Belgian Chocolates

Hello From Toronto - a culinary journey of the St. Lawrence Market

October 6, 2005

Life works in very strange and wonderful. Earlier this week I talked to my brother in Austria on the phone and he told me he had been reading this magazine German travel and there was a great write-up about a Toronto-based guide who provides culinary tours of the St. Lawrence Market, one of the favorite places my brother he discovered on his recent trip to Toronto.

I asked my brother this man's name was and he raised eyes and said: "Bruce Bell". I did an Internet search and within seconds I had located Bruce Bell Tours, and I knew I had to meet that person. Bruce Bell, columnist of the popular history of the St. Lawrence Neighborhood Community Bulletin, is also winning playwright, actor, artist comic and the honorary curator of the most photographed building in the city of Toronto, the historic Gooderham Building better known as the Flatiron. Bruce recently published a book on Toronto called "Toronto - A pictorial tribute.

Immediately after hanging up with my brother, I the phone with Bruce, we briefly introduced ourselves and said, get off, join me on Thursday for my culinary tour of St. Lawrence Market. Indeed, this morning, punctually at 10 o'clock I arrived at the souvenir shop at the main entrance of the market, and I met Bruce and the other participant in our turn, a young architecture student.

As the official historian of the St. Lawrence Market Bruce has privileged access all sorts of areas of the building that other people never see. He immediately took us up some stairs, took a special key and leads us in the office of former mayor, since the construction market used to be the hotel hometown of Toronto. The building has undergone several transitions, and the two side wings were removed to make way for a steel-girdered warehouse built in 1904 which was inspired Victoria Station in London.

From the office of former mayor, we had a perfect view of the market and we also had a beautiful view of the skyscrapers from downtown and the famous Flatiron Building to the west, and St. Lawrence Hall in north. Bruce took us down the stairs in the lobby of the market itself TidBITS diverse and shared history with us. The shores of Lake Ontario used right at Front Street, and after landfill was added, the Esplanade has become the waterfront, and today several hundreds of meters of additional landfill have expanded the territory of the city a waterfront neighborhood.

Editor Bruce, we began our tour of shops which include bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, stalls of fruits, meats, dessert places and specialty vendors of all kinds. The first place we were brought was a bakery which also serves lunches and we had a delicious taste treat of smoked salmon and backbacon, each on a small piece of bread. I am not usually a big fish eater, but this was delicious Morcel tasty. In another store we got to sample "Indian candy" - smoked dried salmon with maple syrup. What a treat!

We walked by some butcher shops, many of whom were in the same family for generations. I admired the sections presented in a creative way of pork loin stuffed with spinach, cheese and bacon, a perfect solution for a non-chef like me - just stick it in the oven and get a gourmet meal.

After a short visit outside the building where Bruce explained the building's history and early Toronto society to us, we went into the lower level, where all shops dessert, fruit stalls and specialty vendors are located. We have received several samples of more: a wide variety of delicious Honey from New Zealand, tasting of specialty jams and jellies, chocolate soft white truffles that melt in your mouth, and for dessert - after all these sweat treats - Nutella-pancakes. All the samples we received were quite delicious.

Bruce took us into the bowels building, now used mainly for storage and refrigeration, but in times past these areas were men and prisons women. Bruce explained that in the 1850s, women had no rights and many men simply stuck their wives in prison, especially after childbirth or during menopause, when they were a little cranky. The iron hooks that prisoners were chained to are still visible on the walls.

The basement is also decorated with a number of murals that explain Toronto's history. As the official historian Market St. Laurent and a well known columnist of St. Lawrence Community Bulletin, Bruce is actually depicted on the mural. About 15 historic plaques throughout a variety of buildings in the downtown outline the major events of the past and are titled "A Bruce Bell History Project". So there is no doubt that this is a real expert, even a local celebrity.

Just outside the St. Lawrence Market was the terminus of the Underground Railroad, the pier where thousands of former American slaves arrived after their secret passage on the American South, in Rochester and freedom in Toronto. It's amazing to see a lot of history there, even in a comparably young city like Toronto, and I enjoyed listening to Bruce's unique stories.

St. Lawrence Market building we walked north through a courtyard to another ex - City of Toronto under the name St. Lawrence Hall. He was the former mayor of the city York, which was officially renamed the city of Toronto (an Indian word meaning "meeting place") in 1856. St. Lawrence Hall is a magnificent building classical style, and Bruce took us inside to show us the ballroom, the largest preserved original ballroom in Canada. The chandelier is original, has been originally lit by coal gas and today is illuminated by natural gas.

This was the heart of the elite Toronto WASP (white Anglo-Saxon / Protestant) society during the 1800s and Bruce shed light on the many behavioral norms of the time. The Women were not considered persons and could not walk the street by themselves or accompanied by a man other than their husbands. Men had to defend the honor of their wives in duels and sometimes ended up having to take their best friend as a result of today's standards a danger (by) misunderstanding. The city and country were run by English nobles and the Catholic Irish immigrants, who arrive en masse after the Great Famine of 1849 were despised by the local ruling class.

Accordingly, the Catholics were segregated, but they received a spot inside St. Lawrence Hall, a big room called St. Patrick's Hall, where they were allowed to congregate since they were prevented from entering the room Prom has been reserved for the WASP elite. Irish Catholics had to enter the hall of St. Patrick through a staircase as they were not allowed to mix with the English aristocracy. The passage to the north side of Hall St. Lawrence Hall housing St. Patrick's also collapsed in 1967 and has been completely rebuilt.

After St. Lawrence Hall we walked through a beautiful Victorian Garden outside of St. James Cathedral, the largest house in Toronto, worship, church and 5th in the current site. Bruce took us inside and exchanged more historical information with us on the original British settlers of Toronto and ruling elite of the time, which included the famous Bishop Strachan, the creator of St. James Cathedral. Bruce showed us the various stained glass windows that adorn the church, which were all designed at different times. Especially stunning are the Tiffany stained glass windows on the east side, with a particularly intense staining.

St. James Cathedral marked the end of our historic and gastronomic tour of the St. Lawrence Market. We received a very good introduction in Toronto's history and appreciate the diverse culinary delights of the largest market in Toronto. Entertaining and informative lessons on Bruce time Toronto's history where women and men were segregated, when society was strictly regimented by expectations of etiquette and social status, and when Irish and English are not allowed to mix made me realize how incredibly Toronto came in the 150 recent years.

Bruce Bell offers other interesting visits Distillery District in Toronto, skyscrapers and Art Deco tour entitled "Comfort and Steam" that takes you through the Fairmount Royal York Hotel at Union Station, the Skydome and Air Canada Center, among other places. Considering everything I learned in the tower of St. Lawrence Market, I hope to have a chance to catch another of Bruce towers and expand my local knowledge of this city in the near future.

About the Author

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of Travel and Transitions (
http://www.travelandtransitions.com
), a popular web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new section featuring FREE ebooks about travel.

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