Olympic Countdown... It's really soon, so what is Canadian Food? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Leto · 02-10-2010, 07:04 AM

Noticed this in the Vancouver paper today. Made me think that with the focus of the world coming to bear on us in a the next few weeks, some folks may want to know, just what is Canadian food?

As this blog states, there is no definitive answer beyond the cliches. I grew up in a culturally melded family (German/British) so was exposed to such exotice combinations as red cabbage, beef stews, spetzle, roasts, yorkshire puddings and even green jello.

Everybody has heard of the comfort food called shepherd's pie? Well, the French translation here in Canada is 'pate chinoise' (Chinese spread or mash) because of the fact that when the railroad was being constructed across Canada in the late 1800's, early 1900's as well as all the logging camps had Chinese men doing the cooking. they often created a shepherd's pie as an easy way to combine leftovers and potatoes (which were in abundance) to feed the hungry workers. thus branding the dish as such.

Just what is Canadian food? - The Green Man

Just what is Canadian food?
By Randy Shore 7 Feb 2010 COMMENTS(29) The Green Man
Filed under: agriculture, Vancouver, recipes, Canadian food, farmer's market
The food writer from The Toledo Blade called the other day and said people in Ohio want to know what Canadian food is so they can have a little Olympic dinner party and eat authentic Canadian cuisine. So he asks: What is Canadian food? Beer, maple syrup and bacon?

Yes, I thought. That's pretty close, eh. Throw in a pancake and most of us would be quite happy at least until lunch time. But really there's more to it than that. Looking back I would say that Canadian food has suffered from proximity to the post-war American prepared food conglomerates that demanded all soup be canned, all vegetables frozen and shipped by truck and all dinners heated up in aluminum trays (with two square inches of apple cobbler for dessert).

We have all suffered through many sauces that are really Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. A shocking number of my wife's childhood memories are of eating such food. I am permanently scarred by my mother's use of lime Jell-O to make jiggly salad. LISTEN UP PEOPLE: Recipes on Jell-O packs and soup cans are to be regarded with deep suspicion. These corporations don't want you to know how to make a proper gravy. They don't want you to cook at all.

This dependence on prepared food is why an increasing number of Canadians and easily half of Americans waddle rather than walk. Remember running, jumping and general frolicking? Check the mirror and assign blame.

Let us assume moving forward that Canadian food should be made from scratch by Canadians. (That's you.) So what is it?

We have a few unique ingredients. Fiddlehead ferns grow in the Maritimes and are fed to exchange students as a hazing ritual. Maple syrup tastes good alright, but it's hardly a main course. Canadian bacon is only called Canadian in the United States. In the U.K. they would call it Irish bacon. We don't really own the rights to back bacon, as we Canadians call it. Plus how many of you know why it is rolled in pea meal? I don't and it is disgusting and soggy.

I told the foodie from Ohio that our cuisine is defined by fusion. Local ingredients made by hands from other lands. (Before you rear up on your hind legs and start barking about foreigners, think about where your grandparents came from.) Foreign influence is what shapes our cuisine with the possible exception of smoked chum and bannock.

Trouble is that Vancouver is a young city. New Orleans is a little older and its status as a port city and the final destination for all manner of refugees (including some from Canada) make it very similar to Vancouver. But they have created a unique cuisine and guard it fiercely. We just need another hundred years to grow up and become more distinct in our preferences.

As we incorporate influences from India and China and all the little places that deliver new citizens to our doorstep, something new will arise. Your Scottish grandparents wouldn't have had much use for soy sauce, ginger or shrimp paste. They might have considered curry gravy exotic, but you probably don't. Vancouver's chefs incorporate Asian ingredients into classic Euro cuisine. Vij's incorporates classic french technique into Indian cuisine. If we as home cooks take our cue from them, eventually we are all going to meet in the middle.

If a true Vancouver cuisine is to develop we have to actually care about what we eat, really pay attention to what we grow and demand something better that head lettuce from Mexico. Who the hell even eats that? Our garden markets are full of sui choi, leeks, local apples, all manner of leafy greens and root vegetables and even B.C. grown young ginger. Buy this stuff, ask for it when you don't see it and create a market for produce from OUR soil. The more you buy and ask, the more you will get. The market will respond.

