Montreal smoked meat

[mrphilips]

sorry, must have thought you were being rhetorical.

does it have to be kosher? no, i don't think there's anything preventing it getting "gentile", but i think the montreal name just implies it and that they would have to post it up somewhere as a warning if they were serving it in Montreal or Toronto or anywhere around this part of canada, i think... the assumption that it is a safe-for-the-jewish kosher meal is just too common, but i don't proclaim to know the regulations of restauranteuring. but it's not nice to "trick" people into eating something they don't want.

the two big places that put it on the map (Schwartz's and Ben's) definitely are kosher, i've been to a few of the smaller ones there and here in Toronto and i've never seen one that isn't*... most of the places i've seen it served it also serve matza and schmultz (my spelling may be off on those), kosher dill pickles beside every sandwich and nothing made of pork, so i think there's be backlash if you slipped bacon in without warning anyone!  ;D

that being said, one of the best restaurants in canada "au pied du cochon" (with Food Network Chef Martin Piccard, the wild chef!) is a block or three around the corner from Schwartz's... that's "at the foot of the pig", and their menu is pork heavy: http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/menu_e.html
i would be shocked as a burly lumberjack kind of guy if Martin hasn't served montreal-style bacon at somepoint... all in all, rules are meant to be broken.  ;)

once when i was young and the family took a trip to Montreal, Schwartz's - which is tiny and always packed - was out of smoked meat for some reason, so they served us something else... i think they just said it was corned beef. at the time, it tasted very similar but i had limited frame of reference then. it still would've been kosher at that deli, but i'm not 100% on what the difference was... less smoke, more brine? it was pinker... or maybe i dreamed it.
just saying, not all smoked meat i've had in montreal was "montreal-style", but in this case was still kosher.

*i believe kosher (like halal) means a lot more han just non-pork, so just because some place steers clear of bacon, may not make the establishment truly kosher... i'm not jewish or a restauranteur, so i don't really know.

[kinyo]

that being said, one of the best restaurants in canada "au pied du cochon" (with Food Network Chef Martin Piccard, the wild chef!) is a block or three around the corner from Schwartz's... that's "at the foot of the pig", and their menu is pork heavy: http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/menu_e.html
i would be shocked as a burly lumberjack kind of guy if Martin hasn't served montreal-style bacon at somepoint... all in all, rules are meant to be broken.  ;)

I was at restaurant Le Pied De Cochon 2 weeks ago. I took the Pied de Cochon stuffed with foie gras. I can tell that is was one of the best meal I had in my life! I took some pictures of the plate, I'll try to post them later.