10 Quintessentially Canadian Foods

[nayr69sg]

Montreal style bagels​

A true Canadian traditional food a Montreal bagel. Yes, there is a difference between New York bagels and Montreal Bagels. Montreal’s are boiled in water with honey and are a little sweeter than NY style. The biggest difference though is that Montreal’s are cooked in wood-fired ovens giving them a much deeper, richer crunchier crust. Heaven with some BC smoked salmon and a schmear.

 

[nayr69sg]

Caesar Cocktail (not a bloody Mary)​

The Caesar – Canada’s national cocktail was invented in 1969 by restaurant manager Walter Chell of the Calgary Inn (today the Westin Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Containing vodka, tomato juice and clam juice, a shot of Tabasco hot sauce and another shot of Worcestershire sauce, the drink is served over ice in a salt-rimmed and celery garnished glass. A favourite of Canadians across the country.

 

[nayr69sg]

Saskatoon Berries – pie and jams​

Only found out in the Saskatchewan prairies the Saskatoon berry gave Saskatoon Saskatchewan its name. The name comes from a Cree word misâskwatômina. A favourite of Canada’s indigenous peoples who taught the white guys how to survive in the brutal winters the berry is used as a flavour and preservative for pemmican a dried meat snack. These days the sweet nutty berries are used in pies, jams, wine, cider beer and are being grown as a speciality product for cereals and trail mixes.



©Elsie HuiCroppingCC BY 2.0

 

[nayr69sg]

Timbits and a Double Double​

Tim Horton’s are on virtually every corner in every town and village across Canada. One of the first coffee shops that opened in Canada by a former Hockey Player (Tim Horton) the menu of chains like Tim Hortons have become a Canadian addiction.

A Double-Double is two creams and two sugars and timbits are the doughnut holes which are available in boxes of 10, the ’20s and upwards. The great office wakeup needs its Tims and Timbits.

 

[nayr69sg]

A London Fog​

Made up of Earl Grey tea, milk and vanilla syrup, this steamy concoction originated in Vancouver and can be found across Canada. It is essentially a tea latte but according to my sources, it is a fabulous soothing drink. You can find a great recipe on Life with Dee.

 

[nayr69sg]

Great Lakes Perch​

In the summer months, the Great Lakes yellow perch can be found on menus up and down Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Restaurants serve the perch lightly fried and usually with a great plate of fries. It’s a hardy little fish with white flesh when Cooked, the lean meat is white, with a mild, sweet flavour and firm but flaky texture.

 

[nayr69sg]

Canadian Peameal Bacon​

In Canada, Peameal bacon is made from pork loin and if it is “cured” it’s usually in a basic brine of salt and sugar. The loin is then rolled in ground yellow peas or sometimes cornmeal. It is sweet, juicy and makes a brilliant bacon sarnie.


©Ross Bruniges C.C.

 

[nayr69sg]

Flipper Pie​

A pretty controversial but traditional Canadian dish made dominantly on the east coast of Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador. Chefs like Anthony Bourdain have said that it is sustainable and a healthy source of protein but others vehemently disagree. It’s made with the flippers of harp seals hunted for meat every spring. It takes someone who grew up with this to enjoy it and they say it’s like a dark meat game pie. It’s cooked in a thick sauce with vegetables and has a crust top and bottom.

 

[nayr69sg]

Flipper Pie​

A pretty controversial but traditional Canadian dish made dominantly on the east coast of Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador. Chefs like Anthony Bourdain have said that it is sustainable and a healthy source of protein but others vehemently disagree. It’s made with the flippers of harp seals hunted for meat every spring. It takes someone who grew up with this to enjoy it and they say it’s like a dark meat game pie. It’s cooked in a thick sauce with vegetables and has a crust top and bottom.

 

[nayr69sg]

Pudding Chomeur​

Another Quebecois favourite it is believed this was created by French factory workers during the depression. Pouding chômeur means unemployed man pudding is essentially a cake that has hot maple sugar syrup poured over it. When the cake bakes the sugar syrup settles on the bottom creating a sauce. during the Depression, the “cake” was usually leftover stale bread.


©By Geneviève Desroches

 

[nayr69sg]

Ice Wine​

The happy result of wine grapes freezing in the brutal Ontario winter in 1984 when the grapes froze on the vine. In 1991 the Canadian Ice Wine won an international wine trophy and history was made. By the early 2000s, Canada was established as the largest producer of ice wine in the world

 

[nayr69sg]

Steamies​

A Montreal favourite a steamed hot dog in a soft bun served with the traditional toppings of mustard, chopped onion, and fresh coleslaw or plain chopped cabbage NOT sauerkraut. It never includes ketchup and no relish.

 

[nayr69sg]

Hodge Podge​

From Nova Scotia, this dish is a stew or soup containing fresh vegetables such as small baby potatoes or new potatoes, fresh peas, green beans and wax beans as well as carrots. These vegetables are cooked in a milk broth that contains butter, pepper and salt. Commonly, this dish is accompanied by corned beef from a can.

 

[nayr69sg]

Ployes​

A sort of version of a blintz A ploye is a pancake type mix of buckwheat flour, wheat flour, baking powder and water which is extremely popular in New Brunswick. Served with maple syrup or often with Chicken Frico pie it has the appearance of a crepe rather than a thick pancake.

© Dan4th Nicholas C.C.

 

[nayr69sg]

Chicken Fricot​

Originating in the maritime provinces from the French folks who became Acadians a fricot pie is simply a meat stew. Slow-cooked with potatoes, onions seasonal vegetables and served with dumplings instead of pastry. Usually, it used an older chicken that had stopped laying and takes a while to tenderize the meat so slow cooking was required.

 

[nayr69sg]

Lunenburg Pudding​

Not a desert as you may think but a meat sausage. From Nova Scotia its made with pork, beef, onions and mixed spices with summer savoury being the dominant flavour. Served at breakfast and other meals much like the English or Irish Black pudding or the Scottish White pudding this is a perennial east coast favourite.


©Ross Farms

 

[nayr69sg]

Rappie Pie​

Rappie pie is very common in southwest Nova Scotia and areas of PEI. It is thought that the name comes from “patates râpées” which is grated potatoes. The potatoes are grated then strained of liquid and then cooked again with a meat broth, onions and this potato layer is then layered with chicken, beef or clams resulting in Rappie Pie.

Rappie pie – traditional meal from southwest Nova Scotia or Acadia.

 

[nayr69sg]

Blueberry Grunt​

Grunts are a Canadian East Coast type of fruit cobbler, typically cooked on the stovetop, or in an iron skillet or pan, with the dough on top in the shape of dumplings. Supposedly the dumplings make a grunting noise when cooking but I must admit I’ve never heard it although I do love a Blueberry Grunt.

A lot of this traditional Canadian food come from Newfoundland or “the Rock” as we call it and you can’t go wrong with the best food blogger in Canada for excellent recipes – Rock Recipes is the site you want to check out.

 

[nayr69sg]

Blueberry Duff​

A boiled pudding that is multi-dimensional both sweet and savoury – well sort of. Blueberry duff is made with a cake type of batter poured in cheesecloth or a cotton bag. The bag is tied at the top and the resulting bag is dropped into a Jiggs dinner pot. The end result is a rather pale unappetizing “pudding” of sorts that is served either with your Jiggs dinner as a side dish or sliced and served with rum sauce for tea and afters.

 

[glockman]

@nayr69sg Ok so it appears there is more to Canadian cuisine other than moose and maple syrup!