On Halloween I’d pour my pillowcase full of assorted treats onto the floor and sort them into piles. There was a pile for chips, a pile for chocolate bars, a pile for rockets (which are apparently called Smarties in the US?), a single toothbrush and then a mound of the inedible candies like those “chewy” caramels, anything that didn’t come in a wrapper (poison! LSD!) and Goodies. Goodies, to me, are the most god awful candy creation ever devised by man. In case you are unfamiliar with this confection, as I suspect we may only unleash such things on Canadian children, goodies are a candy-coated licorice flavored candy. To me, there’s something about it that’s akin to making chocolate covered brussel sprouts. That is, if there is a proper way to introduce licorice to a child, this is definitely not it.

It was during this time in my life, when my palette was particularly vulnerable to such a viscous onslaught, that I developed a pronounced hatred for the flavor of licorice and all things licorice flavored. Red licorice however was always a favorite of mine, being used from everything from snack to makeshift straw. Red licorice is flavored with cherry and/or strawberry and is really not licorice at all though, sort of like how white chocolate is a pale impostor of actual chocolate.

In my teenager years, where I first started fostering a passion for food and cooking, is when I discovered fennel. Fennel Seed…

Les 3 Brasseurs, or “The Trois Bras,” as I like to call it, is a chain of microbreweries based in France that has spread out from the fermented bosom of the motherland to 4 locations in Montreal’s most high traffic areas: Ste-Catherine, St-Denis, St-Paul and Crescent streets. Apparently they’re also opening up shop on Yonge street in Toronto some time this year. I am usually skeptical about a chain of anything, especially those that focus entirely on areas tourists frequent. It seems like a reasonable stigma, since all too often I’ve found that these places tend to be catering to convenience over quality. However, Les 3 Brasseurs is different — it’s kind of cool — and not in the feeling less hip unless you’re a hipster sort of way.

Les 3 Brasseurs…