Poutine

 

There are few foods which will clunk more satisfyingly to the bottom of your gut or stick more to your ribs: poutine, the quintessential pig-out dish from Québec.

Pronounced poo-TEEN, the classical version is a heap of crispy golden fries piled in a disposable bowl, mixed with cheese curds, then smothered in piping hot beef gravy. The stuff has in the past been hard to come by outside of Canada, but it is catching on as desperate French-Canadians export it to places like Florida, California, New York, France, and other poutine-bereft areas where they find themselves stranded.

Although scores of different versions now exist, this artery-clogging junk food was invented in the early 195Os, when a customer walked into a restaurant in Warwick, Québec, called "The Laughing Goblin" [Le Lutin Qui Rit], and special-ordered a pile of "frites" with brown gravy and cheese. The chef remarked, "That's a real mess", using the Québecois slang word for mess, which is "poutine", and dished it up. It was incorporated into his menu, and the rest is history.

There seems to be general agreement as to the original and optimum method of preparation:

Homemade fries, not frozen but ones actually cut off of potatoes in fat sticks, are fried golden, and placed in a bowl containing a handful of a particular type of cheese curd called "fromage en grain". It is not surprisingly a cheese named Kingsley, native to the Warwick area, mild, stringy and white, but not mozzarella or cheddar, similar perhaps to Monterey Jack, but shaped in many small lumps. More of this cheese is dumped on top of the fries, and then the entire melting mass is covered with preferably homemade and extremely hot brown beef gravy. The pile as it cools quickly coagulates into something resembling cement, and must be scarfed in haste, but not so soon that you burn the roof of your mouth.

There are some famous and not-so-famous variations on this theme, although the fries and cheese are considered the Traditional Constant.

"Poutine du Lac Long" has chopped beef and fried onions added.

"Poutine Italienne" has, as one might suspect, spaghetti sauce instead.

"Galvaude" is a poutine with chunks of chicken and green peas mixed in.

The concoction, whatever its ingredients, is admittedly hard on the stomach, an experience not helped by the fact that the traditional liquid accompaniment is lots and lots of beer. These potatoes are for couch potatoes, and exercise of any sort alter consumption is not recommended.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Berliner Gramaphone Company/RCA Victor

 

 

This was home of Berliner Gramophone Company. Note the sign showing Nipper the dog, the Berliner logo, followed by The Home of the Victrola.
(photo dated approx 1912)

The building now known as the RCA Victor building on Lenoir Street was originally built by the Berliner Gramaphone Company between 1908 and 1921 for the production of gramaphone equipment. Emile Berliner was born in Germany, moved to Washington, and finally settled in Montreal. He invented the telephone microphone, the gramophone and the flat record. When construction was completed in 1921, Berliner Gramophone possessed one of the most modern factories in Montreal. The 50,000 sq. ft. plant made both players and records.

 

The Gramaphone Company bought the now-famous painting of Nipper the Dog from the English painter Francis Barraud in 1896.  Barraud had first offered the painting to representatives of the Edison-Bell Company who turned him down telling him that "dogs don't listen to phonographs".  

This trademark first appeared in 1900 in Montréal on the back of record # 402 - "Hello My Baby", by Frank Banta.   This classic logo has adorned millions of Gramaphone, RCA, and RCA Victor recordings over the last 100 years.

 

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

St. Henri Rail Transport

 

St Henri Train Station on the Grand Trunk Railroad

 

1836: Canada's First Railway

The Champlain & St. Lawrence Railroad, Canada's first railway trunk was built in 1836 between Montreal's South Shore and St. Jean-sur-Richelieu. This 26 km long link was a considerable shortcut since the initial waterway route (St. Jean - Sorel - Montreal) was more than 150 km long.

 

St. Henri Train Station

 

1847: Montreals's First Railway

The Montreal and Lachine Railroad was inaugurated several years's later in 1847 to provide a land link to bypass the treacherous section of the St Lawrence before the Lachine Canal was built. This railroad went through the middle of through St Henri and stopped near the corner of St Jacques and St Henri. Other stops included Bonaventure, Montreal West, and Beaconfield.

