What is in season in Montreal. and what to order when the market changes.
Spring
- Maple and the sugar shack: Late winter into spring is cabane a sucre season, when families drive out to sugar shacks for maple-drenched feasts and tire d'erable, taffy poured hot onto fresh snow.
- Fiddleheads: Wild fiddlehead ferns appear briefly at the Jean-Talon and Atwater markets in spring, blanched and sauteed in butter as a fleeting Quebec delicacy.
Summer
- Quebec strawberries and corn: Summer fills the markets with sweet Quebec strawberries, then blueberries and late-season sweetcorn, the backbone of roadside stands and market stalls across the island.
- Terrasse season: Warm months move Montreal outdoors onto terrasses and patios, the peak stretch for wine bars, market picnics and the city's food-truck festivals.
Autumn
- Apples and cider: Autumn brings apple picking in the surrounding orchards and a wave of Quebec ciders, from still to ice cider, poured across the city's wine bars and markets.
- Squash and game: Cooler weather turns menus toward squash, root vegetables and Quebec game, the produce-driven cooking that defines the city's fall tasting menus.
Winter
- Tourtiere and reveillon: Winter centres on the Christmas reveillon, when tourtiere, cretons and sugar pie fill home and bakery tables through the coldest, darkest months of the year.
- Poutine and comfort food: Deep winter is peak poutine and pea-soup weather, the season Montreal leans hardest on hot, heavy comfort food and its round-the-clock diners.