St Lawrence Market, a Foodie Mecca In…. Toronto?!

With multiple Chinatowns, not to mention a Koreatown and a Little India, Toronto’s food scene is a lot more diverse than you might think.

And, no, it’s not all about poutine. That famous combination of chips, cheese and gravy comes from Quebec, not Toronto – Toronto’s indigenous snack food is the peameal bacon sandwich, made with the local sweet pickle cured bacon known as peameal.

But if there’s one food experience that’s guaranteed to make serious foodies book a flight to Toronto (or at least hop on the train or into the car), it has to be St. Lawrence Market.

A fixture of Toronto’s eating scene since its first incarnation as a farmers market way back in 1803, St. Lawrence Market was National Geographic’s pick for the single best food market in the world, and if you’re the kind of person who can’t fly into Heathrow without hitting Borough Market, then St. Lawrence Market is definitely for you.

Like Borough Market, St. Lawrence Market has moved with the times. From its origins as a strictly functional produce market, through its decline during the latter half of last century, it was reinvented as part of a programme of urban renewal and is now that great food cliché, a foodie paradise.

It’s open from Tuesday to Thursday, 8am to 6pm, and on Friday from 8am to 7pm, but the best day to visit is Saturday (5am-5pm), when the North Market pays host to the farmer’s market, with seasonal produce from all over southern Ontario.

What can you expect? Well, jellies, jams, cheeses – both locally made and imported – baked goods, Cretan extra-virgin olive oil, organic meats, caviar, smoked salmon, live crab and lobsters, chorizo, desserts, coffees, teas, spices, gourmet mushrooms – even medicinal herbs.

Probably the biggest treat, though, are fresh fruit in season: at the right time of year you’ll find every type of peach or strawberry that grows under the Canadian sun.

If you’re looking to track down that Asian green whose name you can’t remember, try Family Foods, a mecca for Toronto area chefs. Elsewhere, travelling food geeks can find everything from manuka honey to imported truffles, organic sprouts, Ukrainian sausages and a gadzillion speciality mustards.

St. Lawrence Market offers masterclasses, covering everything from cooking with beer to making the perfect pizza, though these get booked up so fast it’s worth keeping an eye on the site long before you plan your visit.

But what if you’re staying in a Toronto hotel, rather than a self-catering apartment?

All is not lost. Nestled among the food stands are a tonne of eat-in options, from that peameal bacon sandwich — Carousel Bakery’s are famous — through to crepes or fish and chips.

Better yet, pick up some fresh bread, your favourite cheeses, a few cured meats, some heirloom tomatoes and perhaps a few leaves, and put together a picnic to eat on the Toronto Islands.

Picture credits: MasterMaq and Corsi Photo.