Peruvian Aji Amarillo Sauce and Transylvanian Chimney Cake
Montreal Food Adventures
There are always so many different foods from so many cultures to find with even a small moment of exploration in the city of Montreal. My husband and I typically go to the Marché Jean Talon for our weekly grocery shopping. Fresh items from awesome local vendors makes my heart happy. But I had a slow start yesterday so we pushed the visit to tomorrow which was also motivated by two things:
we needed to go to Sabor Latino market on St Laurent today for aji amarillo sauce for tonight’s dinner and
we wanted to stop next door to that market in hopes that the boulangerie there would have their chocolate iced donuts as a surprise for our oldest who likes them a lot (they’re extra big and fluffy!).
So we headed out on our 20 minute walk one way to the west along Mont Royal to Saint Laurent which is an area that has a huge Portuguese influence which also means adjacently a Latin and Spanish influence too.
Inside the Sabor Latino market, Steve picked out an aji amarillo sauce from the jars of salsas and sauces. Aji amarillo sauce is a flavorful yellow pepper sauce from Peru, but you still have to watch out as one of the two big brands on the shelves there wasn’t from Peru - it was from Newark, New Jersey! (This reminds me of the old Pace Picante salsa ads I grew up with on TV: “New York City?! Get a rope!!”)
I wandered over to the beverage area and immediately grabbed a Sumol (passion fruit soda) because, while I’m a Kima brand fangirl, I haven’t seen anywhere in North America yet that sells it. Sumol would have to do to bring back fond memories from my two past trips to the Azores! When we went to check out, the cashier spoke Spanish to us, which we understood because we both took Spanish in high school in Texas, but my transactional French practice now keeps kicking in so it was funny to have my “Merci” met back with “De nada!”
On to Boulangerie Samos (Portuguese bakery) where, darn it all, they only had cinnamon sugar doughtnuts today, but we know the chocolate iced are our daughter’s favorite. Google Maps suggested a bakery down the street, but the problem with Google Maps is that it will pull any instance of a word so suggesting it when I type in “doughnut” could be because a reviewer had posted to that shop “I wish they carried doughnuts!” Sigh.
Les Anges Gourmet down the street did not do it for us in the doughnut category either. BUT I got a handful of mini pasteles de nata which was actually a clue in yesterday’s Washington Post crossword (SPOILER ALERT: ingredient in pastel de nata - egg!).
When we were paying at this very clearly Portuguese bakery, another mixed language moment as the transaction ended and I said, “Obrigada! Pas de reçu!” (Thank You in Portuguese, and No Receipt in French) And she gave me a big smile back in recognition and a happy “Obrigada!” in return.
Up the street to stop at Patisserie Aux Mervellieux de Fred because I have been craving their meringue torsadée for weeks (large cloud-looking meringue - crisp outside and chewy marshmallowy inside). The original shop location is in France. So we have now been to Peru, Portugal, and France without ever leaving Montreal. Andddd I forgot to take a picture, grrrr!
Finally headed back towards home, and I recognized we were passing a shop that Threads friend @florinfeldman had suggested months ago: Patisserie Ol’ Sweet. The people working there were so nice to explain the store to us since it was our first time in. It’s a Transylvanian pastry that translates to “chimney cake”. You can get it rolled in confection goodies and even in a cone filled with more yummy items, but you get it after waiting 6 to 8 minutes because they’re made fresh! We went with an original cinnamon sugar, and it was delicious!
And back home we went. About 2 miles of meandering through the city having interactions in multiple languages and enjoying what Montreal could provide for food adventures! Just another weekend in our new city!
Later that afternoon, we capped it off with a beer and chips on our rooftop terrace as we enjoy the arrival of Spring in Montreal. Bonne journée!
Quelle belle journée!