it seems that every time i'm in montreal, i don't get to explore the city much. i'm either there on business or visiting friends and my schedule is a little tight. last summer i finally, briefly visited the jean talon market and i was blown away. those of you who have been, know that it dwarfs the st. lawrence market here in toronto. i was more impressed with the variety of offerings than the size. walk down any one of the outdoor aisles and you'll may find a long row of baskets of about 12 different fresh chili peppers, bushels of all kinds of tomatoes, or table after table of wild strawberries. along the outskirts there are enclosed stores where you'll find, among others, fish and cheese mongers and an entire store selling fresh pastas whose names and shapes i've never seen. but the stall that excited me the most was the one selling mostly mushrooms, from chanterelles to morels to this pink oyster mushroom that was encased and sitting above all the rest. i didn't buy one and still have never tried one–there were many varieties there i hadn't tried. if i lived in montreal, i'd like to think i'd take a new variety of mushroom home every weekend, saute it up in butter, call up a friend and we'd eat them with a great bread and a good white wine. or at the very least, we'd sign up for this amazing-looking tasting menu (seen hanging in the mushroom stall the day i was at the jean talon market) and leave the work up to experts. remind me to get back to montreal at the first sign of spring…