Care about your ingredients and do something daring. Sometimes it's magic.

As a teen I worked at Boston Pizza in Campbell River. One of our dishwashers was a middle-aged woman from India, very nice, but didn't speak much English. The owner gave her a fresh salmon one day; certainly a fish she had never worked with before. The next day she brought in a heaping plate of pakoras, deep-fried dumplings made with chick pea flour, spices and that salmon. It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted and even now I have a hard time recalling a dish that had a bigger impact on my life.

That's Canadian food.

Tell me what Canadian food is to you and I'll put your best comments in the paper. Hit the comments button. It's right there.

If you feel like eating real Canadian food in the interim Darcy's Donkey-Kickin Mac and Cheese is a good place to start.

The toledo blade:

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...RT06/100209741

and excerpt:

everybody has had a Nanaimo bar right? If not, Nanaimo is a town on Vancouver Island and these bars named for that town are public enemy #1 for any dieter. But oh so good:

Sweet treat

There is no other choice for a western Canadian dessert than Nanaimo bars, addictive, super sweet, buttery concoctions that are the perfect complement to a strong cup of coffee.

Mr. Shore said they’re served all over the area, often on the ferries that transport people from the mainland to Vancouver Island. "It’s so totally British Columbia. It’s in any coffee shop, and any of the ferries of which there are dozens running up the coast," he said.

According to the city of Nanaimo’s Web site, the original bars were created by a local woman who entered a baking contest and won with what she dubbed as "Nanaimo Bars."

Other variations exist with different names, including more Americanized versions, but we tried the recipe on the Nanaimo Web site and don’t see any way it can be improved upon.

snowy · 02-10-2010, 10:40 AM

What is Canadian food?

Well, a good long walk around Granville Island's market in Vancouver will give you a pretty good idea of what Canadian food is--a fresh melting pot of cuisines from everywhere made with what's local.

Vancouver is one of my favorite towns to eat in. For breakfast, I like Cafe Crepe: Cafe Crepe (Robson & Burrard) | Vancouver At this location, watching the guy in the window making the crepes is great fun, while you wait for your crepe. Vancouver is the first place I ever ate at a creperie, and so I will always associate a good crepe with Vancouver.

My other favorite Vancouver food: sushi. Sushi is abundant here, delicious, and sometimes even reasonably priced. We found a hole-in-the-wall place some years ago that I could only find again were I in Vancouver. We each paid $30 Canadian for unlimited sushi. It wasn't the kind of place with the boats or a conveyor belt; it was nicer than that. Rather, we were given a menu, and we could order whatever we wanted. In addition to sushi, there was an excellent selection of authentic Japanese food. I want to find this place again and go back; it was worth the dough to just eat Japanese food all night. And while the food may be Japanese in style, but I can guarantee all the seafood came from the area, which is very Vancouver.

Beyond the high-falutin' cuisine mentioned in the article:

Fresh squeezed orange juice! This may sound strange, but the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver has the best damn orange juice ever.

Additionally, I think anyone visiting the area for the Games has to go here: White Spot Their milkshakes are the best.

And finally, the article neglected to mention the classic Canadian cocktail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_(cocktail)

Of course...my absolute favourite Canadian food:

Leto · 02-10-2010, 12:08 PM

you have try the Petit Chateau for crepes & fondues:

album photo

it is attached to the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. ( http://www.travel-travel-travel.com/...FRONTENAC4.jpg )

Charlatan · 02-10-2010, 04:42 PM

It's funny, given my current job, and being Canadian, I get asked this all the time.

The answer is Canada's national cuisine reflects the nature of Canada's cultural make up. It is a nation founded upon three original partners (the French, the English and the Native populations) which has since been added to with wave upon wave of newly landed immigrants. Canada's cuisine reflects the mosaic that is Canadian culture.

