The mark of a market: each has its own character

Author: Susan Schwartz, Montreal Gazette | Comments | Food, Life

05:00

Every outdoor market has a personality, I have long thought. Some markets jump all over you, a bit like a slobbering dog, trying to will you to like them. Others are more reserved; they dont
reveal their charms immediately, but leave you to tease them out slowly. And sometimes a market is like a really attractive person can be: lots of flash, but not much else. Ultimately, that
disappoints.
There are markets with huge personalities like Montreals Jean Talon Market. Its an amazing place and I adore it, but I have to be up for it: I need my game face on. The Atwater Market
is smaller and easier to negotiate but with the exception of a few places, like the Satay Brothers, who alone make the trip worth it because their food is so good and theyre so nice, and
Les Douceurs du March, it never feels like the community place I want my market to be.
I like markets that are inviting. I want to be able to have a conversation with the person who grew or produced my food or who knows a lot about who did. That connection means a lot to me.
Following are descriptions of some of my favourite Montreal-area markets.

Ramzy Kassouf, left, serves customer Gilles Brabant at Les Jardins Caryas tables at March Ste-Anne. Kassouf often suggests recipes to visitors.
Probably the one I like best is the March Ste-Anne farmers market. Its set idyllically in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue on the boardwalk along the canal and, with more than 40 vendors, theres all
kinds of choice: excellent just-harvested produce, for one, much of it organic, from growers including Les Jardins Carya in Senneville and La Ferme Cooprative Tourne-Sol in Les Cdres.
Lately I have bought and enjoyed sprouts, greens and microgreens and small and tender white turnips from them.
At the Jardins Carya tables, co-owner and manager Ramzy Kassouf, an engaging and outgoing fellow who turned to organic farming in 2007 after 25 years in the banking industry, often
suggests recipes. If the regular food industry is growing at a rate of one per cent a year, the organic industry is growing at a rate of 10 to 15 per cent a year, he says with farmers markets
growing as quickly.
Theres world-class goat cheese at the market produced by Fromagerie Ruban Bleu in Mercier and bread from Laperle et son boulanger in Dunham and from Boulangerie Des Rosiers. Jams
and more from Les Confitures de Janette. (The raspberry is amazing.) At Noola Pasta, artisanal pasta is made from organically grown local grains and Canadian durum semolina. Wild
mushroom forager (and sculptor) Susan Valyi of Zoltans Wild Foods has a stand at the market, and also leads mushroom-hunting expeditions. Or leave the cooking to others: you can
find Indian food at Masala Dhabba, Ethiopian food at Workes Kitchen, and homemade tacos, burritos and salsas at Madame Taco.
Each time Im there, I uncover a place Im convinced wasnt there before only to learn that it was and I just didnt see it.

Merchants at March Ste-Anne can sell only what they themselves have grown or made, so customers can tap into the brain of the farmer, says market co-ordinator Patti Murphy.
The best markets are community gathering places, and thats how Ste-Annes feels. Although most who frequent the market are West Islanders, some, like me, drive the 35 kilometres from
Montreal. Ste-Annes is a direct farmer/producer market, which means merchants can sell only what they themselves have grown or made: no reselling. A bonus for customers is that you
can tap into the brain of the farmer, said market co-ordinator Patti Murphy.
There is always live music Ste-Annes is rich with local musicians, she said and special events during the season include a family day, a scavenger hunt, a garlic festival in August
(last summers drew 5,500 people) and a chili festival at the end of September. Market vendor Gord Patterson of Gordz Hot Sauce is one of the participants. Some vendors are at more than one
market: Les Jardins Carya and Gordz, for instance, also do the Wednesday afternoon le Perrot farmers market.
Parking near the market can be a challenge, but on weekends until Sept. 17 there is free parking at nearby John Abbott College, with a free shuttle every 20 minutes between its lot, the market
and other Ste-Anne attractions. Since 2006 the market, run by a non-profit organization, has stayed open year-round. It moves indoors after Halloween to the nearby St. Georges Church: no
view of the water, but still lots of fun.

