Short story of the Canadian cuisine

A couple of weeks ago, a word caught my attention: the Canadian cuisine. There were no more mentions in the article I was writing, but the combination of two words was enough to stir my curiosity. Of course there must be a Canadian cuisine, I said to myself, but what does it mean this cuisine, apparently so mysterious for me. I remember once some jokes between my Canadian and American friends about their different Thanksgiving, but more than that I did not have culinary memories about what can be on an usual Canadian plate.

The following article is a proof of how my training as a historian can (hope, happily) meet my interest for food blogging.

Canada is a country of immigrants and the national cuisine means a lot of influences from all over the world. It is a combination of tastes and spices brought from the North American and French, the Carribean, Indian, Chinese and Eastern European dishes. 

The basic ingredients of the Canadian meals before the immingration developed were beans, corn and squash. At the beginning, the agriculture and the hunting were the predominant activities and this type of food still is part of the regional meals - elk, moose, buffalo and deer are very much appreciated -, together with the fish - one of the favorite being the Pacific salmon. Those interested in the taste of an original Eskimo meal must try the famous muktuk, made of whale skin and blubber, eaten with soy sauce or simple. 

source: nileguide.com
A visual sample of Poutine

The most famous meal associated with the Canadian cuisine is the Poutine (a Galicization of the 'pudding', according to some linguists). It reminds to the American Gravy Cheese Fries and it is basically made of: French fries, bacon gravy and curd cheese. As meat, one can use: lamb, rabbit. The most extravagant options include caviar, truffles and lobster. Equaly famous is the macaroni and cheese dinner meal or tourtiere, a meat pie (based on ground veal, beef or pork). Some may eat in the morning beans and toast. 

One of the delicacies I would love to try as soon as possible is the Montreal-style smoked meat, the famous kosher pastrami brought at the end of the 19th century by the Aaron Sanft, from his Jewish Romanian Jasi. It is the base of many sandwiches with pickles and coleslaw and some potato chips. 

The Russian pierogies (meat, potatoes and cheese) are equally appreciated, as everywhere in the world. 

When it comes to the sweet section, the base is represented by chocolate and creams. In many recipes the Maple syrup is strongly recommended. This is the case of the May West - a round cake with a creamy center covered in chocolate; the Nanaimo bars - a combination of many layers of custard, melted chocolate and thick crumbs.

One of the fannies recipes I've found when documenting the Canadian cuisine is the one called 'beaver tails': whole wheat pastry flattened to ressemble a beaver tail, with sweet cinnamon sugar sauce.

The apples were brought by the French at the beginning of the 17th century and the Canadians developed various types of local apples, the most famous being the Macintosh type. 

The Canadians love to drink a lot of beers and there are many breweries around the country, especially in Vancouver and Toronto (Mill Street Brewery). The alternatives are Ginger Ale or the local brand of whisky, Yukon Jack. As for cocktails, a recommended type is Caesar: Clamato juice (tomato juice+different spices), tabasco, worcestershire sauce and vodka.