Canadian cuisine


Canadian cuisine[] varies widely depending on the regions of the nation. The four earliest cuisines of Canada have First Nations, English, Scottish and French roots, with the traditional cuisine of English Canada closely related to British cuisine, while the traditional cuisine of French Canada has evolved from French cuisine and the winter provisions of fur traders. With subsequent waves of immigration in the 19th and 20th century from Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Caribbean, the regional cuisines were subsequently augmented.

History

Definitions

Although certain dishes may be identified as "Canadian" due to the ingredients used or the origin of its inception, an overarching style of Canadian cuisine is more difficult to define. Some Canadians such as the former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark believe that Canadian cuisine is a collage of dishes from the cuisines of other cultures. Clark himself has been paraphrased to have noted: "Canada has a cuisine of cuisines. Not a stew pot, but a smorgasbord."
While the immense size of Canada and diversity of its inhabitants compounds the difficulty in identifying a specific Canadian food identity, Hersch Jacobs acknowledges that the lack of a hegemonic definition does not preclude the existence of a Canadian cuisine. Lenore Newman argues that there is a distinctly Canadian creole cuisine. She identifies five key properties that together define Canadian cuisine, namely its reliance on seasonality, multiculturalism, wild foods, regional dishes, and the privileging of ingredients over recipes.
Indigenous food in particular is considered very Canadian. Métis food is especially so, since the Métis people played a particularly important role in the origin of Canada and Canadian cuisine. Foods such as bannock, moose, deer, bison, pemmican, maple taffy, and Métis stews such as barley stew are all either traditional Indigenous foods or originated in Canada with roots in Indigenous cuisines, and are eaten widely throughout the country. Other foods that originated in Canada are often thought of in the same overarching group of Canadian food as Indigenous foods, despite not being so, such as peameal bacon, cajun seasoning, and Nanaimo bars. There are also some foods of non-Canadian origin that are eaten very frequently. Pierogies are an example of this, due to the large number of early Ukrainian and Polish immigrants. There are, however, some regional foods that are not eaten as often on one side of the country as on the other, such as dulse in the Maritimes, stews in the Territories, or poutine in the Francophone areas of Canada.
In general, Canadian foods contain a lot of starch, breads, game meats, and often involve a lot of stews and soups, most notably Métis-style and split-pea soup.

Cultural contributions

Canadian food has been shaped and impacted by continual waves of immigration, with the types of foods and from different regions and periods of Canada reflecting this immigration.

Indigenous peoples

The traditional Indigenous cuisine of Canada was based on a mixture of wild game, foraged foods, and farmed agricultural products. Each region of Canada with its own First Nations and Inuit people used their local resources and own food preparation techniques for their cuisines.
Maple syrup was first collected and used by aboriginal people of Eastern Canada and North Eastern US. Canada is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. The origins of maple syrup production are not clear though the first syrups were made by repeatedly freezing the collected maple sap and removing the ice to concentrate the sugar in the remaining sap. Maple syrup is one of the most commonly consumed Canadian foods of Aboriginal origins.
Dried meat products such as pânsâwân and pemmican are commonly consumed by the indigenous peoples of the plains. In particular, the former was a predecessor for North American style beef jerky, with the processing methods adapted for beef.
In most of the Canadian West Coast and Pacific Northwest, Pacific salmon was an important food resource to the First Nations peoples, along with certain marine mammals. Salmon were consumed fresh when spawning or smoked dry to create a jerky-like food that could be stored year-round. The latter food is commonly known and sold as "salmon jerky". Whipped Soapberry, known as sxusem in the Interior Salish languages of British Columbia, is consumed similarly to ice cream or as a cranberry-cocktail-like drink. It is known for being a kidney tonic, which are called agutak in Arctic Canada.

In the Arctic, Inuit traditionally survived on a diet consisting of land and marine mammals, fish, and foraged plant products. Meats were consumed fresh but also often prepared, cached, and allowed to ferment into igunaq or kiviak. These fermented meats have the consistency and smell of certain soft aged cheeses. Snacks such as muktuk, which consist of whale skin and blubber is eaten plain, though sometimes dipped in soy sauce. Chunks of muktuk are sliced with an ulu'' prior to or during consumption. Fish are eaten boiled, fried, and prior to today's settlements, often in dried forms. The so-called "Eskimo potato" and other "mousefoods" are some of the plants consumed in the arctic.
Foods such as "bannock", popular with First Nations and Inuit, reflect the historic exchange of these cultures with French fur traders, who brought with them new ingredients and foods. Common contemporary consumption of bannock, powdered milk, and bologna by aboriginal Canadians reflects the legacy of Canadian colonialism in the prohibition of hunting and fishing, and the institutional food rations provided to Indian reserves. Due to similarities in treatment under colonialism, many Native American communities throughout the continent consume similar food items with some emphasis on local ingredients.