Vendors at the March Fermier of

Maison de lAmiti must be growers
and producers who live no more than a
90-minute drive from Montreal.
In Mile End, the March Fermier of Maison de lAmiti community centre features 18 vendors and operates twice a week: Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4
p.m. Vendors must be growers and producers who live no more than a 90-minute drive from Montreal, and what they sell must have been gathered the day of the market or the day before.
Products available the week the market opened in June included strawberries, sprouts, goat cheese and flowers. This is mainly a march du quartier, frequented by people who live and work
in the neighbourhood. Located just outside the Laurier mtro, between Berri and Rivard Sts., the market will run twice weekly through Oct. 3o, then Sundays only on Nov. 6 and 13.
This year a new market opened in Montreal: March des clusiers, at 400 de la Commune St. W. at the bottom of McGill St. in the Old Port. Cross over the bicycle path and it unfolds before
you. No growers here, although there is a satellite of Clara Kwans excellent Victoria Ave. Lautre choix mini-march, with organic and locally sourced produce. There are other satellites, too:
of the popular St-Laurent Blvd. butcher Boucherie Lawrence, the Ahuntsic-based bakery La Petite Boulangerie, with a broad variety of breads, and Diablos, specializing in southern-style fare
and smoked meats.

Echo Vergil is one of the founders of March des clusiers in the Old Port.

Ty Vergil sets out produce in a stall at March des clusiers, which opened this year in the Old Port.

In town to shoot Bon Cop Bad Cop 2, Canadian actor Colm Feore (centre, in jeans) visits March des clusiers in the Old Port on Thursday, June 23, 2016.
A caf from the Volcanic Organic micro-roaster company opens at 8 a.m., there are ready-to-eat dishes and dried goods from the Omnivore comptoir/grill people, sustainable fish and seafood,
both ready-to-eat and raw, from Eileens, and a juice and smoothie bar from Nectar & Co.
The people behind March des clusiers own Faberg, a popular Mile End breakfast/brunch place. They also run VIN RX on the market buildings second floor, in an airy space overlooking
the Lachine Canal: you can find wines available by the glass, including several from Quebec, along with charcuterie and cheese plates, salads and, on Sundays, brunch. March des clusiers
is open daily, although a few vendors are closed Mondays.
Santropol Roulant runs a small outdoor market on Thursdays from 4 p.m. at the corner of Roy St. and Coloniale Ave., across from the Roulant building at 111 Roy St. E. The market, which
opened June 16 and runs to Oct. 27, sells organic vegetables grown at the community food organizations Senneville farm and its two urban gardens, along with bread and other baked goods
and homemade preserves.

Catherine Lorange samples rhubarb salad at the NDG Food Depots Good Food Market. Each week, a featured fruit or vegetable is used in a dish thats available for free tastings.
The Good Food Market of the NDG Food Depot, held Fridays from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. outside the depot at 2146 Marlowe Ave., features local seasonal produce purchased directly from farmers,
live music and kids activities. Theres usually a printed recipe for a featured dish incorporating the vegetable or fruit of the week it will be Swiss chard at the July 8 market and its used
in a salad or other dish available for free tastings. Filled crpes, or perhaps another hot dish, and homemade fruit popsicles are available for sale.
The idea is that were selling healthy food to everyone and breaking down barriers by making it a fun community event and affordable, depot executive director Daniel Rotman said of the
community-based food organizations market, in its second year.

The Public Market on the esplanade of Place Ville Marie is back for a second year. Along with a rotation of 23 vendors, there are free cooking and gardening demonstrations, plus interactive
workshops for $5 per person.
Its also the second year for the Public Market on the esplanade of Place Ville Marie, Thursdays until Sept. 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There are 23 vendors in all, 14 each week. Some,
like DavidsTea, are established retailers. Others include the Bar Beurre family bakery and pastry shop; Domaine des 15 lots, a family-run maple farm in St-Julien; Henri Sodas; Olive Presse,
an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting bar; and Origine Fleurs, a flower farm in St-Joseph-du-Lac.
Although the Pousse lananas food market has a booth, there are no growers at the market this year, which I think is a shame. Last year it was a delight to buy produce including rhubarb and
asparagus that had been harvested that morning or the day before.
Still, the market offers other things: free cooking and gardening presentations and demonstrations, for example, and interactive workshops for $5 per person. Register online (go to
placevillemarie.com and click on Promotions) or on site on market day. On July 7, for instance, there will be a cheese tasting and discussion with the Bleu & Persill cheese shop people; on
Aug. 18, Famille Fute authors and popular television hosts Alexandra Diaz and Genevive OGleman will give a presentation on five tips for surviving weeknights.

Red Adirondack chairs, Fatboy pillows and lawn trays set out on the esplanade are inviting, and make for a relaxed, holiday-ish vibe. Held last summer on alternate Thursdays, the market
would draw about 1,000 people each lunchtime. About half visited a booth and 300 made a purchase, which demonstrates what you might already suspect: some people go to markets mainly
to watch people. So what? Thats fun, too.
sschwartz@postmedia.com
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