The Promise Land: Local Farmers' Markets

Food markets are my Eden, my Mecca, my Shangri-La.

The abundance of local, organic and sustainable foods turn markets into a motley of color and progeny rendering them a promise land among the abundance of corn syrup, refined grains, preservatives and salt in processed foods today.

So, when I arrived in Montreal from New York, my first instinct was to find where the local food markets were. You can certainly learn a lot about a culture from what is sold at a farmer’s market. I arrived early Saturday morning to Marché Atwater - a landmark of the Lachine Canal and a staple of the Saint-Henri neighborhood. Nestled inside an Art-Deco building, you can find over ten butcher shops, fromageries, fresh local fish, and specialty boutiques. In the summer months, the stalls spill outside to offer fresh, local and often organic fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers.

The only problem with going to a farmers' market is going when you’re hungry. I strolled past the overfilled mounds of plump, swarthy, antioxidant-filled blueberries. After recently reading an article reporting U.S. food companies use artificial coloring and synthetic sugars in their blueberries, I wanted to dive into the organic pile of dusky blue and never leave. I withheld and traveled past bunches of purple, red, white and yellow carrots. I eyed them and considered which would make the most exciting carrot juice. I decided on purple. Passing a table with pain au chocolat and freshly baked baguette, I noticed a table of creamy and violet-white aubergines. These irregular shaped eggplant sat comfortably next to their perfectly rounded brothers. I prefer the atypical ones myself.

As I moved on down the rows of fresh food, I came upon baskets filled with golden berries. Having lived in both Europe and the United States, I had very rarely seen this health-filled fruit. Wrapped in a papery cocoon, the berry within is a beautiful saffron marble color. It has the texture of a tomatillo but the taste of a tangerine and cherry mixed together. Immediately, I purchased a bunch and happily walked through the market opening the wrappers to find the delicious treat inside.

Walking on, golden berries in hand, I approached rows of amber. I had finally reached the end of the Atwater market and ended at what the Quebecois are the most proud of and rightly so – maple syrup. Quebec is the largest producer of maple syrup, making about three-quarters of the world’s output. The Canadian’s pride in their syrup is even represented on their national flag – the eleven-pointed Maple Leaf. The viscous syrup’s taste perfectly ended my quest for local and wholesome flavors. It was earthy and sweet - two flavors found in abundance at Le Marché Atwater, but two flavors that can hardly define the insatiable palate of Montreal.

Open year round Monday through Wednesday,  7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and  Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to  5 p.m.