Okay. When it comes to cities with great culinary traditions, somewhere in the back there…read morenaturally lies a bunch of places to promote, vend and educate on cuisine. Take New York for instance - if you want to know what we eat and how we came to eat them, you hit our bunch of ethnic markets and grab some finger foods. Wanna know how the Greek do their stuff? Hit Titan or Parrot Foods. Syrian? Sahadi or Souk el Shater. Chinese? Flushing. Korean? Same. Jewish style? Barney Greengrass and Avenue J in Brooklyn. In short, if you want something and is willing to travel the 5 boroughs and beyond, you'll be able to find it.
When it comes to Montreal? You hit the Main. The Main is basically Boulevard St. Laurent between Sherbrooke and Jean-Talon, and the diversity of places informs you of its richeness of flavors. Want Hungarian and Askenazi jewish? Start at the Sherbrooke end. Portuguese? That's around Rue Rachel. Something more hipster friendly? That's St. Viateurs. How about Italian? That's closer to Marche Jean Talon. Interspersed between that range is a series of small shops that can cater to your specific needs. Marguez? There's a joint near that. Spanish cooking with a specific need for a paella (the pan for cooking a paella is itself called a paella), there's a place that sells it. A bit of a melange? That's what La Vielle Europe is for.
So what makes La Vielle Europe such a good place to visit? Well, it might have to do with its blend of European charm and core Frenchness. When cultural anthropologists talk about food traditions they use the term foodways, which is the socioeconomic and cultural practices when it comes to food. When Quebec was a New French Signoralty hundreds of years ago, its culinary roots were preindustrial French. Then the Brits came in and injected its traditions, and throughout Montreal's history of expansion through immigration, new palates inform and expand upon these foodways, and there are still cultural and economic links back to France and other parts of Europe, and you see it in vivid display here.
First, the cheese. The glorious cheese. One thing every visitor to Quebec learn quickly is the richness of the soil at "nos pays". They have great pasture, great dairy, and unlike the morons south of the border, they don't require their cheesemakers to pasteurize all their milk. As any American can attest, Quebec cheese is just better, creamier and more complex, and there is no better place to buy cheese than here. Have something in mind? Point and ask! They are not stingy with samples and will toss a few clues your way. The price is fairly decent as well, check out their discount section for some good stuff.
Next, the baked goods. Yeah, they have bread, but they also have galettes, pasteis and will do you a sandwich. What kind of sandwich? They can do something classical like a jambon sandwich, or they can make you one of those gorgeous Portuguese sandwiches with their large eggy rolls.
What about syrups and the beans? Yeah, for the coffee geeks out there, they have a massive selection of roasts and varietals, and the same goes for the au chocolat. Sure, they got coffee syrups to add that extra bit of salted caramel to your brew, but the payoff comes to your sodastream machine - The real charm comes from the availability of drinks syrups from France, the Teisseires and the Piquitos. Trust me, it's much better than the crap on offer in the US, and they last a long time.
Honestly, with their large selection of sauces, candies, charcuterie and cooking oils, you cannot help but be impressed by both the breadth and depth of their selections. Want good eating? Visit old Europe. No availability on Air Transat? Bixi out to La Vielle Europe.