 

The Grand Trunk Railroad

In 1853, the Grand Trunk Railway was formed from an amalgamation of several smaller rail companies including the Montreal and Lachine Railroad. The first part of this line extended from Sarnia to Toronto and then Montreal. The second part ran from Montreal to Levis (on the South Shore of Quebec City) and then to the border of New Brunswick (then a separate British colony) where it met with the Intercolonial Railway.
Rapid expansion and heavy competition resulted in The Grand Trunk's bankrupcy in 1919. The Federal Government took over the railway that year, placing it under the management of the Canadian National Railways in 1923.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Saint-Henri

 

Saint-Henri 1859

Saint-Henri is well known as a historically French-Canadian, Irish and black working class neighbourhood. Often contrasted with wealthy Westmount looking down over the Falaise Saint-Jacques, in recent years it has been strongly affected by gentrification.

The area—historically known as Les Tanneries because of the artisans' shops where leather tanning took place—was named for St. Henry via the Église Saint-Henri, which at one time formed Place Saint-Henri along with the community's fire and police station. The bustle of a nearby passenger rail station was immortalized in the song "Place St. Henri" (1964) by Oscar Peterson.

Saint-Henri is part of the municipal district of Saint-Henri–Petite-Bourgogne–Pointe-Saint-Charles. The borough hall for Le Sud-Ouest is located in a converted factory in Saint-Henri, bearing witness to the borough's industrial heritage.

Église Saint-Henri was so named to commemorate Fr. Henri-Auguste Roux (1798–1831), the superior of Saint-Sulpice Seminary. The municipality of Saint-Henri was formed in 1875, joining the village of Saint-Henri and the surrounding settlements of Turcot, Brodie, Saint-Agustin and Sainte-Marguerite into one administrative unit. The municipality was incorporated into the City of Montreal in 1905.

Well-known people from Saint-Henri include strongman Louis Cyr, who served as a police officer there; the Place des Hommes-Forts and the Parc Louis-Cyr are named for him. Celebrated jazz pianist Oscar Peterson grew up in Little Burgundy which is the neighborhood adjacent to Saint-Henri. Stand-up comedian Yvon Deschamps has described the daily struggle of Saint-Henri's citizens with humorous melancholy.

Saint-Henri and Little Burgundy are considered to have a fairly common social makeup. Historically, Saint-Henri was occupied predominantly by European blue-collar workers while Little Burgundy was occupied primarily by African-Canadians who worked on the railroads. – courtesy Wikipedia

Two of my grand aunts lived in Saint-Henri. Evelina (Bernard) Mailhot and her husband Anatole lived near the train because Anatole was an engineer. Anita (Bernard) Blanchette and her husband Joseph lived for a time in Saint-Henri as they had a shop before moving to Verdun.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

 

The Darling Foundry

 

Although Montréal was already the commercial centre of Canada by the late 18th century, the invention of the steam-powered engine in 1811 was the catalyst to the industrial revolution here, just as in the rest of the world, making Montréal the undisputed hub of Canadian industry as well. With the creation of the Lachine canal, built between 1821 and 1825, the modernization of the port between 1830 and 1845, and the building of a railroad between Montréal and Lachine, manufacturers settled along the banks of the canal and in the Faubourg des Récollets (formerly Griffintown). A high demand for ship building, machined parts, and iron works led to the establishment of several foundries in the Faubourg.

The Darling Brothers got their start in 1880, at a time when metal works in Griffintown were operating at full tilt. First housed in a building at Queen and Ottawa Streets, they found they needed more space by 1888. Architect J.R.Gardiner built a second building and in 1909 another addition was needed. In 1918, the Brothers decided to add a fourth building, and they retained T.Pringle & Son’s engineers to build it for them. At the height of its production, the Darling was the second most important foundry of Montreal, housing more than 100,000 ft2 of functional space. Each of its 4 buildings was dedicated to its own specialized purpose: inventory & stock, a showroom, the iron works, and the assembly plant.

The Darling Foundry is an important example of the quality of construction of buildings of its kind, and an important symbol of our industrial history. Its foundations and portals are made of concrete with steel rod reinforcements. The principal façade and secondary walls are made of brick. The Darling gets its nickname, “the snake,” from the elaborate ventilation system visible to passersby, on its roof.

The Darling Foundry continued to prosper until 1971, employing more than 800 people at one point. The Brothers were known for their particular technique of pouring metal into “grey sand” molds, as well as the high-quality of their machined parts, used widely in construction. Several separate parts would be poured and, once hardened, would be soldered together to create the finished pieces. Although the company was commissioned to produce armaments during the two World Wars, it was principally known for its production of industrial equipment, including heating systems, steam and water pumps, elevators and tramway stairs.

