montreal cheskie's uncovered

Cheskies bakery on Bernard Avenue corner Parc Avenue

Although a minority of people keep kosher, there are certain culinary treasures that can be embraced by all Montrealers, and a perfect example is Cheskie, an Outremont heimish bakery founded by a Chassidish Belz family. Cheskie is a tiny ‘whole in a wall’ bakery that not only gained a reputation for its homey East European goodies, but is a perfect example of how mainstream culture can appreciate the foods of a small community that differs in clothing, beliefs and ways of life. Even Rima Elkouri, La Presse journalist, wrote about her experiences working at Cheskie. 

Cheskie bridges Montreal communities with Heimishe Food

The moment you walk in, the smell is divine

When I want to treat my daughters  to ‘foreign’ delicious baked goods, I take them on a bus ride to Outremont (oddly, public transport rides are fun for them), simply to tour Parc Avenue and stock up on delicacies as: rugelach, babkas, rum balls, cookies and an assortment of dairy puffed pastry.

So what can you find at Cheskies? 
Babkas, rugelach (vanilla, chocolate, cherry, cinnamon), cheese puffs, out-of-this-world cheese cakes, chocolate balls, cookies - lots of dairy-free ones to choose from and more!

Typical Friday line-ups

Cheskie's assortment of Heimishe delicacies including marble cheesecake and wafers.

My kids drool at the sight of these Cheskie cookies

A variety of challah rolls and Rye bread

From cheese puffs or custard filled doughnuts, these are yummy!

Rugelach:  is a Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic origin made in the form of a
crescent by rolling a triangle of dough around a filling

Chocolate Balls with a touch of Rum flavour

My sweethearts eating Cheskie cupcakes on the bus ride back home.
Nothing like enjoying the little & good things in life ;)

Celine Dion, Can Schwartz's be Kosher Please? :)

A Random Visit to Montreal's Non-Kosher Landmark Hebrew Delicatessen

After a tour of Montreal's Chinatown, my kids were whining and begging to eat something (snacks are a must for kosher people touring certain parts of this city :?"#$% - lesson learned!). I instinctively headed towards The Plateau's Belz and Satmar chassidish end of town. Desperately looking for a kosher place on Saint Laurent Boulevard, the challenge was harder than I thought. My daughter randomly screamed out YEAH!!!! "What's happening???" I asked.... "Yeah mommy, yeah mommy, yeah mommy..." I'm thinking what is this girl on? Little did I realize she meant Yeh, the frozen yogurt & café food chain I had just driven by. The nice single mom that I am ;), I quickly started looking for parking to treat the kids. Ironically, I found a spot beside Montreal's landmark Hebrew delicatessen, the world's famous Schwartz's.

Schwartz's non-kosher Hebrew deli.

Knowing that place is NOT kosher :(, I couldn't help but get a certain sense of comfort and fondness seeing a familiar Jewish name and 'HEBRAIQUE' (the word meaning Hebrew in French) blasted on a building and especially in that area. But even more, I was delighted to see how the 80 year old, Celine Dion part owned, top-of-the-line authentic Jewish style smoked meat restaurant (now coined Montreal-style, thank G-d not Gangnam style :) was jam packed, with a party of 13 waiting at the door.

A Little Bit of History

Schwartz's was established in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Romania Jewish immigrant and one of the hundreds who migrated to Montreal, Quebec, during a heavy wave of Eastern European Jewish immigration of the early to mid-1900s. Jewish settlement occurred first on the lower main, currently Montreal's Chinatown. (Source: Wikipedia)  You can learn more on the world renowned restaurant in the book Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen: The Story written in 2006 by The Montreal Gazette columnist, Bill Brownstein.

The history of the Jewish quarter is deep-rooted, nostalgic and beautiful. "By 1871, a Jewish enclave numbering just over 400 people had formed by the corner of Saint Laurent Boulevard and Dorchester Street, with the first Jewish educational institution, the Talmud Torah, located at the corner of Saint Urbain Street and De la Gauchetière Street. Saint Laurent Boulevard was one of the Jewish quarter's main axes. By the 1920s and 30s, dozens of synagogues were in the area." (Source: Wikipedia)

The staff of Schwartz's credits the unique flavor of their non-kosher smoked meat to their mandatory 10 day meat curing time, the high turnover of their meat, and their brick smoke-house covered with over 80 years worth of buildup. (Source: Wikipedia)

Schwartz's is indeed a classic 1920's Montreal-style diner.

It looks kosher, it smells kosher.. (they even serve coleslaw on the side), but it's NOT kosher. But shelves did stack kosher jarred pickles, marinated peppers and French's mustard.

Schwartz's famous Wall of Fame.

Schwartz's famous Wall of fame exposing it's 'memory lane' advertorials,
autographed celebrity client photos and retro wall art

Now considered a historic Jewish and culinary landmark, Schwartz's is undoubtedly the city's most successful smoked meat place attracting masses of tourists and celebrities.

After my kids and I enjoyed our dose of Yeh frozen yogurt, we walked into Schwartz's. That penetrating meat aroma, the classic diner burgundy swivel stools and the hilarious celebrity wall of fame makes this Jewish style diner a definite teaser for someone who keeps kosher. Schwartz's is a perfect example of how Jewish cuisine is no longer synonymous with being kosher. In a good way, one things for sure, my spontaneous visit of the landmark and once-upon-a-time kosher restaurant was enlightening, warm at heart and worth it, thank heavens for Yeh... and little girls!  ;)

Summer Corn Salsa Salad

Photography by Leslie Perez. All rights reserved.

Last week,  as part of my kids camp field trip, the group went corn picking at the Quinn farm (a great family activity to do & one of the kid friendliest farms in town - Montreal, Quebec). Needless to say I have my share of corn stocked up in the pantry (would anyone like to pick some up from me? ;)  I can write a recipe book just on corn-based ingredients. From tacos, corn chowder, rustic corn side dishes, corn bread, corn scones, caramel popcorn, corn-dogs, corn-cats.... ?&*^% (just kidding, just trying to be cute). In all cases, corn recipes are fast and easy, sweet and crisp (or creamy- depending on the can). There are so many kosher canned corn brands, i.e. IGA's Nos Compliment or Loblaws President Choice brands are kosher. Along with Martha Stewart's corn recipes, Nos Compliments shares a range of corn recipes on their website. Again, corn makes for non-fail recipes and this corn salsa (not so really salsa salad)  was made in no time. I won't specify the quantities on this one because you can tweak to your taste by adding vegetables you love. Flexibility is sometimes a good thing :)


INGREDIENTS serves 2-4

• 1 can of sweet corn
• Flat Parsley
• 1 avocado
• diced red pepper
• salt & pepper to taste
• lemon juice
• Olive oil based mayonnaise
• crushed garlic clove and\ or granulated garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1 & 2. Just chop & mix... ;)