are too large for me.

I hope they shrink after they are washed.

Shopping in a Canadian Costco holds two disadvantages for a member from the United States.

In Montreal, taxes of nearly 15% are added to your bill, compared to 7% in New Jersey. 

And the American Express card is the only one accepted, meaning I'll probably see a foreign-currency transaction fee of 2.7% showing up on my statement.

That will be outweighed by total cash rebates of 3% from Costco, where I am an Executive Member, and American Express.

I travel outside the United States with a Capital One Visa card that charges no foreign-currency transaction fees.

The Montreal Costco wouldn't allow me to use it and wouldn't accept my bank debit card, which carries a MasterCard imprint.

When I returned the first package of briefs for a refund, a Costco employee said I could avoid the foreign-currency surcharge by using my Visa card to buy gift cards on Costco's Canadian Web site.

To be continued ...