The Lachine Canal was closed in 1970, affecting the fortunes of many companies including the Darling Foundry. The company was sold to Pumps and Softerner in 1971. All of these changes were symptomatic of the end of Griffintown’s industrial role. Griffintown is known, today, as the Faubourg des Récollets.

The extent of the DF’s metal works operations demonstrate how important a role they played in the development of the industry and in the economic and commercial activity of the port of Montreal.

The Darling Foundry shut down all operations in 1991, and the building was abandoned for the next 10 years.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

The Tin Flute

 

The story takes place in Montreal, principally in the poor neighbourhood of Saint-Henri, between February 1940 and May 1940, during the Second World War, when Quebec is still suffering from the Great Depression.

Florentine Lacasse, a young waitress at the "Five and Ten" restaurant who dreams of a better life and is helping her parents get by, falls in love with Jean Lévesque, an ambitious machinist-electrician. Wanting to satisfy his withered ego, he agrees to date Florentine. Quickly tiring of the relationship, Jean introduces her to a friend, Emmanuel Létourneau, who is a soldier on leave. Emmanuel falls in love with Florentine. Despite this, Florentine's attraction towards Jean will have important consequences in her life. A parallel thread in the novel is the Lacasse family life, made difficult by their poverty.

 

The Tin Flute (original French title Bonheur d'occasion, "secondhand happiness"), Gabrielle Roy’s first novel, is a classic of Canadian fiction. Imbued with Roy’s brand of compassion and understanding, this story focuses on a family in the Saint-Henri slums of Montreal, its struggles to overcome poverty and ignorance, and its search for love.

A story of familial tenderness, sacrifice, and survival during World War II, The Tin Flute won both the Governor General's Award and the Prix Femina of France. The novel was made into a critically acclaimed motion picture in 1983. It was originally published in French as Bonheur d'occasion (literally, 'secondhand happiness'), which represents the character's sense of rebound love in the novel.

Roy's first novel, Bonheur d'occasion (1945) gave a starkly realistic portrait of the lives of people in Saint-Henri, a working-class neighbourhood of Montreal. The novel caused many Quebecers to take a hard look at themselves and is regarded as the novel that helped lay the foundation for Quebec's Quiet Revolution of the 1960s.

The original French version won Roy the prestigious Prix Femina in 1947. Published in English as The Tin Flute (1947), the book won the 1947 Governor General's Award for fiction as well as the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal.

Distributed in the United States, where it sold more than three-quarters of a million copies, the Literary Guild of America made The Tin Flute a feature book of the month in 1947. The book garnered so much attention that Roy returned to Manitoba to escape the publicity.

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved

Stanford Friends and Family Letter Project

 

By VJ PERIYAKOIL, M.D.SEPT. 7, 2016

Over the last 15 years, as a geriatrics and palliative care doctor, I have had candid conversations with countless patients near the end of their lives. The most common emotion they express is regret: regret that they never took the time to mend broken friendships and relationships; regret that they never told their friends and family how much they care; regret that they are going to be remembered by their children as hypercritical mothers or exacting, authoritarian fathers.

And that’s why I came up with a project to encourage people to write a last letter to their loved ones. It can be done when someone is ill, but it’s really worth doing when one is still healthy, before it’s too late.

It’s a lesson I learned years ago from a memorable dying patient. He was a Marine combat veteran who had lived on a staple diet of Semper Fi and studied silence all his life. A proud and stoic man, he was admitted to the hospital for intractable pain from widely spread cancer. Every day, his wife visited him and spent many hours at his bedside watching him watch television. She explained to me that he had never been much of a talker in their 50-plus years of marriage.

But he was far more forthcoming with me, especially when it became clear that his days were numbered. He spoke of his deep regret for not having spent enough time with his wife, whom he loved very much, and of his great pride in his son, who had joined the Marines in his father’s footsteps.

One afternoon, when I mentioned these comments to his wife and son, they looked incredulously at each other and then disbelievingly at me. They thanked me for being kind but stated that my patient was incapable of expressing such sentiments.

Continue reading the main story…

 

Stanford Friends and Family Letter Project

 

©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved