Binary Sausages from Binary Mont-Royal for the holidays

In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels a lot, his desk in his backpack, looking for fascinating things and people. He talks to everyone and is interested in all aspects of this town's history.

A famous sausage maker decided to “sausage” something that had never been “sausage” before: the famous baked beans from Binnery Mont-Royal, one of the last restaurants in Montreal to offer a typically French dish. -Canadian menu from the 1930s-1940s.

My soles remind me of a thin dough as Jocelyn, owner of La Binary in Saint-Denis, climbs the stairs with ingredients for her tourtieres and pâtés, which she has been producing continuously for several weeks.

For more than 90 years, La Binary has been serving small breakfast sausages as well as bains.

For the first time in its history, artisanal sausages will be produced with the restaurant's common bains, which inspired Yves Beauchemin's novel. The Tomcat.

They are sold throughout Quebec by a company called Ils en fument du bon.

With his mechanical stuffer and three kilos of sliced ​​pork shoulder, Sausage Factory founder Felipe Saint-Laurent, the sausage maker, arrives at La Binary to create his recipe with the owners.

“I wanted to make a sausage that conveys a la binary flavor, and the most recognizable thing about this restaurant is its baked beans. That's how it got its name!” Mr. Saint-Laurent explains.

Not candy

How to describe binaries of law binary?

They do without the syrup and are good on their own.

Each batch takes nine hours to cook (and owner Philippe starts them at 3am).

They are slightly salty and firm.

We steer clear of ultra-friable and almost liquid canned beans or maple baked beans that feel like sweets.

“My father said, 'I want to eat beans, not candy,'” said Philip.

Maple syrup, in the initial plan, was intended to sweeten the sausage. It was like a “sugar shack” masking the taste.

Because of the relative firmness of binary-style baked beans, they remain intact when a sausage maker mixes them with his ground pork shoulder.

Although we wait until La Binary closes to operate this culinary laboratory, there is often someone knocking on the window asking to buy something.

When they spot a regular, the owners open the doors and sell them pates or bines.

“We close the restaurant mid-afternoon on Wednesdays because that allows us to focus on production,” explains Jocelyn.

Comfort gluttony

It's great to see their flagship product combined with sausage medium, Philippe and Jocelne playfully twisting portions of the pork casing to respect the 124g format, but she makes them too big and he too small.

Phillip Brunet and Jocelyn Gingras try rolling sausages… he's too small, they're too big.

Louis-Philippe Messier

Right out of the oven, it's time to taste. My professional demeanor is letting me down. I ended up eating the equivalent of probably four whole sausages. I found the flavor of the beans there, but more comforting, because it was embedded in the tender, satisfying meat.

First IFB/Binary Mont-Royal Sausages.

Louis-Philippe Messier

“I envisioned sweeter bains and planned the salt accordingly, but since we didn't add any syrup, I'd say it was a little too salty!” Judge Mr. Saint-Laurent… left La Binary ordering less than 60 kilos of roasted beans for the day after tomorrow.

He expects his binary sausages to arrive at his Ils en fument du bon stores on Wednesday, December 27.

“It's a holiday special, but if it's very successful, we may consider a more general collaboration.”

Louis-Philippe Messier