French Canadian food is the food of the poor. It isn’t sophisticated, fancy, and doesn’t take expensive and extravagant ingredients to make but it’s delicious and hearty. This list of Québec foods you must try is pretty much all comfort food so stop or put on pause your diet. Since Québecers need to stay warm 7 months out of 12, they need foods that will keep them warm. Québec staples like poutine, creton, pâté chinois are classic dishes that might not seem like much but have a lot of history and meaning behind them. If ever you go to Montreal or Québec City, you’ll have to try at least some of these foods from Quebec.
What Is the Best Food in Quebec?
1The best food for breakfast
Bagels
Montréal bagels are world famous. Institutions like St-Viateur and Fairmount Bagel in the Mile End have been feeding Montrealers for decades. Montreal bagels are different from New York bagels because they are thinner, smaller, sweeter, and denser, have a larger hole. Also, Montréal bagels are boiled in honey-sweetened water whereas in New York City they boil their bagels with normal water. Bagels are a breakfast staple, spread sNutellaella, butter or cream cheese for a quick, delicious meal.
2The best food for lunch
Poutine
Ahhh, poutine. Many people don’t understand why Québecers love this meal so much. There are three main ingredients in poutine: fries, cheese curds, and brown sauce. We put this meal in the Lunch category but people eat poutine any time of day: as a snack, for dinner, after a night out drinking or even for breakfast (to cure a hangover). You can put almost anything in poutine: hot dog sausages, onions, pogos, ground beef, guacamole, the list is endless! Even if you’re skeptical, try this dish with a nice cold beer, you won’t be disappointed. Poutine is one of the most famous foods from Quebec!
Smoked meat
A smoked meat rye bread sandwich with mustard and a pickle on the side is a great Montreal dish. Again, this is not the most glamourous meal but it is a Montreal staple food. Thanks to the prominent Jewish community for providing the world with great Jewish institutions serving this type of sandwich. Again, Montreal-style smoked meat is usually compared with New York-style smoked meat but they have subtle differences like which spices they use.
Pea soup
Pea soup is delicious and hearty. Yellow dried peas, pork, and herbs are mixed into a broth. You can get great pea soup at the grocery store because not many restaurants serve this kind of soup. It is mostly eaten during the spring, at a cabane à sucre (sugar shack).
3The best food for snacks
Creton
This forcemeat-style pork with onions and spices is often spread on bread or crackers. It tastes similar to pâté or French rillette. If you go eat at a typical breakfast restaurant in Quebec, you’ll usually have eggs, bacon (or sausages or ham), fruits, potatoes, toast and creton.
Cheese
The French are not the only ones who make delicious cheese. You can get tasty cheese from all over Quebec. Cheeses come from Charlevoix, Abitibi, Gaspé, Eastern Townships, there are 14 cheese regions. You can get cheeses made with cow milk, goat milk, sheep milk. You can find excellent Quebec cheeses in grocery stores or in specialty stores or the Atwater and Jean-Talon markets.
Baked beans
Baked beans are another sugar shack specialty. They will usually serve them slightly sweet by sweetening them with maple syrup. In grocery stores, you can find maple baked beans as well as generic ones sold worldwide. If you’re a bean lover, you’ll enjoy the sweeter taste and what makes them so special is that you can only find them there!
