A lemon meringue pie from Montreal’s La Marguerite & Co. was awarded a “Best New Product” prize at the 30th annual Kosherfest in Secaucus, N.J., earlier this month.

La Marguerite, which was founded in 1988, was making its debut at this major showcase for kosher food products, introducing an international audience to its line of gourmet desserts.

The pie, which bears certification from Montreal’s MK and New York’s OU, was lauded for “setting the standard of excellence in recreating authentic pareve kosher French pastries.”

In addition, the products are yoshon and pas Yisra’el, characteristics of grain that meet the expectations of the strictest observance.

The standouts in the line include pastel-coloured macarons and five varieties of cake. The judges were also impressed by the flash-freezing technology used by La Marguerite, which keeps the delicacies in top condition for up to six months.

Owner Gaby Chetrit said the products will be available in stores across Canada and the United States early next year. La Marguerite is both a caterer of all types of food and has a takeout counter where its pastries and cakes can be bought directly by the public.

“We are eager to start distributing the cakes throughout North America, so that former clients living abroad can finally reconnect with us and new clients can discover us one delicacy at a time,” said Chetrit.

The secret, he said, is using only the finest ingredients and employing professional pastry makers.

He noted that La Marguerite is “the younger sister” of El Morocco, the kosher restaurant on Drummond Street in downtown Montreal that was in business for over 20 years and was owned by the Chetrit family.

Kosherfest is described by its organizers as the world’s largest kosher-certified products trade show. There were more than 6,000 industry representatives and 325 exhibitors at this year’s two-day event.