Chefs We Love
A Taste of Home: 4 Montreal Recipes from Chuck Hughes’s New Cookbook
Published on November 13, 2024
One of the best things to do in Montreal is eat. For me, it’s a Montreal-style bagel at St-Viateur (sorry New York!), or a smoked meat sandwich best enjoyed on a red leather stool at Schwartz’s Deli.
Many of the chefs and cookbook authors I interview agree: when asked where they like to eat in North America, they often mention Montreal. Toronto’s Chris Nuttall-Smith gushed over Mon Lapin before it topped any best-of lists, New Yorker Alison Roman shared her love of L’Express and L.A.-based Molly Baz and I discussed the wonder of Emma Cardarelli’s Elena.
When Chuck Hughes, the Montreal restaurateur and chef behind iconic Garde Manger, announced Chuck’s Home Cooking, his first cookbook in 10 years, how could it not grab my attention? Chuck is synonymous with the Montreal food scene, having lived there most of his life, opened two restaurants and run a successful catering business. He’s also published two bestselling cookbooks and hosted many TV shows, including Chuck’s Day Off and Chuck’s World.
Scroll down for recipes from Chuck Hughes’s new cookbook, the Montreal food scene and what we can expect from him next!
The book focuses on making Montreal classics for your family at home and, here, we’re sharing four standout recipes including Apple Galette, a fall favurite at Chuck’s house with hits of vanilla and sea salt, and Fried Chicken with Hot Pepper Maple Glaze, inspired by a Garde Manger staff meal.
House & Home How has your recipe style changed since your last cookbook?
Chuck Hughes: My first book, Garde Manger, was all about the restaurant, and my second book, Chuck’s Day Off, was about my TV show. For both, I had a huge team helping me. This time, I decided to do it on my own. I wrote every recipe and blurb. The dishes are all me and what I love to cook and eat.
H&H: How has the Montreal food scene influenced your cooking?
CH: Montreal is filled with small independent restaurants focused on chef-driven, in-season food that’s market fresh. I tried to mimic that in this cookbook. The city is also moulded by many cultures. I used Eastern European influences seen at places like Schwartz’s as inspiration for the Braised Beef Brisket and Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, where the meat is cooked low and slow until it’s so tender the fibres just fall apart.
Get the recipe for Chuck’s Braised Beef Brisket and Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes here.
H&H: Where are the best places to eat in Montreal?
CH: If I’m not eating at my own restaurant, I’ll go to the classics like Milos, Mano Cornuto or Beba. I live four blocks away from the best bagels on earth. Both St-Viateur and Fairmount Bagel influenced my own Bagels recipe. I created a simplified version that gives the Montreal experience of a soft interior surrounded by a subtly sweet shell.
Get Chuck’s recipe for Montreal-style Bagels here.
H&H: What are the signature recipes from your book that you make at home?
CH: There’s a recipe for Pancakes with Whipped Butter and Peach Preserves that I make for my kids almost every weekend. In the fall, I make Apple Galette for a Tuesday night dessert or a fancy Saturday night party. The apple flavours sneak into the nooks and crannies of the dough and mingle with the crispy bits, soft butter and vanilla flavours.
Get the recipe for Chuck’s Apple Galette here.
Fried Chicken with Hot Pepper Maple Glaze
“Crispy chicken mixes beautifully with a sauce that’s a little bit vinegary, with a kick of garlic, sweet maple syrup and peppers.” – Chuck Hughes
Get the Fried Chicken recipe here.
H&H: What’s next for you?
CH: I’m working on the fifth season of Chuck and the First People’s Kitchen, where I learn about the culinary traditions of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The fourth season airs this fall on APTN. This show and Garde Manger are two of my proudest professional achievements. I’m not planning to open more restaurants anytime soon!
Marc-André Lavoie
Recipes from Chuck’s Home Cooking by Chuck Hughes. ©2024 Chuck Hughes. Photography by Marc-André Lavoie. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved