Smoked Meat and Tiramisu

Poutine, Restaurant Madrid Big Foot

Feb 27, 2006. I try my first poutine (french fries topped with a fresh squeaky sort of cheese curd and coated with hot gravy) at the Restaurant Madrid Big Foot, a landmark roadhouse on a culturally devoid stretch of highway between Québec and Montreal. The restuarant has a half way to nowhere kind of look and I reckon Juls' has been hankering for an excuse to stop here. We park the car in a large grey carpark circled by Monster Trucks and dinosaurs under a grimacing layer of disrepair and ice. There's a life size cowboy manikin sitting on a chair behind me, moving his head and eyes mechanically from side to side. The food rises above any expectation. It's quite good actually.

Homemade Tiramisu... what's a girl to do?

Mar 1, 2006. Francesco is having a do for his birthday and Juls and I are invited for tiramisu and sangria. He's a fellow transient in Montreal and we share a certain affinity for pastel light, late afternoon shadows and people-watching, amongst other things, and I know the significance of a birthday a long way from home. I warm immediately to the small, eclectic gathering of Italian, Québecois and English-speaking friends that make for much animated, although no less enriched, conversation.

Juls and I represent Australia and after a few plastic cups of sangria, I hear myself adapting a sort of patriotic ocker accent around golden phrases like "that's not a knife ya flamin' gallah" with gusto.

Indeed my idea of a perfect night.

Food in Bulk, Costcos

Mar 2006. I'm being taken grocery shopping, North American style, at the Costco Warehouse in a light industrial precinct in Montreal. This is a members only bulk discount store that appears to sell everything, only bigger and cheaper. Check out the size of the trolleys!

Juls and I stock up on red wine, smoked salmon, cheeses and the utterly delectable organic whole grain bagels that I've taken to eating warm from the oven and lacquered with pure maple butter...

Smoked Meats at Ben Delicatessen

Mar 5, 2006. Ben's on boulevard de Maisonneuve ouest is a Montreal institution famous for its smoked meat sandwiches and steadfast loyalty to maintaining the original retro cafeteria-style decor. The sandwiches are good, as they should be - Ben's family has been smoking meats since 1908. We're eyeing the mix of framed faces on the wall as the waiter quipps, "Our wall of fame. Those who left without paying".

Camellia Sinensis for Tea

Mar 3, 2006. There's a tea shop near Berri UQAM metro station, with unique tea blends from around the world. It's run by tea people, a subdued atmosphere conducive to reading a novel on a cushioned seat in the far corner, or talking away a very cold afternoon... http://www.camellia-sinensis.com/

"Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things."

Okakura Kakuzo