Meat, of the smoked variety
As anybody will tell you, one of the culinary traditions of Montrealers is smoked meat. And you can get it all over town, on pizza or in poutine, piled high between rye bread, and even layered in lasagne. When I was first introduced to this local delight, I enjoyed it but held a suspicious eye with the name. What is it? Meat is really pretty generic in English, and the consistency and colour made me wonder if it was cow, pig, horse, lamb or some other “meat”. And it reminded me of something else…..was it pastrami? I don’t see pastrami on menus here, maybe that’s the way they call it here. That or corned beef. What is “corning” anyway? Sounds almost dirty, corning the beef. Alright, I’m sensing digression here, let’s go back. Smoked meat. I did a little research and found some recipes for preparing Montreal’s smoked meat. Here’s one. It’s definitely from the cow. A rather tough part of the cow, but with spice rubbing and marinating, slow cooking and smoking, it’s rendered into that pink pile we know and love. Looks quite cumbersome to prepare which is all the more reason to admire and respect this local mouthwatering treasure.
Incidentally, pastrami is prepared in a similar way though from a different part of the cow and with a few different steps involved in the meat preparation. Corned beef is pretty much meat boiled in vinegar water. Not the same at all.
Of course, the biggest debate will be: who has the best smoked meat in town. People will always disagree. Personally, I’m not usually much of a fan of smoked meat, but when I do eat some, I go to Dunn’s on Metcalfe. But that’s just because it’s a few doors down from work.
Hands down the *best* smoked meat has got be Shwartz on the Main. However, I can’t be bothered to stand in line with all the tourists. So the best time to go is during the summer sidewalk sale when they set up chairs and tables out on the sidewalk. Medium fat with fries, coleslaw, and a cherry coke. Yum….
Schwartz is clearly the winner. Anyone to suggest otherwise, is a fool. (I’m kidding.. sorta)
I ride up The Main at least once a day and I am totally blown away by the lineups. I once saw a line that rounded past coco-rico on one side and past Warshaw’s (er, now that butt ugly drug store) on the other. The smoked meat is good, but not THAT good.