Think about the amazing tortieres, poutine and pea soups that come from Quebec. The perogies, Ukrainian sausages and Saskatoonberry Pies that come out of the West. The Jigg's Dinner, Fish and Brewis and Fried Cod Tongues out of the Maritimes. Think also of the cuisines of the world - Thai, the many types of Indian, Caribbean, African, Portuguese, the myriad Chinese, etc. All represented as the various immigrant communities arrived and infused their traditions into the grand Canadian narrative (hoo, that sounded a bit pompous).

Sure there are few made in Canada things: Butter Tarts, Nanaimo Bars, Poutine, etc. but for me, it's all about the mish-mash of cultures and variety.

World's King · 02-10-2010, 07:50 PM

Maple syrup.

Glory's Sun · 02-11-2010, 09:14 AM

Based on the fact they can't even get bacon right, I'm just going to avoid any type of food that has Canadian in the title.

Baraka_Guru · 02-11-2010, 09:15 AM

Canadian food is what you want it to be. That's how awesome we are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guccilvr

Based on the fact they can't even get bacon right, I'm just going to avoid any type of food that has Canadian in the title.

I'm sorry you don't like meat.

Personally, I like sliced pork loin, but what ever.

MexicanOnABike · 02-11-2010, 04:30 PM

Poutine. Shepherd's pie. a ton of other foods that only exist in canada that I thought came from somewhere else. Like chips, candies, etc...

Charlatan · 02-11-2010, 05:19 PM

Mexican... Shepherd's Pie is not a Canadian invention. It's English pie that is made of minced meat topped with potato.

When it's made with minced lamb, it's called Shepherd's Pie. When it's made with minced beef, it's called Cottage Pie.

In Quebec they call a similar dish, Pâté chinois (Chinese Pie). Put I can tell you that there isn't anything in Chinese cuisine that comes close (not a lot of baking in Chinese cuisine).

fresnelly · 02-11-2010, 06:32 PM

We're still working on it. I think over the next few generations, if immigrant influences continue to become ingrained and we embrace our local ingredients I think we'll truly begin to nail it down.

In the mean time, pass the tortiere!

