Try mixing and matching flavors from kitchens around the world

Medium-spicy Roasted Salsa Verde from Whole Foods Market in Paramus puts a Mexican accent on Jun's Tofu, made fresh at H & Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket (1 Remsen Place, Ridgefield).

Jun's Tofu is made from non-GMO soybeans. A 1-pound, 13-ounce package, with or without black sesame seeds, is $5.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When preparing meals at home, I love mixing and matching ethnic favors from around the world.

Aleppo pepper and Mexican salsas are versatile, and can be used with fish or egg dishes.

When you poach fresh fish, the salsa serves as both the cooking medium and as a sauce for the rice, quinoa or pasta you serve on the side.

Then, you can use leftover salsa in egg-white omelets stuffed with fresh spinach, smoked wild salmon and za'atar thyme mixture.

From the Middle East, za'atar and crushed red Aleppo pepper are available at Fattal's, 975-977 Main St., Paterson. 

Cabbage or cucumber kimchi is a great side dish with almost any meal.

Bland tofu is a foil for spicy cabbage kimchi made next door to H & Y, the Korean supermarket in Ridgefield, at Arirang Kimchi. A 64-ounce jar is $9.99.

Ras el Hanout, a Moroccan spice mixture I found at a butcher shop in Montreal, includes cumin, ginger and allspice. Here, I added a pinch or two to serving portions of fresh wild sockeye salmon I grilled on the stove top, below. I seasoned the fresh fish with sea salt and fresh lime juice before putting them on the grill.

Fresh wild sockeye salmon was $9.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. I cooked them on a preheated grill that straddles two burners for 6 minutes over medium to medium-high heat.

Grilled white peaces lend sweetness to wild salmon poached in Roasted Salsa Verde and accented with Aleppo pepper, below.

If you add the salmon to boiling salsa and cover the pan, the fish will be ready in about 7 minutes.

I stuffed an egg-white omelet, from top, with za'atar thyme mixture, salsa, smoked wild salmon from Costco Wholesale, fresh spinach I cooked earlier in the same pan and shredded Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, also from Costco.

I finished the folded omelet with Aleppo pepper and chopped herbs from the garden, including mint, parsley and rosemary.

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.