Europeans

Settlers and traders from the British Isles account for the culinary influences of early English Canada in the Maritimes and Southern Ontario, while French settlers account for the cuisine of southern Quebec, Northeastern Ontario, and New Brunswick. Southwestern regions of Ontario have strong Dutch and Scandinavian influences.
In Canada's Prairie provinces, which saw massive immigration from Eastern and Northern Europe in the pre-WWI era, Ukrainian, German, and Polish cuisines are strong culinary influences. Also noteworthy in some areas of the British Columbia Interior and the Prairies is the cuisine of the Doukhobors, Russian-descended vegetarians.
The Waterloo, Ontario, region and the southern portion of the Province of Manitoba have traditions of Mennonite and Germanic cookery.
The cuisines of Newfoundland and the Maritime provinces derive mainly from British and Irish cooking, with a preference for salt-cured fish, beef, and pork. Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia also maintain strong British cuisine traditions.
Jewish immigrants to Canada during the late 1800s played a significant culinary role within Canada, chiefly renowned for Montreal-style bagels and Montreal-style smoked meat. A regional variation of both emerged within Winnipeg, Manitoba's Jewish community, which also derived Winnipeg-style cheesecake from New York City recipes. Winnipeg has given birth to numerous other unique dishes, such as the schmoo torte, smoked goldeye and "co-op style" rye bread and cream cheese.

Asian

Much of what are considered "Chinese dishes" in Canada are more likely to be Canadian or North American inventions, with the Chinese restaurants of each region tailoring their traditional cuisine to local tastes. This "Canadian Chinese cuisine" is widespread across the country, with great variation from place to place, from Calgary Ginger beef, to Montreal peanut-butter dumplings and Thunder Bay bon bons.
The Chinese buffet, although found in the United States and other parts of Canada, had its origins in early Gastown, Vancouver, c.1870. This serving setup came out of the practice of the many Scandinavians working in the woods and mills around the shantytown getting the Chinese cook to put out a steam table on a sideboard.
Compared to other cultural contributors, South Asia was a very recent influence to Canadian cuisine due to their late prominence in post-1960s immigration era. Indian food is particularly popular in Canada, deriving mostly from Northern Indian cuisine. It is characterized for its use of bread, curry, and use of yogurt and cream for meat-based dishes; it also draws inspiration from South Indian cuisine in its use of sour and spicy combinations.
Contributions from Southeast Asia to Canadian cuisine includes a style of medium-thick crust pizza Margherita in Toronto. An example of fusion cuisine, the pizza is topped with garlic and basil oil topping, combining an Italian pizza with the Vietnamese tradition of using herbed oil toppings in food.

National food of Canada

Foods typically considered national dishes of Canada include poutine and butter tarts.
According to an informal survey by The Globe and Mail conducted through Facebook from collected comments, users considered the following to be the Canadian national dish, with maple syrup likely above all the other foods if it were considered:
  1. Poutine
  2. Montreal-style bagels
  3. Salmon jerky
  4. Perogy/Pierogi
  5. Ketchup chips
  6. Nova Scotian donair
  7. California roll
Canada's most "iconic" foods were named in a survey conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, in the summer of 2012, as:
  1. Maple syrup
  2. Poutine
  3. Nanaimo bars, smoked salmon and butter tarts

    Regional

While many ingredients are commonly found throughout Canada, each region with its own history and local population has unique ingredients, which are used to define unique dishes.
IngredientDefining dishPacificMountainThe PrairiesOntarioQuebecAtlanticNorthern
CaribouCaribou stewXXX
PotatoesPoutineXXX
Saskatoon berriesSaskatoon berry jam
Saskatoon berry pie		XXX
Fiddlehead fernsBoiled fiddleheadsXXX
CloudberryBakeapple pieXX
Maple syrupPancake toppingXXX
DulseDulse crispsX
Harp sealFlipper pieXX
SockeyeSmoked salmonX
Pacific salmonCedar-plank salmonX
Atlantic salmonSmoked salmonXX
Atlantic codFish and brewisXX
LobsterBoiled lobsterXX
Winnipeg goldeyeSmoked goldeyeX
PorkFarmer sausageX
Summer savoryDressingX

