Downtown Toronto’s pace of population growth triples, outpacing suburbs’ ...

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

lol yourself. You have been contradicted by many others, but keep it up all the same. And I thought that world citizens were cosmopolitan.

Anyhow, it's like the proverbial lion running after the two men - for the purposes of this discussion, Montreal cuisine doesn't have to be world-famous all the way into the heart of the Congolese jungle, it just has to be more widely known than Toronto's. Which it is without a doubt.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by topdog

Mile End is owned by someone originally from Montreal, so that's why the 'Montreal style' menu Outside of that, I've never heard anyone in NYC refer to 'Montreal' style anything.

Dogtop, maybe you just hang with the wrong crowd when visiting NYC?

[losername]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Dogtop, maybe you just hang with the wrong crowd when visiting NYC?

You just don't get it I guess, oh well no point trying to convince you. Keep on believing Montreal style anything is common place anywhere beyond eastern Canada.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Anyhow, it's like the proverbial lion running after the two men - for the purposes of this discussion, Montreal cuisine doesn't have to be world-famous all the way into the heart of the Congolese jungle, it just has to be more widely known than Toronto's. Which it is without a doubt.

Yeah exactly.

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a fair number of people in NYC haven't heard of Montreal bagels or smoked meat though. I'm sure a lot have too. They certainly have in Williamsburg from VICE talking up Mtl bagels so much... Regardless, nobody anywhere has heard of the Toronto peameal sandwich, though I wouldn't mind trying one.

I don't think food named after your city is a huge cultural bellwether for what it's worth. It's just a thing for some places.

[Kingofthehill]

FWIW, I'm a big foodie and gastronomy enthusiast, I've lived in LA, DC, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. Aside from actually visiting Montréal and seeing Mile-End Deli in Brooklyn, I haven't seen any Montréal-labeled products, food or otherwise, in those places, or any number of other places that I have been to. A pity - I'd love some good poutine or French-Canadian bistro fare out here!

[BIMBAM]

Originally Posted by losername

You just don't get it I guess, oh well no point trying to convince you. Keep on believing Montreal style anything is common place anywhere beyond eastern Canada.

In my Vancouver neighbourhood there is Montreal steak spice mix sold at the local grocery store, a shop specializing in Montreal style bagels (with smoked meat you can put on them - BLASPHEMY!), and an actual Montreal style deli.

[Razor]

Montreal - Smoked meat, Montreal Steak spice, bagels
New York - Deli, Pizza
Dallas/Houston - Tex Mex/Barbeque
Chicago - Deep Dish pizza/ Foot Long dogs
Boston- Clam Chowder (I think)
Philadelphia - Cheese Steaks
London England - Fish and Chips (I think)
Ottawa - Beaver tails

C'mon Toronto even lowly Ottawa has something signature..Kidding of course.
I don't think the pea meal bacon sanmich cuts it though.

[losername]

[QUOTE=BIMBAM;6025619]In my Vancouver neighbourhood there is Montreal steak spice mix sold at the local grocery store, a shop specializing in Montreal style bagels (with smoked meat you can put on them - BLASPHEMY!), and an actual Montreal style deli.[/QUOTE

Come to think of it I have seen Montreal steak season mix at supermarkets, so that is one I guess. And yes I guess the point is there does seem to be more people who have heard of Montreal style food items than Toronto style...

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by losername

You just don't get it I guess, oh well no point trying to convince you. Keep on believing Montreal style anything is common place anywhere beyond eastern Canada.

Keep saying the same thing in spite of quite a few others contradicting you. Stop acting like your namesake, newbie. 48 posts, and perhaps you wasted a quarter of them on this topic.

[kool maudit]

i fear this thread has gone into canadian hell now as well.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Razor

Montreal - Smoked meat, Montreal Steak spice, bagels
New York - Deli, Pizza
Dallas/Houston - Tex Mex/Barbeque
Chicago - Deep Dish pizza/ Foot Long dogs
Boston- Clam Chowder (I think)
Philadelphia - Cheese Steaks
London England - Fish and Chips (I think)
Ottawa - Beaver tails

C'mon Toronto even lowly Ottawa has something signature..Kidding of course.
I don't think the pea meal bacon sanmich cuts it though.

And why doesn't the pea meal bacon sandwich cut it? At one point it was to Toronto what the smoked meat sandwich was to Montreal. That it's popularity has waned is unfortunate, but I think it will make a come back as Torontonians rediscover themselves. Torontonians always seem in such a rush to embrace anything that's from somewhere else, but ignore anything that's their own. They have a 'foreign = good/sophisticated; local = low brow/to be discarded' mentality, but it's slowly changing as the city matures.

Montreal beats Toronto hands down when it comes to this, but Toronto is starting to look from within rather than simply mimicking everybody else.

Quebec: poutine
Montreal: smoked meat, steak spice, bagels, montreal hot dog
Halifax: donairs
Ottawa: beaver tails
Toronto: pea meal bacon sandwich (it used to be a Toronto staple, but not well known any more)
Calgary: ginger beef
Nanaimo: Nanaimo bars

Boston doesn't have a fishing industry for starters. Clam/sea food chowder is a food of the Maritimes and New England, but you can't get any more specific than that. The Campbell's Soup likes to put the word 'New England' on their cans, but they're a US company so that's what you'd expect.

Btw, deli and pizza aren't New York products. Most north American food is simply a north American adaptation of European or Asian food. Burgers, pizza, spaghetti and meat balls, steaks, etc. It's north American, but you can't really narrow it down any further than that.

[Centropolis]

i thought poutine was universally canadian. at the canada-excluding-quebec showcase at sxsw all of the heat stroked drunken canadians were ripping through the poutine like zombies in carrion.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by isaidso

montreal hot dog

we're not proud of this one.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i thought poutine was universally canadian. at the canada-excluding-quebec showcase at sxsw all of the heat stroked drunken canadians were ripping through the poutine like zombies in carrion.

It's ubiquitous nationally, but originated in Quebec. You have to admit, after a night of drinking there's nothing better than a poutine.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

i thought poutine was universally canadian.

beh non. that's recent.

la poutine, ça vient du québec, ostie.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

we're not proud of this one.

They're sort of like the Vachon cake of the hot dog world. You really have to be in the mood for one. Should I add Vachon cakes under 'Quebec' food? I started noticing Halifax donair shops popping up in Toronto. Do you have them in Montreal yet?

[kool maudit]

weirdly, no. and i saw them in vancouver ten years ago. montreal is cut off from a lot of "canada" currents.

[Centropolis]

apparently there is a poutine variation table on wikipedia. new jersey poutine?

[kool maudit]

disco fries!

i had that in astoria once. it's not the same, but you know, drunk. ça marche.

[isaidso]

You gotta have cheese curds or I'll take a pass. It's sacrilege; sort of like using 'modified milk ingredient' instead of cream in ice-cream. Btw, Loblaws no longer carries real ice-cream if anyone's noticed.