Saturdays serve up a samosa ritual and rivalry in Fredericton

A pair of food stands at a farmer’s market are serving up delicious competition in Fredericton. Sarah Plowman reports.

Every Saturday, people flock to the Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market. With bags in tow, they’re on a mission to buy, get a bite or both.

Lines are common, but two food stands standout – the samosas.

The fried South Asian pastries are a Saturday ritual for many Frederictonians.

Hot lamb. Chicken. Veggie. Everyone has their favourite flavour, that come with a variety of dipping sauces.

The weekend begins with a promise that if you wait, you’ll be rewarded with a bag of these crispy snacks.

But so many who crave them expect a wait, even if the Farmers Market has two different businesses selling samosas side by side.

Yummy Samosas is on the left. Samosa Delite is on the right.

Rick Patterson has been lining up for samosas for more than thirty years.

“What amazes me is some days this is a long line, some days that one short. Another day, that one’s long. This one’s short,” he said.

CTV News asked customers for their strategy.

“Just wait in line. Just wait your turn,” said Ingrid Bernard.

Jessie Yerxa described samosas as a multi-generational phenomenon in Fredericton.

“It’s a breakfast, a lunch and a supper,” she said.

Yerxa has been lining up since she was a pre-teen and called her family a “20-minute” family.

“We’ll monitor the line. So, if it looks like it’s under 20 minutes, then we slide in,” she said.

The quest for the best

Some people like Rachel Haines, swear Samosa Delite is best. It’s the older stand and the company has been in business for 35 years.

“I get the hot beef, hot chicken, hot vegetable,” Haines said.

Michael Karnes agrees and usually gets the lamb and the veggie samosas.

But experts’ opinions differ.

Rick Patterson prefers the hot lamb at Yummy Samosas.

“I always go in this line,” he said.

Jessie Yerxa and her family also pick Yummy Samosas.

“We like these better because they’re crispier,” she explains.

In a rare move, Andre Martin chooses both.

He heads to Yummy Samosas for their butter chicken flavour and Samosa Delite for their spring cheese samosas.

“You have to have both,” he said. “If the lineups are too long you make a choice.”

Loyal customers

A quick survey of the lineup reveals a lot of loyalty among customers.

There are mere metres between the businesses, but many have never dared to venture over to try the other.

“This is the only samosa stand I go to. I don’t go to the other one,” said Chelsea McKinley, as she waited for Samosa Delite.

The university student said she’s been coming to this stand since she was a kid.

Jeff Johnston, who is in town from Sussex, has been buying from Samosa Delite for more than 30 years.

“I’ve never tried the other one yet, because I still enjoy those ones. I’m not going to chance it,” he said.

Behind the businesses

Both businesses are run by families who immigrated to Canada and eventually bought the companies from previous owners.

James Bui, the owner of Samosa Delite, came to Canada from Vietnam. When his family moved to Fredericton his mom’s first job was working in the kitchen wrapping samosas, where she grew fond of the company.

“That’s why she wanted to buy the business,” he said. “I keep the recipe from the previous owner. I don’t change it.”

The recipe is key to his success and his neighbour’s success too.

Khaled Alabrahim, the owner of Yummy Samosas, came to Canada from Syria. His family bought the business in 2023. The purchase came with all the recipes, but they’ve since added more.

“It’s just a really delicious samosa. Everybody loves it. And we have so many different varieties. We have 32 varieties,” said Alabrahim said, noting how during the holidays they have cherry, apple and blueberry samosas too.

Yummy Samosas were only sold at the market and a few places around Fredericton before they took over, Alabrahim said. They’ve since expanded to stores and gas stations across New Brunswick and make thousands of samosas each week.

“We make everything from scratch,” he said, adding that every three to four months, a new flavour is introduced. In February, they’ll include barbeque chicken in their menu.

Friendly competition

Despite any rivalry, there’s no trash talk between the business owners.

“I think each person has a different preference,” said Bui. “Some people prefer my samosa; some people prefer their samosa.”

Alabrahim echoed that sentiment.

“It’s two different recipes. And people like their recipes, they like our recipes” said Alabrahim.

As for the owners’ favourites?

Alabrahim loves the butter chicken, buffalo chicken and feta cheese with olives samosas he makes.

Bui’s top pick is his hot beef samosa but notes that the most popular to customers is the mild chicken or mild beef.