Wild game of all sorts is still hunted and eaten by many Canadians, though not commonly in urban centres. Venison, from white-tailed deer, moose, elk or caribou, is eaten across the country and is considered quite important to many First Nations cultures. Seal meat is eaten, particularly in the Canadian North, the Maritimes, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Wild fowl like ducks and geese, grouse and ptarmigan are also regularly hunted. Other animals like bear and beaver may be eaten by dedicated hunters or indigenous people, but are not generally consumed by much of the population.
West Coast salmon varieties include sockeye, coho, Tyee, and pink. Freshwater fish, such as the walleye and lake whitefish are commercially fished in the Great Lakes and are popular in southern Ontario. Both wild-caught and farmed Rainbow trout are consumed throughout Canada.
Wild chanterelle, pine, morel, lobster, puffball, and other mushrooms are commonly consumed. Canada produces good cheeses and many successful beers, and is known for its excellent ice wines and ice ciders. Gooseberries, salmonberries, pearberries, cranberries and strawberries are gathered wild or grown.

Canadian Foods

This is far from a full list of all Canadian foods

Savoury foods

Although there are considerable overlaps between Canadian food and the rest of the cuisine in North America, many unique dishes are found and available only in the country. Some are more commonly eaten than others.
DishDescriptionPacificMountainThe PrairiesOntarioQuebecAtlanticNorthern
Calgary-style Ginger beefCandied and deep fried beef, with sweet ginger sauce.XOX
Roast beef with Yorkshire puddingTraditionally a common Sunday dinner among Canadians of British ancestryXXXXXX
Roast turkeyNorth American roast turkeyXXXXXX
Baked beansBeans cooked with maple syrupXXXXXX
B.C. rollA variety of sushi containing salmonO
California RollA variety of sushiOXXX
Jiggs dinnerA Sunday meal similar to the New England boiled dinnerO
Back or peameal baconBacon that includes the pork loin from the back of the pigXXXOX
TourtièreA meat pie made of pork and lardXXXXOX
Montreal-style smoked meatDeli style cured beefXXOX
BannockA fried bread and dough foodXXXXXX
BouilliQuébécois beef and vegetable potroastO
Bologna stewA stew made of cubed chunks of Bologna sausageO
Cod tongues and scrunchionsBaked cod tongue and deep fried pork fatO
Yellow pea soupSplit pea soup eaten by settlers such as the HabitantXOX
PoutineA dish of fries topped with cheese curds and gravyXXXXOXX
Montreal-style bagelsA sweet, firm, wood-fired bagelXO
PemmicanGround dried meat, fat, and berriesXX
Oka cheeseCheese originally manufactured by Trappist monksXXO
Flipper piePie made with harp seal flipperO
Hot chicken sandwichChicken sandwich doused in gravy and peasXXXXX
ToutonsFried bread from NewfoundlandO
Fish and brewisSalt cod and hardtack, with pork cracklingsO
Rappie pieGrated potato and meat casseroleO
CretonsPork spread containing onions and spicesXO
Poutine râpéeGrated Acadian stuffed potato dumplingO
Nova Scotian donairGround beef doner kebab served with a sweet milk sauceXXO
Garlic fingersDough with cheese, garlic, and sometimes meat on top, similar to pizzaXXXXO
Lobster rollLobster meat mixed with mayonnaise and served in a toasted hot dog bunXXO
Cipaille/sea-pieFish and meat layered in a pieXOX


Sweets

Straight

While most major cities in Canada offer a variety of street food, regional "specialties" are notable. While poutine is available in most of the country, it is far more common in Quebec. Similarly, sausage stands can be found across Canada, but are far more common in Ontario. In Western Canada, a version of the Ukrainian garlic-pork sausage, referred to as "Kubasa" is widely available and celebrated. The term "smokies" or "smokeys" may refer to Kubasa rather than frankfurters. Fusion cultural foods are constantly evolving, such as the Japadog, which tops a hot dog with traditional Japanese ingredients such as wasabi, teriyaki, shredded daikon radish, or bonito flakes.
Each Canadian region has street specialties which reflect regional cultural influences. Montreal food trucks offer shish taouk, the Montreal hot dog, and dollar falafels. Although falafel is available in Vancouver, Asian-influenced offerings are much more widespread including sushi, Vietnamese banh mi subs or Pho soup, Filipino offerings, and various Japanese and Chinese cuisines. In Victoria, British Columbia, vegan and vegetarian burgers are on offer, as are various seafood take-aways and Mexican influenced street food. Pizza slices are a common street offering. Shawarma is quite prevalent in Ottawa and Windsor, while Halifax offers its own unique version of the döner kebab called the donair, which features a distinctive sauce made from condensed milk, sugar, garlic and vinegar. Ice cream trucks can be seen nationwide during the summer months. Winnipeg has a famous line up of food truck vendors on Main street. Since 2007, the city of Toronto has encouraged vendors to sell street food from a wider variety of cuisines.

Meal formats