My Grandma Irene was a good cook. She rarely used a recipe – only for baking and even then just barely – but some of my favorite childhood meals came from her table. Chicken noodle soup with homemade egg noodles was one of her specialties. After mixing the dough she would roll it out to a rectangle, not too thin, flour the top a bit, and then roll the dough up into a log, making thin slices, but not too thin, that would then be unwound and dropped one by one into the boiling pot. It was one of my favorite things to help grandma by unrolling and dropping the noodles into the pot, amazed that they didn’t stick together, and pleased when I got a good thick noodle on my plate. For some reason she always served this soup on plates.
The only negative thing I can say about Grandma Irene’s cooking is that she didn’t use spices. Like… at all. She used salt and pepper, and sage at Thanksgiving. In fact, I think she bought a new sage every Thanksgiving for her stuffing but never used it in between, nor did she purge her old spices. I’m relatively confident there were vintage sage tins from the 1980s in her cupboard when she died in 2016.
A child of the Depression, salt and pepper (and the occasional sage) was all she needed I suppose, but fortunately for us there is a whole world of flavor out there if one is willing to adventure beyond the basics. The North Shore is full of hidden gems that tickle your taste buds just right. And if you’re lucky enough to make a visit to the Thunder Bay Country Market, you just might get to experience a whole bunch of them in one place.
The Thunder Bay Country Market, 425 Northern Ave., is a sort of indoor farmer’s market where everything is made, baked, or grown within the Thunder Bay community. (Their vendors change a little with the seasons, but you can always find an updated map and directory on their website: thunderbaycountrymarket.com) Open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, patrons are welcome to shop for items to take home, or eat some fresh and local fare right on site.
Finnish: Hoito Restaurant
The Thunder Bay Country Market hosts the current location of the Hoito Restaurant, which has been a local Finnish favorite for more than 100 years. The Hoito experienced a series of hardships and closed its doors in December 2021, but in early 2023 they found their new home at the Market. Hoping to reestablish their own freestanding location, the Finlandia Co-op is supporting the Hoito and contributing to the rebuilding of its presence in the Finnish-Canadian community.
At the Market, you will find the Hoito on the first floor, with seating available for a delicious hot breakfast of Finnish pancakes and coffee. They also offer eggs, bacon, and sausage from local farms, and if you would like a taste of Hoito at home, you can pick up some pancake mix and impress your friends and family with delicious Finnish pancakes at home.
Indian: Swaad – Taste of India
If you are looking for authentic Indian food, you need to look no further than Swaad – Taste of India. Their dishes are carefully curated to represent the rich diversity of tastes found across India. Swaad can be found on the first floor of Thunder Bay Country Market, with both ready to eat and frozen menu items. Their Chicken Curry is a fan favorite, as is their Butter Chicken.
Swaad also maintains a location separate from the Market, where you can eat Monday through Saturday, and even hire their catering services. Swaad prides themselves on bringing the diversity of Indian cuisine to their community with experienced chefs, sustainable practices, and fresh ingredients.
French: Petite Marie French Baking
Petite Marie is home to some of the most beautiful pastries your eyes will ever behold. From a Praline Éclair with perfectly piped filling to a deliciously flaky Pain au Chocolat or an aesthetically balanced Berries Tart, you are sure to find something that catches your eye at this bakery. Found on the second floor of Thunder Bay Country Market, their bakery case is truly a feast for the eyes, as well as the taste buds. You will find a variety of tarts and eclairs, as well as swiss cheese pretzels, croissants, and more.
Ukranian: Lucy Q Perogies
Perogies are among the most perfect starchy comfort food, if you ask me, and Lucy Q is a perogy specialist. Lucy’s perogies are a wonderful juxtaposition of traditional Ukranian recipes and modern takes. Of course you can get a traditional potato & cheese perogy, but Lucy has also developed pizza perogies with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, jalapeno perogies, and recently reintroduced greek perogies. If you contact her ahead of time, you might even be able to score some blueberry cheesecake dessert perogies.
It would be impossible to include everything that the Thunder Bay Country Market has to offer. It is, after all, a market, a hub for all things local; so, in addition to ready-to-eat foods, there are many ingredients and sides to bring home with you. The Market changes with the seasons, and is full of fresh produce in the summertime and harvest in the fall. You will find an assortment of canned goods and preserves, and artisanal breads from local bakers in addition to farm-to-consumer dairy and meat products.
I think you will find the Thunder Bay Country Market a lovely blend of ready-to-eat foods, ingredients to include at your own table, and community that is unrivaled in other spaces, especially indoor spaces that are accessible throughout the long, cold winters. You will also find textiles, jewelry, and art. It is a wonderfully diverse slice of all that Thunder Bay has to offer, and expands the possibilities and your palate to a whole lot more than salt and pepper (with the annual sage).
