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

Flavors from the Middle Eastern kitchen bring meals alive

Pomegranate seeds and non-fat Greek yogurt lend a Middle Eastern accent to organic Spanish brown rice with black beans, garlic cloves, organic diced tomatoes and saffron.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

This onetime bread lover couldn't get enough of loaves spread with a fragrant mixture of za'atar (Arabic for "thyme") and olive oil.

Fresh bread covered with za'atar -- dried thyme, sumac, salt and sesame seeds -- was terrific, but I also loved toasting it and hearing the mixture sizzle when it got hot.

Za'atar and yogurt, filled with diced cucumbers and dusted with dried mint, are flavors I recall fondly from the Syrian cooking I enjoyed growing up in Brooklyn.

I discovered Aleppo pepper -- a simple, mildly spicy crushed red pepper that adds color and flavor -- in the Syrian groceries and restaurants in Paterson's Middle Eastern bazaar. 

I continue to enjoy those flavors today.

Now, I use za'atar to season eggs, rice, fresh tomato slices and other food, relishing the sour sumac and crunchy sesame seeds.

In an omelet stuffed with smoked wild salmon, the sourness of the za'atar contrasts nicely with the slightly salty fish.

At dinner tonight, I tried to recall the flavors of my mother's mujaddara -- a rice-and-lentil dish served with yogurt, diced cucumbers and dried mint -- using thick Greek yogurt and hothouse cucumbers from Costco Wholesale, dried mint from Fattal's in Paterson and pomegranate seeds from ShopRite.

Aleppo pepper and za'atar thyme mixture can be added in the last few minutes of cooking an egg-white omelet stuffed with reduced-fat Swiss cheese or used liberally inside and outside the omelet.

I sprinkled thyme mixture over organic Spanish brown rice before I reheated it in the microwave, and used a thick layer, such as you'd find on za'atar bread, with two organic eggs fried sunny side up.

Aleppo pepper added color and flavor to fresh wild Atlantic cod when I poached the skinless fillets in Roasted Salsa Verde from Whole Foods Market, and organic diced tomatoes and fresh lime juice, both from Costco. The fish was $7.99 a pound at Costco.

Taking a break from eggs at breakfast, I plated the last piece of leftover cod with sweet potatoes and whole garlic cloves mashed with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned with sea salt, cinnamon, curry powder and other seasonings.

Za'atar thyme mixture, Aleppo pepper, dried mint and many other spices are available at Fattal's, 975-77 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-742-7125.

Fattal's is open 7 days a week and has a large parking lot.

Finishing touches: Aleppo pepper, za'atar and pesto

Coarsely ground Aleppo red pepper is around $8 a pound at Fattal's Syrian Bakery, 975-77 Main St., Paterson. The mildly spicy pepper is the perfect accent for organic brown eggs from Costco Wholesale, above, fish fillets or hummus.

I ate the eggs with pasta and mashed sweet potatoes.

Za'atar is a thyme mixture from the Middle East that is also available at Fattal's. Other ingredients include sesame seeds and wild sumac. You can buy za'atar bread or use the mixture on ripe tomatoes and olives, above. Za'atar is also good with eggs and broiled chicken or fish.

 

Refrigerated Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale is terrific spooned onto cooked fish or with an open-face, egg-white omelet, above. The omelet, with a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese and sun-dried tomato, is thin enough to cook through from the bottom of a non-stick pan.

Half of the omelet made a terrific breakfast with fluffy organic quinoa and a can of organic diced tomatoes prepared in an electric rice cooker the night before. Egg whites, pesto and quinoa came from Costco Wholesale in Hackensack. Quinoa has fewer carbs than brown rice or whole-wheat pasta.

Red Parrot Bistro is no imitator

Pan Roasted Chicken at Red Parrot Bistro in Englewood.

"We use organic, antibiotic-free chicken and turkey. All our meats are grass-fed. We source our produce locally."

When is the last time you saw that pledge or anything close to it on the menu of a fine-dining restaurant in North Jersey?

Red Parrot Bistro on Englewood's Palisade Avenue is the closest thing you'll find to the Green Door Cafe, which served organic and naturally raised or grown food in Tenafly before it was closed by a fire in July 2010.

We had a fine dinner at Red Parrot on Saturday night in a dining room where only two or three other tables were occupied.

From our perch in the window, we saw a half-dozen couples or family groups wander by, stop to stare at the awning and look over the menu posted outside, and move on.

Red Parrot opened in July among a bunch of pricy restaurants on the east side of the tracks that divide Englewood, whose business district has a surprising number of vacant or shuttered storefronts.

In contrast, the cheaper, ethnic restaurants on West Palisade Avenue were bustling.

Flat bread, extra-virgin olive oil and a black za'atar thyme mixture.

When we walked in to keep our 6 p.m. reservation, we were greeted by Gary, the burly, good-natured chef-owner, who took my bottle of red wine and asked a waiter to seat us.

After we placed our order, the meal began with a bang.

Red Parrot has reinvented bread-and-butter service with a terrific trio: flat bread, extra-virgin olive oil and a pungent za'atar thyme mixture, some of the best I've ever had.

My mother-in-law started with a Mixed Greens Salad and Champagne Vinagrette ($8), and I ordered Caesar Salad ($10), which was large enough to share with my wife.

For entrees, we had Pan Roasted Chicken with mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes and Ratatouille ($23), Cilantro Shrimp Salad ($19) and grilled Ahi Tuna over Vegetable Lo Mein ($28).

Organic baby greens are used in the Mixed Greens Salad.

The large Caesar Salad was tasty, but could have used more dressing.

Rough-cut Ahi Tuna floats on sweet Vegetable Lo Mein broth.

A house-made Cilantro Lime Dressing accents the Cilantro Shrimp Salad.

We were pleased with our food, but I wanted more dressing in my Caesar Salad and a less soupy preparation of the Vegetable Lo Mein under my grilled Ahi Tuna.

Service from the two waiters was well-meaning, though the one who took our order didn't know the soup of the day (white bean and sausage) or ask me how I wanted my Ahi Tuna cooked (rare).

The menu offers good variety, including French Onion Soup, a grass-fed burger with truffled ground brisket, short rib and foie gras on a toasted brioche; and lamb shank.

But the choice of fish is limited to the endangered Chilean Sea Bass and bigeye or Ahi Tuna, both of which are high in mercury. 

I was hoping for a great piece of fish, such as hake, or even a whole grilled sea bass.

We were told one or two other seafood dishes weren't available Saturday night. Nor does the restaurant serve gluten-free or whole-wheat pasta.

The open kitchen at Red Parrot Bistro.

Three of us spent about $108, including tax and tip. 



Red Parrot Bistro, 51 E. Palisade Ave., Englewood; 201-568-2110. Open for lunch and dinner Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

BYO. Metered street parking until 6 p.m., except Sundays, when the restaurant is open for private events.
 

Going wild over wild salmon

Image via Wikipedia

I combined fresh wild sockeye salmon and smoked wild sockeye in a superb breakfast sandwich this morning. 


The fresh fish was left over from dinner last night, when I baked the fillet I bought at Costco with a little salt, Aleppo red pepper, chopped herbs and lemon juice. At 350 degrees, I got rare pieces in about 7 minutes, medium in about 10 minutes.


I toasted whole-grain bread, spread one piece with homemade pesto, added the two kinds of wild salmon, tomato with za'atar thyme mixture, organic salad greens, a little parsley-and-red-onion salad and sliced cheese. Wow.


The bread, preservative-free smoked salmon, Campari tomato and organic salad greens also came from Costco.

(Photo: Sockeye salmon)