02-10-2010, 07:04 AM	#1 (permalink)
Leto Junkie Location: The Danforth	Olympic Countdown... It's really soon, so what is Canadian Food? Noticed this in the Vancouver paper today. Made me think that with the focus of the world coming to bear on us in a the next few weeks, some folks may want to know, just what is Canadian food? As this blog states, there is no definitive answer beyond the cliches. I grew up in a culturally melded family (German/British) so was exposed to such exotice combinations as red cabbage, beef stews, spetzle, roasts, yorkshire puddings and even green jello. Everybody has heard of the comfort food called shepherd's pie? Well, the French translation here in Canada is 'pate chinoise' (Chinese spread or mash) because of the fact that when the railroad was being constructed across Canada in the late 1800's, early 1900's as well as all the logging camps had Chinese men doing the cooking. they often created a shepherd's pie as an easy way to combine leftovers and potatoes (which were in abundance) to feed the hungry workers. thus branding the dish as such. Just what is Canadian food? - The Green Man Just what is Canadian food? By Randy Shore 7 Feb 2010 COMMENTS(29) The Green Man Filed under: agriculture, Vancouver, recipes, Canadian food, farmer's market The food writer from The Toledo Blade called the other day and said people in Ohio want to know what Canadian food is so they can have a little Olympic dinner party and eat authentic Canadian cuisine. So he asks: What is Canadian food? Beer, maple syrup and bacon? Yes, I thought. That's pretty close, eh. Throw in a pancake and most of us would be quite happy at least until lunch time. But really there's more to it than that. Looking back I would say that Canadian food has suffered from proximity to the post-war American prepared food conglomerates that demanded all soup be canned, all vegetables frozen and shipped by truck and all dinners heated up in aluminum trays (with two square inches of apple cobbler for dessert). We have all suffered through many sauces that are really Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. A shocking number of my wife's childhood memories are of eating such food. I am permanently scarred by my mother's use of lime Jell-O to make jiggly salad. LISTEN UP PEOPLE: Recipes on Jell-O packs and soup cans are to be regarded with deep suspicion. These corporations don't want you to know how to make a proper gravy. They don't want you to cook at all. This dependence on prepared food is why an increasing number of Canadians and easily half of Americans waddle rather than walk. Remember running, jumping and general frolicking? Check the mirror and assign blame. Let us assume moving forward that Canadian food should be made from scratch by Canadians. (That's you.) So what is it? We have a few unique ingredients. Fiddlehead ferns grow in the Maritimes and are fed to exchange students as a hazing ritual. Maple syrup tastes good alright, but it's hardly a main course. Canadian bacon is only called Canadian in the United States. In the U.K. they would call it Irish bacon. We don't really own the rights to back bacon, as we Canadians call it. Plus how many of you know why it is rolled in pea meal? I don't and it is disgusting and soggy. I told the foodie from Ohio that our cuisine is defined by fusion. Local ingredients made by hands from other lands. (Before you rear up on your hind legs and start barking about foreigners, think about where your grandparents came from.) Foreign influence is what shapes our cuisine with the possible exception of smoked chum and bannock. Trouble is that Vancouver is a young city. New Orleans is a little older and its status as a port city and the final destination for all manner of refugees (including some from Canada) make it very similar to Vancouver. But they have created a unique cuisine and guard it fiercely. We just need another hundred years to grow up and become more distinct in our preferences. As we incorporate influences from India and China and all the little places that deliver new citizens to our doorstep, something new will arise. Your Scottish grandparents wouldn't have had much use for soy sauce, ginger or shrimp paste. They might have considered curry gravy exotic, but you probably don't. Vancouver's chefs incorporate Asian ingredients into classic Euro cuisine. Vij's incorporates classic french technique into Indian cuisine. If we as home cooks take our cue from them, eventually we are all going to meet in the middle. If a true Vancouver cuisine is to develop we have to actually care about what we eat, really pay attention to what we grow and demand something better that head lettuce from Mexico. Who the hell even eats that? Our garden markets are full of sui choi, leeks, local apples, all manner of leafy greens and root vegetables and even B.C. grown young ginger. Buy this stuff, ask for it when you don't see it and create a market for produce from OUR soil. The more you buy and ask, the more you will get. The market will respond. Care about your ingredients and do something daring. Sometimes it's magic. As a teen I worked at Boston Pizza in Campbell River. One of our dishwashers was a middle-aged woman from India, very nice, but didn't speak much English. The owner gave her a fresh salmon one day; certainly a fish she had never worked with before. The next day she brought in a heaping plate of pakoras, deep-fried dumplings made with chick pea flour, spices and that salmon. It was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted and even now I have a hard time recalling a dish that had a bigger impact on my life. That's Canadian food. Tell me what Canadian food is to you and I'll put your best comments in the paper. Hit the comments button. It's right there. If you feel like eating real Canadian food in the interim Darcy's Donkey-Kickin Mac and Cheese is a good place to start. The toledo blade: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...RT06/100209741 and excerpt: everybody has had a Nanaimo bar right? If not, Nanaimo is a town on Vancouver Island and these bars named for that town are public enemy #1 for any dieter. But oh so good: Sweet treat There is no other choice for a western Canadian dessert than Nanaimo bars, addictive, super sweet, buttery concoctions that are the perfect complement to a strong cup of coffee. Mr. Shore said they’re served all over the area, often on the ferries that transport people from the mainland to Vancouver Island. "It’s so totally British Columbia. It’s in any coffee shop, and any of the ferries of which there are dozens running up the coast," he said. According to the city of Nanaimo’s Web site, the original bars were created by a local woman who entered a baking contest and won with what she dubbed as "Nanaimo Bars." Other variations exist with different names, including more Americanized versions, but we tried the recipe on the Nanaimo Web site and don’t see any way it can be improved upon. __________________ You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey And I never saw someone say that before You held my hand and we walked home the long way You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I Last edited by Leto; 02-10-2010 at 07:09 AM..

