As Carol works on more of her fantastic cookbooks, we thought you might like to revisit this popular series on her own blog shared from early 2022… The A-Z of the cuisines of the world.
Welcome to the rerun of my A-Z of World Cuisines…where I will be looking at the countries of the world, their food and national dish or their most popular dish around the world…by this I mean some dishes are eaten in many countries as their fame has spread around the world
Today I am looking at the cuisine of Canada…
Canada occupies most of the northern part of North America. The country is bounded by the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, the North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north.
Canadian food culture is a changing landscape that has been heavily influenced by many different traditions and recipes from around the world. Every regional cuisine in Canada has its own unique take on food, whether it’s the adaptability of Canadian Chinese food or the pervasiveness of Quebecois poutine…over the years of reading food magazines and blogs poutine has been mentioned…something I have not tried but it is said to be Canada’s National Dish…for those of you who don’t know what poutine is it’s a Canadian dish made of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. It first appeared in 1950s rural Québec snack bars and was widely popularized across Canada and beyond in the 1990s.
But what are cheese curds?
Truth? I had to look it up as I wasn’t sure…I was nearly right but not absolutely…Cheese isn’t fresh. In fact, cheese is old/matured…Right? — that’s the point. Cheeses are aged to reach their ideal flavour and texture. But cheese curds should be fresh…they are nothing special just young cheddar cheese that hasn’t been aged…These curds are separated from the whey during the cheesemaking process, and instead of being moulded for a future cheese wheel, they’re sliced up and bagged to be sold right away…That’s it…Cheese Curds!
And if they don’t “Squeak” they ain’t fresh they are cheese, not curds.
Poutine Gravy…ask anyone who is in the know and your answer will be “all poutine sauces are gravy, but not all gravies are poutine sauces.”
And if you normally eat your fries/chips with your fingers…forget it you need a fork or it will get messy…be warned!
Indigenous Cuisine…
Is finally getting the recognition it deserves you will find a wide range of great dishes that focus on locally and ethically sourced ingredients that are used in traditional dishes some with a modern twist…You will find indigenous cuisines all over Canada that reflect the local geography and environment …for example “Obibwa Tacos” use bannock instead of corn tortillas, rubs will be free-range buffalo ribs and all greens will be local and organic.
Nothing at all like a corn taco these are made from Bannock bread or as it’s sometimes known as fried bread then the taco toppings are added it’s like a pizza with extra toppings
Canadian Chinese cuisine…
Canadian Chinese food restaurants can be found in almost every Canadian city, even small towns in very isolated areas of Canada will often have a Chinese restaurant. During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway the thousands of Chinese workers who had been hired found it impossible to acquire traditional ingredients for cooking and as a result, Canadian Chinese cuisine was born and spread all across Canada. Larger cities will often have more regional options such as Szechuan or Taiwanese.
Classic examples of Canadian Chinese cuisine include Canadian lemon chicken, Chinese lemon chicken isn’t an authentic Chinese dish, rather it is a Chinese-takeout classic native to Canada, Canadian ginger beef a westernized version of Szechuan Beef, with the addition of carrots, and a little less spice and egg foo young.
Prairie cuisine…
The cuisine of the Canadian prairies is primarily influenced by Ukrainian, German, and Polish food due to an influx of settlers between 1891 and 1914.
Pierogi is a regional speciality that can be found traditionally and freshly prepared in both restaurants and grocery stores with a large variety of fillings from savoury potato and bacon to blueberry and pressed dried cottage cheese.
Saskatoon berries grow prolifically in the Prairies and are used to produce jams, pies, ciders, beers and wines that are a boon for the tourist industry as well as local cuisine…although they look very much like blueberries they are closely related to the apple family…
High in fibre and antioxidants, they grow in many conditions unlike the blueberry and happily grow at sea level and on mountain peaks. Like their apple cousins, they continue to ripen after they have been picked…
Montreal cuisine…
Montreal is home to one of the oldest Jewish populations in Canada, meaning that its fantastic fare is heavily influenced by Jewish cuisine.
