Culinary Adventure Co: the original and best food tour of St Lawrence Market in Toronto
There’s very good reason why the Culinary Adventure Co food tour, St Lawrence Market is the number one choice in Toronto. A consistent contender in the list of the world’s best food markets, I went along to find out why.
On a greyish, yet relatively warm Wednesday lunchtime in Toronto, I made my way to the historic St Lawrence Market. Waiting at the meeting spot was our host Ian, along with a warm and friendly retired couple from Chicago. Originally from the UK, Ian wasn’t only a long-time Torontonian, but also a former restauranteur. That said, I knew we were in knowledgeable hands.
After a short exchange among the group, we all dug into some still warm and buttery chocolate croissants. Melt in the middle though delicate in flavour, I fought hard not to finish it, just anticipating the other delights about to come our way.
A brief background
Dating back to the 1800s, the public market was built to serve the ever-growing population of York. There are 3 main areas to the complex, each with a different purpose. St Lawrence Market North hosts weekly farmer and antiques markets, while St Lawrence Market South has daily food stalls and restaurants.
The third area, St Lawrence Hall, is an event and office building. It was here, in 1851, that the first meeting of coloured freeman took place. The meeting was important because it discussed how to integrate and educate the runaway slaves.
“The bun had a generous serving of the bacon along with some melted cheese in a doughy warm bun. Time to finish: 2 minutes.”
FOLLOWING THE RIVERA
Before the tour
What I really appreciated about the tour, is that it was as much about the food as it was the area.
Before entering the main hub and doing the tasting, Ian ordered a coffee for all of us before setting off for a brief step back in history.
After telling us about the background to the St Lawrence Market building, we moved onto St James Cathedral and park. Here, we came across a statue of Scottish-Canadian writer and agriculturist Robert Gourlay. Unbeknownst to me, Gourlay had led the rebellion against the British to change the law for Canadians to own their own land.
St James Cathedral is a stones’ throw away and totally worth stepping inside. The building is the home of the oldest congregation in the city, and is a classic example of Gothic-Revival architecture. Every element, such as the stained-glass windows, the pointed arches and the high ceilings, allow as much light as possible to enter the building.
Culinary Adventure Co food tour of St Lawrence Market
After a lesson in the history of York, it was finally time to start eating! Our first stop almost continued the historic theme with a visit to the Carousel Bakery. It’s the home of the world famous ‘peameal bacon’ on a bun, and the lines were building up fast to get one.
Peameal bacon bun
Peameal bacon is a boneless cut of back bacon that is wet cured and then rolled in cornmeal. The bun had a generous serving of the bacon along with some melted cheese in a doughy warm bun. Time to finish: 2 minutes.
Pastel de natas
The next stop was for something sweet. Feeling like a child at Christmas, I opened the container Ian gave us to find some delicate Pastel de natas inside. If you’ve never tried these before, you don’t know what you’re missing. Freshly baked pastries filled with custard and a little burnt sugar on top, I wolfed mine down fast. Time to finish: 30 seconds.
Mustard tasting
Admittedly, I’m not one for spicy food or condiments, so I tried this next tasting with caution. If you do love your food with a bit of a kick, you’ll love these mustards from Canadian brand Kozlik’s. The amazing maple mustard was my favourite, simply because of the sweetness from the syrup. Time to finish: 2 seconds.
Mini aperitivo – without the wine
Back to the savoury tasting, this time with delectable combination of local cheese, prosciutto and sweet teardrop red peppers. Ian advised us to try all 3 together – and yes, they complemented each other perfectly. Time to finish: 5 minutes.
Time for a perogie
On the ground floor of the market are a plethora of food stalls, one of which sells all different varieties of perogies. Perogies or pierogis are flour dumplings that originate from central and eastern Europe. We sampled some scrummy potato and cheese dumplings, served with sour cream. Time to finish: 8 minutes.
“If you do find yourself in a small group, don’t worry (!), because the amount of food is more than enough.”
FOLLOWING THE RIVERA
The sweet finale
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly fit anymore in, Ian delivered the last course: dessert! 4 large naturally sweet strawberries dipped in dark Belgian chocolate. It was a tough job, but I managed to eat 2 because it was a shame to leave it. Time to finish: 3 minutes!
The conclusion
Anyone thinking about doing the Culinary Adventure Co food tour of St Lawrence Market will not be disappointed. Ian’s historical and culinary knowledge made the tour that bit more special, plus he also gave us extra tips on places to visit afterwards.
Do note, that the amount of food you taste on the tour does depends on the size of the group. If you do find yourself in a small group, don’t worry (!), because the amount of food is more than enough. To see the latest tours and the most up-to-date ticket information, head to the Culinary Adventure Co website.
Looking for somewhere to stay in the city? The fantastic boutique Windsor Arms Hotel isn’t too far from St Lawrence Market and worth checking out!
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Oh this culinary tour is a must for me! I always love to explore the local cuisine when I travel. But a historic market like this is like a treasure chest for my culinary cravings. That bacon look so good!
