Guides & Stories

Guides to Canadian ginseng and dried goods, and stories from our shop in Montreal's Chinatown.

Carmen listening during an interview inside Fosetter, seated by a globe and shelves of dried goods.
Community

Twenty Hours in the ER, and Carmen's Plan for Seniors

Carmen waited twenty hours alone in the emergency room. 'If it were an elderly person...' Now she hopes to help organise volunteers to go with seniors.

Our StoryCarmen smiling during an interview at a small table inside Fosetter, with shelves of ginseng and dried goods around her.

During COVID, Carmen Kept Serving

When other restaurants stepped back, Carmen kept serving. 'They have a gap. We don't.' Her story of the pandemic years in Montreal's Chinatown.

Our StoryCarmen in her brown shop polo beside a tin of Xinhui chenpi at the Fosetter counter, shelves of dried goods behind her.

Five-Dollar Tea and Fair Prices: How Fosetter Thinks About Value

Carmen never presses her suppliers on price and sells a five-dollar tea made with expensive chenpi. To her, that is what value for money really means.

Buying GuidesDried wild cordyceps, golden bodies with dark stalks, spread in a red tray on the Fosetter counter.

How to Choose Cordyceps: Carmen's Tips from the Counter

Expensive should not mean complicated. Carmen shows how she picks cordyceps, why thicker pieces are worth more, and how two a day in a thermos is all it takes.

Buying GuidesClose-up of aged Xinhui tangerine peels with their speckled inner side, in a red box at Fosetter.

Xinhui Chenpi: How Carmen Tells Aged Tangerine Peel Apart

Different quality is not the same as fake. Carmen opens the boxes at the counter and shows four things to check when you buy Xinhui chenpi.

Buying GuidesA small glass vial of deep red Iranian saffron threads held up in a gift box at the Fosetter counter.

Iranian Saffron at Fosetter: Grades, Customs and a Three-Thread Cup

Carmen sells only the top Negin grade of Iranian saffron. Here is how she tells grades apart, what it took to bring it to Montreal, and how little you need per cup.