Smoked meats, bagels, and smoked salmon are but some of the wonderful foods to choose from, there is a wealth of Jewish-owned bakeries and restaurants to explore in Montreal…This video shows a few of them and they certainly don’t skimp on the portions…
Maritimes cuisine…
Maritimes cuisine is heavily influenced by Irish, English, and Acadian culture and cuisine and it varies according to province. Seafood is a mainstay of Maritime cooking due to its close proximity to the Atlantic and can be found on almost every menu in the area.
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island produce the largest amount of potatoes each year in Canada and include them in traditional recipes such as hash browns and potato gratin. The Maritimes is celebrated for its blueberry season and there are several blueberry festivals held each summer these seasonal berries can be found in everything from pies to homemade ice cream.
Desserts…
I couldn’t not mention the desserts which of course many include the glorious Maple Syrup…One of the best names for any dessert, “Pouding Chomeur” translates from French to unemployed man puddling. Also known as poor man’s pudding, it was created during the Great Depression in Quebec by female factory workers…
The simple, rich dessert takes basic cake batter to the next level by topping it with hot caramel, which settles through the cake to the bottom of the pan when baked. The result is an addictive, gooey upside-down cake which is now a French-Canadian tradition. Maple syrup is commonly used as the sweetener in the caramel, making it a perfectly indulgent, easy-to-make treat that I could eat right now…
Named after the city it was invented in (Nanaimo, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada), this no-bake dessert has been hailed as Canada’s most iconic treat. A layer of chocolate ganache sits atop a layer of thick yellow custard that sits atop a chocolate-graham-coconut layer creating a triple-threat dessert bar. The earliest published recipe is said to date back to 1953, but if you ask around town, locals will tell you stories of their grandmothers making them long before then.
Butter Tarts…butter tarts are a Canadian obsession. These small tarts are like a pecan pie (but without the pecans), are usually sweetened with maple syrup and have such a following that trails, tours, festivals and bake-offs are dedicated to the bite-sized treat…
It doesn’t stop there there are many other desserts like Flapper Pie, Tiger Tail Icecream, Beaver Tails all to die for it sounds like heaven…I have put on a few pounds just writing this post…I hope you have enjoyed the virtual tour of Canada’s Cuisine…
Thank you for reading …I look forward as always to your comments…xx
About Carol Taylor
Carol Taylor now lives in Thailand having been brought up in England and has built a dedicated following of her blog and guest posts where she creates not only amazing dishes, but sources fantastic ingredients in line with her philosophy of sustainable food ‘cooked from scratch’. Having travelled extensively Carol has incorporated the cuisines of many different cultures into her recipes, and shares her research into the backgrounds to both the traditional cultures and the origins of the ingredients.
She loves shopping at local markets and wherever she is, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetables she has never seen or cooked with.
Health and the environment are key priorities, particularly the concern about our oceans and fisheries. Also, how many of our foods on the shelves of our supermarkets are ultra processed and contain additives that do not add to the nutritional value and are not healthy. She is an advocate about growing our own food where or when we can even it it is only a few pots or a window box of herbs.
She wishes everyone would count chemicals and not calories as they would be much healthier…it’s true ‘we are what we eat‘ and while a cake or a bar of chocolate does no harm on occasions, sticking to a fresh food, balanced diet will keep our bodies healthy as we age…
A Homemade Christmas is the first in a series of cookbooks to come.
Head over to buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US –For reviews: Goodreads –Connect to Carol – Blog:Carol Cooks 2 – Twitter: @CarolCooksTwo – Facebook:Carol Taylor
My thanks to Carol for permitting me to share this wonderful series on Smorgasbord and I look forward to adding her new cookbooks as they become available… I can highly recommend A Homemade Christmas Sally.
