Guides & Stories

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

Carmen seated at a table inside Fosetter, with shelves of ginseng and dried goods behind her.
Our Story

Everyone Here Was Brought In by Someone

The number on our door is one staff member's birthday, and Carmen owes her start in American ginseng to a supplier who taught her to check the goods.

Shop LifeCarmen smiling outside Fosetter beside the shop's anniversary sign and tea egg poster.

A New Theme Every Anniversary

Every October 25 is Fosetter's anniversary, and every year the shop puts up a new theme. Carmen walks through them, and what's planned next.

Buying GuidesA Fosetter team member preparing drinks at the tea bar inside the shop.

How to Taste Whether Lotus Root Starch Is Pure

Several handmade lotus root starches, one tasting, and only one without a strange taste. Here is how to compare them yourself, and how to make a bowl.

Shop LifeFosetter's Chinese tea egg poster and anniversary sign outside the shop on De La Gauchetière Street.

I'd Love to Sell Them That Expensive. Don't Worry, I Won't.

Tea eggs in the US sell for fifteen dollars each, Carmen heard. She'd love to sell hers that expensive. She won't. Here's what goes into them.

Our StoryCarmen talking at a table inside Fosetter, with ginseng packages and a globe on the shelves beside her.

2001, a Two-Dollar Card, and What I Learned from My Mother

I came over in 2001, and it cost two dollars to open a card at the Chinese service centre. Carmen on her first days in Montreal and what she learned from her mother.

CommunityCarmen smiles in an office at the Chinese Hospital of Montreal on October 11, 2026.

Carmen and the Chinese Hospital, Since 2008

I volunteered there in 2008. In the blink of an eye, it's been more than ten years. This year Carmen went to the hospital's Thanksgiving celebration herself.