Oh yes, the bacon was very good, and the bun didn’t last long! Thanks for commenting 🙂
I love taking culinary tours! Like you say, this really shows you the area as well as the food, which I think is pretty awesome. I’ll keep this in mind if I’m ever in Toronto!
You must Sonja! It’s not known as one of the world’s best food markets in the world for nothing!
Food tours are some of my favorite. I particularly love how in this one your tour guide Ian took the time to give you historic background and information on the area. A knowledgeable guide truly can make the experience. The food you tasted all sounded wonderful. I think my favorite would have been those chocolate covered strawberries at the end. A perfect ending to a sweet day.
Ooh, they were so good Joella. I couldn’t waste them even though I was so stuffed! I highly recommend it if you’re ever in Toronto 🙂
Oh my YUM oh how I would love it here! I lived off Pastel de Nata when I was in Lisbon. I’d be rolling out of the market after I ate all that yummy food 😉
I hear you Kerry! My clothes felt a little tighter after the tour, but I walked it off while exploring the city 😀
Food tours are amazing! You get to learn so much about the culture and customs of the locals better than any other tour, in my opinion. I took a culinary tour in Berlin, but it was nowhere nears as awesome as yours sounded. Anything with bacon is a winner in my book. I Bet those pirogies were delicious!
The pierogies were really good, but I loved the peameal bacon bun more :p Just thinking about it now makes me crave one!
I love food tours. It is a great way to get to know the culture, even the history of a place when traveling. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for commenting, I hope you get to try this one from Culinary Adventure Co if you’re ever in Toronto 🙂
I love food tours. Such a great way to learn about the food culture of a city.
I totally agree, and this one from Culinary Adventure Co is particularly good!
This looks like a phenomenal market! It reminds me of the city market in Philadelphia which is also historic and is filled with goodies like this one!
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Thanks Sarah, it is phenomenal! I need to check out the market in Philadelphia if I ever visit!
I have never tried a food tour, but would definitely put it on my todo list
Great Baia, so glad to hear you’d give it a go!
This looks so fun! I would love to do this food tour in Canada. I definitely want to try the Bakery Carousel. I don’t know about the mustard tasting, though. The peameal bacon bun looks really good. I would love to explore this area.
Yes, I was slightly apprehensive too about the mustard, but the amazing maple was pretty good! Glad you enjoyed reading 🙂
I just love food tours. It’s amazing to see the perfect concoction of history and food in towns like these. When in Toronto, I’ll make sure to take this one up. Cheers!!
You must, this one is particularly good, plus you get to find out something about the area too.
I just love culinary tour likes this! It just sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed it.
This looks amazing! Something I will definitely try and do sometime. Being a massive food fan culinary tours are right down my street!
Great! Glad to read I’ve inspired a reader 🙂 This one is particularly good and worth giving a go!
This food tour is definitely for me! The food looks yummy and nice! I like that they introduced the background of the area.
It’s definitely one to bookmark! And Ian adding some background to the place only made it more special 🙂
I love food tours…its a treat to the taste buds…a key sense organ. Mustard tasting is interesting….I would love to try this tour. So nice to be located well..the church seems like a good place to soak in some history as well.
It was all the above and then some 🙂 I’d highly recommend it!
I love to explore a new place by the local foods. Food is such an important part of immersing into culture.
I totally agree! It was great to have some history to the tour too!
Now THIS is my kind of tour! I love that it was about the food, but also about the history. Two of my favorite things. This is definitely something to keep on my list for when I visit Canada.
Glad I inspired you with this tour! It’s so great, and I honestly left so stuffed, yet more knowledgeable 🙂
You got me all hungry now 😀 I wish I could check out the market to shop there for food goodies.
You and me both Helene! I too wish I lived there just to go food shopping!
Food tours sound so fun! I’ve personally have never taken part in one because I feel like it would slow me down LOL. But I can definitely see the value in having a local show you unique places you wouldn’t normally come across. A peameal bacon bun sounds so good right about now!
Food tours are so much fun and honestly this one was excellent. Ian was so knowledgeable and very generous with the food! Highly recommended 🙂
As much as I too love going on culinary explorations, in many cities I find it more challenging being a vegetarian! Pastel de Natas and Mustard Tasting would be definitely a must for me!
Yes, I can imagine being a vegetarian would be a challenge on a food tour, but they would definitely cater for all diets as long as you give them advance warning 😉
Articles like this make me happy and hungry! Love ( food ) markets and I think with a food tour you will see things you might not discover yourself. When we are in a new destination we always check for a good food market. Definitely safe this one for our future Toronto Itinerary.
That’s so encouraging to hear, thank you! This food tour from Culinary Adventure Co is excellent, and I can’t recommend enough the tour of St Lawrence Market.
I always love to try different foods, specially their traditional cuisines and this place looks perfect for me. I could spend a whole day just trying their amazing food .
Great! I’m glad I could inspire you with my post. Thanks for commenting.