My Quebecois friend Renne was just returning from her three weeks holiday in St. Irenee in Charlevois but when she heard that I was coming to Montreal, she invited me to stay with her.  It felt like the tail end of summer in Montreal but the leaves were starting to change colors.  I saw many Quebecois in sandles and t-shirts during the day. Though by early evening, it got nippy enough to wear the light coat I had brought from LA.

Renne's house is like an artist palatte. Her warm personality is reflected in the house. She is a very talented artist and custome designer with whom I worked on my last film Blindness.  We shot in several locations including Montevideo, San Paulo, Gwelth and Toronto - moving from one hemisphere to another.  The film was finished two years ago but we have remained good friends ever since.  

I didn't know Renne and I had a similar passion for pottery.  Her collection of old kitchen mixing bowls is magnificent.  She has one stacked on top of another which made me slightly nervous coming from earthquake prone city like LA and Tokyo but here in Montreal, the ground is as hard as rock, she doesn't have to worry.  Renne has broken and chipped a few pots here and there but she doesn't let that bother her too much.  I feel the same way.  My mother was someone who used old china to serve food in which made me appreciate and pay attention to the china when I was handling them. When one broke by accident, she would say, "Well, it was made from clay and now it has gone back to earth."  She didn't make a big fuss about it. 

WALKING AROUND OUTREMONT

On this visit, Renne played my Montreal tour guide. I had already explored the old city during my previous trips to the city so we stayed in the Outremont area.  The first call in the morning was to visit the local bakery that makes the best croissants in town. "It's the butter," Renne, said. True. Lots of it. My hands felt greasy after the first bite.  I could have easilly eaten two but I knew lunch was right around the corner so I stopped after one.  The bakery also makes marzipan and other sweet desserts that looked very tempting.

Cute marzipan sweets

After the bakery, we checked out another bakery that Montreal is known for -  bagels.  They are thin and chewy, and generously coated with toasted sesame seeds. A lot of the flavor is picked up in the wood burning oven.  I find they taste better than New York bagels.   I bought a half a dozen to take home to LA along with some local cream cheese.

Much of the work is done by hand.

The big wood burning oven 

We also  made a stop at the Cheese Shop - La Maison du Cheddar(here is the link) where we tried local Quebecois cheeses.  There is a map on the wall of the shop that shows 67 Quebecois dairy farms that produce cheeses.  I picked five varieties of cheddar cheeses for a Quebecois cheese tasting night I am going to do with my friends back in LA. After I paid the bill, the shop owner treated us to some fresh cheese curds which were made that morning.  He had plain, pesto and tomato pesto.  Renne and I loved the curd with pesto.

Chandelier with Cheese theme

Owner of Maison Du Cheddar - letting us try a piece of cheddar

He advised that I leave the cheeses out for an hour in room

temperature before serving.

The final shop we visited was an award winning cookware shop called Les Touilleurs (here is the Link).It is one of the finest cookware shops in Canada and for that matter in North America. They have elegant pots and pans,  kitchen towels, containers, and utencils.  Mostly European but they also carry handmade wooden utencils made by an artisan who is based in Quebec.  I own two of his spatulas.  I use them all the time.  This shop is defnitely worth a visit.  

THE QUEBECOIS LUNCH

We headed home for lunch at Renne's house.  She had brought back some smoked trout from Charlevois.   Renne's brother-in-law had gone fly fishing and caught these indigenous brook trout in the Malbaie River.  The Quebecois call this trout Truite Mauchete.  

They were about 6 inches in size. Not too big.  Renne said the smoked trout was smelly but it didn't bother me at all.  We could not figure out what kind of wood chips were used but that was part of the flavor.  Mesquite?  Here is a picture of the trout.

Renne and I,  we can talk for ever.  "It's like I just saw you yesterday," she said.  We talked about the racoon that comes to visit her house and the possum that lives in my neighborhood to films and our lives.  We each have a son, the same age, pursuing the same profession in law. I always enjoy hearing her talk about her son, Simon.  It puts a bright smile on her face.   We mothers love our children.

The tomatoes came from a farm stand in Charlevois and I picked the basil from Renne's balcony.  Even though Renne was seven months away from home working, she has good neighbors downstairs that kept her garden alive.  

Renne warned me that the trout was a bit on the bony side but being Japanese, it

didn't bother me a bit.  If it was a smaller fish, I would eat it from head to tail.

A 4 year old Cheddar cheese was served with the Montreal bagels.  I gobbled the bagels in no time. They were so good, you don't even need to toast them.

As with all French meals, we had a nice French Burgandy to go with the lunch and some grapes to nibble on at the end to clear our palate.  This was one of the loveliest and most relaxing end of summer lunches I had or shall I say first lunch of the Fall. Either way, I felt blessed.  Thanks to my Quebecois friend and Montreal. Next time I want to meet the rancoon.  A bientot!