02-10-2010, 10:40 AM	#2 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	What is Canadian food? Well, a good long walk around Granville Island's market in Vancouver will give you a pretty good idea of what Canadian food is--a fresh melting pot of cuisines from everywhere made with what's local. Vancouver is one of my favorite towns to eat in. For breakfast, I like Cafe Crepe: Cafe Crepe (Robson & Burrard) \| Vancouver At this location, watching the guy in the window making the crepes is great fun, while you wait for your crepe. Vancouver is the first place I ever ate at a creperie, and so I will always associate a good crepe with Vancouver. My other favorite Vancouver food: sushi. Sushi is abundant here, delicious, and sometimes even reasonably priced. We found a hole-in-the-wall place some years ago that I could only find again were I in Vancouver. We each paid $30 Canadian for unlimited sushi. It wasn't the kind of place with the boats or a conveyor belt; it was nicer than that. Rather, we were given a menu, and we could order whatever we wanted. In addition to sushi, there was an excellent selection of authentic Japanese food. I want to find this place again and go back; it was worth the dough to just eat Japanese food all night. And while the food may be Japanese in style, but I can guarantee all the seafood came from the area, which is very Vancouver. Beyond the high-falutin' cuisine mentioned in the article: Fresh squeezed orange juice! This may sound strange, but the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver has the best damn orange juice ever. Additionally, I think anyone visiting the area for the Games has to go here: White Spot Their milkshakes are the best. And finally, the article neglected to mention the classic Canadian cocktail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_(cocktail) Of course...my absolute favourite Canadian food: __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

02-10-2010, 12:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
Leto Junkie Location: The Danforth	you have try the Petit Chateau for crepes & fondues: album photo it is attached to the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City. ( http://www.travel-travel-travel.com/...FRONTENAC4.jpg ) __________________ You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey And I never saw someone say that before You held my hand and we walked home the long way You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr http://dune.wikia.com/wiki/Leto_Atreides_I

02-10-2010, 04:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	It's funny, given my current job, and being Canadian, I get asked this all the time. The answer is Canada's national cuisine reflects the nature of Canada's cultural make up. It is a nation founded upon three original partners (the French, the English and the Native populations) which has since been added to with wave upon wave of newly landed immigrants. Canada's cuisine reflects the mosaic that is Canadian culture. Think about the amazing tortieres, poutine and pea soups that come from Quebec. The perogies, Ukrainian sausages and Saskatoonberry Pies that come out of the West. The Jigg's Dinner, Fish and Brewis and Fried Cod Tongues out of the Maritimes. Think also of the cuisines of the world - Thai, the many types of Indian, Caribbean, African, Portuguese, the myriad Chinese, etc. All represented as the various immigrant communities arrived and infused their traditions into the grand Canadian narrative (hoo, that sounded a bit pompous). Sure there are few made in Canada things: Butter Tarts, Nanaimo Bars, Poutine, etc. but for me, it's all about the mish-mash of cultures and variety. __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

02-10-2010, 07:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	Maple syrup. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

02-11-2010, 09:14 AM	#6 (permalink)
Glory's Sun Registered User	Based on the fact they can't even get bacon right, I'm just going to avoid any type of food that has Canadian in the title.

02-11-2010, 04:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
MexicanOnABike Location: up north	Poutine. Shepherd's pie. a ton of other foods that only exist in canada that I thought came from somewhere else. Like chips, candies, etc... __________________ - Movie Reviews - Ratings-

02-11-2010, 05:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	Mexican... Shepherd's Pie is not a Canadian invention. It's English pie that is made of minced meat topped with potato. When it's made with minced lamb, it's called Shepherd's Pie. When it's made with minced beef, it's called Cottage Pie. In Quebec they call a similar dish, Pâté chinois (Chinese Pie). Put I can tell you that there isn't anything in Chinese cuisine that comes close (not a lot of baking in Chinese cuisine). __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

02-11-2010, 06:32 PM	#10 (permalink)
fresnelly Functionally Appropriate Location: Toronto	We're still working on it. I think over the next few generations, if immigrant influences continue to become ingrained and we embrace our local ingredients I think we'll truly begin to nail it down. In the mean time, pass the tortiere! __________________ Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life