Americanization of Montreal Dishes
I have been travelling through New England recently and I have noticed an attempted Americanization/Fusion of Montreal and New England dishes appearing on more New England menus. In New Hampshire a month ago I saw a "Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich", which appeared to be getting served with swiss cheese, Reuben style, with Thousand Island Dressing. I was intrigued, but did not order it. Another Americanized Canadian dish I notice was "Tater Tot Poutine", described as follows:
TATER TOT POUTINE 8.95
tater tots topped with white cheddar curds, house gravy, and chopped bacon
I did not order it but I was wondering if the above described dish can be had in Montreal or whether I can only get this in New England. It sounds not bad to me depending on what gravy they are using. I vastly prefer tater tots to french fries and I would be much more likely to order poutine with tots if made as noted above.
Now keep in mind Americans have been taking dishes from other countries to a higher level for a long time now, some examples being New Haven style pizza (refinement and improvement on the Italian version due to improved ovens being used in the process to create a charred, thin crust; General Tso's Chicken, ostensibly Chinese in origin, but really an American spin on Szechuan cuisine; New York style bagels and cheesecake and pastrami); etc. What I am interested in knowing is whether any of the downtown Montreal restaurants are picking up on these regional refinements of Montreal cuisine and putting the American spin on local menus for tourists. The only restaurants in Montreal I saw do this tried to feature "American style pancakes", making them with crepe batter, which is totally fucked up because American pancakes are made with a buttermilk batter that fluffs when fried, whereas crepe batter does not fluff and has a totally different texture, thus robbing the dish of it's distinctive American feature.
Has anyone seen these things offered? My best guess at a downtown restaurant that might do something like this is Deville Dinerbar. They are running a lot of interesting fusion dishes on their menu, such as their "Seoul Tacos" which merges Korean and Mexican cuisines and is one of the best fusions I have tried in Montreal.
I have been travelling through New England recently and I have noticed an attempted Americanization/Fusion of Montreal and New England dishes appearing on more New England menus. In New Hampshire a month ago I saw a "Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich", which appeared to be getting served with swiss cheese, Reuben style, with Thousand Island Dressing. I was intrigued, but did not order it. Another Americanized Canadian dish I notice was "Tater Tot Poutine", described as follows:
TATER TOT POUTINE 8.95
tater tots topped with white cheddar curds, house gravy, and chopped bacon
I did not order it but I was wondering if the above described dish can be had in Montreal or whether I can only get this in New England. It sounds not bad to me depending on what gravy they are using. I vastly prefer tater tots to french fries and I would be much more likely to order poutine with tots if made as noted above.
Now keep in mind Americans have been taking dishes from other countries to a higher level for a long time now, some examples being New Haven style pizza (refinement and improvement on the Italian version due to improved ovens being used in the process to create a charred, thin crust; General Tso's Chicken, ostensibly Chinese in origin, but really an American spin on Szechuan cuisine; New York style bagels and cheesecake and pastrami); etc. What I am interested in knowing is whether any of the downtown Montreal restaurants are picking up on these regional refinements of Montreal cuisine and putting the American spin on local menus for tourists. The only restaurants in Montreal I saw do this tried to feature "American style pancakes", making them with crepe batter, which is totally fucked up because American pancakes are made with a buttermilk batter that fluffs when fried, whereas crepe batter does not fluff and has a totally different texture, thus robbing the dish of it's distinctive American feature.
Has anyone seen these things offered? My best guess at a downtown restaurant that might do something like this is Deville Dinerbar. They are running a lot of interesting fusion dishes on their menu, such as their "Seoul Tacos" which merges Korean and Mexican cuisines and is one of the best fusions I have tried in Montreal.
