Those of us fortunate enough to live in Montreal have, for years, been able to enjoy St. Denis’ Chu Chai, where you get delicious Thai dishes prepared using “fake” meat. (The same dishes are available with real meat at Chao Phraya on Laurier.) Chu Chai has, for example, chicken in peanut sauce with crispy spinach, red curry duck with pineapple, and tons of other favourites. The only “catch” is that the chicken, duck and all other meats are…artificial. Six-million-dollar-man-style, someone must have said: “We can build a better chicken.” (Would this be the other, other white meat?)
These vegetarian imitations are surprisingly delicious (speaking as one who has never quite been convinced of the pleasures of tofu’s quivering white flesh). Eating the Chu Chai duck, you’d never guess this was phony fowl — it even has crunchy “skin” like the real thing (real or otherwise, if you ask me this is the best part!).
Anyhow, I never would have even thought to search for such a thing, but a happy coincidence yesterday landed me at a place not far from my house (to be precise, at 279 Duluth E.) which sells those very meat-esque products, made of soya protein and gluten (seitan). This may sound like some weird food fetish, and committed carnivores everywhere may well ask: “What’s the point?” But let me tell you, it’s delicious and healthy…and while I’m no PETA-phile, it just so happens that the only things that died making these edible imposters were some soya beans or wheat stalks. (Phony fowl, edible imposters… How many more of these clever combos can I come up with?)
The place is called Tiende Santé & Végétarien, and used to be located in Chinatown. Tiende reportedly means “virtue of Heaven,” and also seems to be a religion. The little grocery store was a joyful discovery for me, and I promptly bought some sham shrimp with which to make a real curry. I also picked up some pre-seasoned “ribs” which I have yet to try, though many of the happy hippies shopping there promised me they were to die for. Granted, there may be some differences between what a hippie would die for and what I would die for, so I’ll reserve my judgement until I’ve tried them. The shrimp had nice taste and texture, though, and looked beautiful in my curry (see photo).
I don’t think the place makes buckets of money, so if you live in the area, stop in and give them some business so they don’t disappear. They sell other asian and vegetarian/vegan products, teas and even can serve you a quick hot meal in the store. I know that I, for one, will be back. And don’t even bother asking: no, they don’t accept knockoff twenties.
Another exciting post for me! Since we kinda live in the same “hood” I’m going to check out the joint. I’ve been looking for a place just like this to make transitionning to vegetarian heaven easier. Thanks!
Tonight I tried the “Vege (sic) Gong Bao Chicken”. It was delicious; I made it in a stir-fry with leeks (of course), peas and broccoli, and served it on basmati rice (did you know that “basmati” is a Hindi word for “fragrant”?). The “meat” was really amazing in texture (and the flavour of that spicy sauce was nice). I have no idea how they do it. The more it cooked, the more it seemed like real meat. Maybe it really is meat and they’re just faking us with their claims of fake meat. Anyhow, yum!