Food Allergies in Montreal: Bagels, Smoked Meat, Poutine

Food allergies in Montreal come with a bonus puzzle: many menus are in French, and the dishes that made the city famous lean on sesame, mustard, milk and wheat. A little vocabulary and a few good questions go a long way. Your doctor decides what is right for you.

Take four of the city's best-known foods one at a time, from the breakfast counter to the winter table.

What does a Montreal bagel mean for food allergies in Montreal?

A Montreal-style bagel contains malt and egg, has no salt, and is boiled in honey-sweetened water. It comes in two main styles, black seed (poppy) or white seed (sesame), and the authentic ones are baked in a wood-fired oven.

So the ring carries wheat, malt, egg and, for the white seed style, sesame, which is a priority allergen in Canada. Seeds also drift: they fall off one loaf and onto the next, so ask about the bin, the board and the knife. Our guide to the two styles covers them in more detail, and a shop that bakes in front of you is a good place to ask the baker directly.

Where does mustard sit in smoked meat?

The city's famous brisket is cured with spices, and the cure uses cracked peppercorns and similar flavourings such as coriander, garlic and mustard seed. It is usually served as a light rye sandwich with yellow mustard.

That condiment is a priority allergen in Canada, so this is the one to ask about twice: once about the cure, and once about the dressing on the plate. A counter that cuts the meat by hand will have a view on the cure, but not every server will, so ask for the cook if the answer is vague. Our guide to the sandwich explains how it is made.

Is poutine just a milk question?

Poutine is French fries and cheese curds topped with a hot brown beef and chicken stock gravy. The curds are milk. The gravy is the part that varies: a thin brown sauce, a thicker one, a vegetarian version, a jarred or powdered mix. Montreal's cooks have made many variations.

The questions are what is in the gravy, whether the fries share a fryer with battered items and whether the toppings add sausage, bacon or other extras. If you avoid milk, ask about the curds and whether a version can be made with no curds. If you avoid wheat, ask about the thickener in the gravy, since a recipe may use flour, cornstarch or neither.

What about tourtière and winter comfort food?

Tourtière is a French Canadian meat pie from Quebec, made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes, and a traditional part of the Christmas réveillon and New Year's Eve meal. A meat pie has a pastry crust, which means wheat in the usual case, and often butter or lard, so ask about the crust.

Home-made versions at a gathering are a different question: the person who made it can tell you what went in, and you can ask them directly. Ask about the sides too. Winter tables often add desserts, sauces and pickles that nobody mentioned on the menu, and a pie that is shared around a table is cut with one knife.

How do you plan a day of eating in Montreal with an allergy?

A day that starts with bread, moves to a meat sandwich and ends with fries and gravy touches wheat, seeds, a condiment and milk before dessert is even chosen. Planning helps more than reacting. Decide which meal matters most for your allergy, pick that stop first and ask your questions when the kitchen is quiet, which is usually mid-morning or mid-afternoon rather than at the noon rush.

Carry whatever your own doctor has told you to carry, and tell the people you are with. In a city that eats at long shared tables and in busy counters, a friend who knows your allergy can repeat it to a server or catch a wrong plate. Write down the answers you get, because the same kitchen may change its sauces or suppliers between visits, and a note from last spring is only a starting point for this one.

Which French words help when you read a menu?

Menus in Montreal are often in French, and a short list helps. These are general vocabulary, so read them as a prompt to ask and not as a legal label.

• arachides: peanuts
• noix: tree nuts
• lait: milk
• œufs: eggs
• poisson: fish
• crustacés and mollusques: crustaceans and molluscs
• moutarde: mustard
• sésame: sesame
• blé: wheat
• soya: soy
• sulfites: sulphites

A short phrase such as "je suis allergique aux arachides" lets the server know quickly. Our guide to ordering in French has more.

How can Mosey help you keep notes in Montreal?

Rate the dish you ate, not only the place, and write the answer you were given. Tags are one diner's note on one visit, never a promise. Follow friends who share your allergy and see what they rated and saved, and keep a shared list of questions to ask.

The app can also hide dishes whose place has listed an allergen you pick, and a dish with nothing filled in stays visible and says it is not listed. It filters dishes, never places, and the choice stays on your phone. See ratings and lists.

What else covers Montreal?

Related reading: the Vancouver allergy guide, the guide to the city's gravy-and-curds dish, Quebec regional foods and the Canadian food guides.

Mosey is free to list on, with no hidden fees, and it welcomes small kitchens.

For your next trip to Montreal, get the Mosey app, rate the dish you ate and keep a list of the answers.