This weekend’s trip took me on a long awaited and much anticipated trip to Quebec, adding a new country to my list and knocking a goal off my life list!
The weather was a bit dreary but it certainly was not going to stop me and my intrepid band of foodie friends from exploring the epic Marche Jean Talon.
The market itself was an amazing combination of green grocer stands, meat purveyors, spice shops (no one I know bought any vaguely illicit saffron), maple syrup hawkers, and coffee roasters, all doing their business to the strains of Spanish guitar.
Once again I was at a market with no ability to do my weekly shopping so I was left to collecting snacks for the day, and that which I can wrap in my layers of protective, dirty laundry to cart home.
The green grocer stands offered tastes of their wares which convinced me to walk away with a handful of apricots and plums, for later snacking opportunities.
After stumbling out of the spice shop I literally ran into a macaroon stand, so clearly I had to buy some, which luckily came in a perfect travel box to they survived the trip home, and are currently sitting on my coffee table waiting for me to snag one.
In addition to all of the snack procurement the people watching was also amazing. The market had a number of food stands selling everything from fried seafood, to Moroccan, as well as some delicious smelling carnitas (which I would have sampled had I not gorged myself at Juliette et Chocolate for breakfast). Watching various folks slip from market stands to grabbing lunch on the run was a great respite from the occasionally drizzly weather.
The market sits in the Little Italy section of town and is ringed by stores selling all sorts of various specialty items, as well as a whole shop filled with items made in Quebec. Le Marché des Saveurs du Québec, while most of the items were not suitable for snacking, a few were going to make the trip home. My scores included a bottle of dry cider, that tasted more like a light white wine then a traditional cider, as well as some local white wine which will be perfect for sipping while sitting on the balcony on a warm night.
Next weekend I will actually be home (I just can’t handle ANOTHER delay at DCA), so the market run will be focused on stocking up for a wee fete we’re throwing!