Check out the amazing market in Montreal

Tagged a basket of fire

We had an amazing afternoon in the ginormous Jean-Talon Market (Marché Jean-Talon) in Montreal.

This farmer’s market is where my friend, Brenda, shops and I can understand why. It’s one of the best markets we visited in Canada—certainly the biggest, most diverse and most colourful—and it was a struggle to resist buying up big on almost everything.

As it was, Poor John indulged in a pamplemousse (grapefruit) ice cream. He first discovered pamplemousse products in West Africa in 2009. It was love at first bite.

Three items in Jean-Talon caught me by surprise.

Chinese lanterns—good for jams, jellies and gout?

There were teeny-tiny potatoes, grenailles, that were smaller than a cherry tomato and oh-so cute. I wonder how they are used. Suggestions and opinions on how to cook or serve them would be most welcome.

The edible Chinese/Japanese lanterns were another first. Supposedly they are tomatillo-ish in flavour and can be made in to jams and jellies. The Chinese supposed use them to make a gout remedy—now I’m interested!

The third item was the colourful array of cauliflower. We get some colours in Australia, but nothing like the ones in Jean-Talon. At least I haven’t seen them.

A colourful array of bell peppers, called capsicums in Australia.

A fourth thing surprised me too—there was almost a total absence of Asian and Middle Eastern products (except for spices), so I’m guessing there must be another market for those. Or perhaps that part of the market that I missed.

Jean-Talon Market, in the Italian part of town, has been going since 1933. It’s open year-round, but in the harsh winter months, there are walls put up around the entire market area.

The peak months are June to October, with as many as 300 vendors a day. In addition to the open-air market, there are other specialty food businesses dealing in meat, fish, cheese spices, baked goods and meals.

Believe me, next time I’m in Montreal, I’m going to need to shop up big at thee sensational markets. How could I resist?

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