Italians are the largest minority in Montreal, though their version of Little Italy is smaller than a postage stamp. It takes up just a few square blocks east of the Jean Talon market. We strolled it, peeking into the cafes and stores. When I spent a year traveling to Toronto in my Price Waterhouse days, I became enamored of a quintessentially Italian soda called Chinotto. It's made from the citrus fruit of the "myrtle leaved orange tree" that grows in Malta, Liguria, Tuscany, Sicily and Calabria. I was really shocked that my Italian paisano Geppie hadn't ever tried it so I set out to rectify the situation.
Everything would have worked out well except a certain Singaporean put out negative energy. "Geppie!! Be careful, that stuff tastes like cough medicine, you're gonna HATE it." Sure enough, the impressionable Italian American became unhinged. After the fist sip, he smiled. A smile that says "that damned idiot tricked me again." I sipped mine slowly, savoring every drop.
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