Canadian Restaurant?
 

Well, since someone talked about American food, how about Canadian food? Has anyone ever come across a Canadian Restaurant anywhere in the world? :D

The only thing I have ever come close to anything Canadian, although it is not really Canadian is a burger named McCanada whilst in Paris.. And someone else also had one of those in a recent trip.

BTW, what do Americans think of Tim Hortons. I'd like to know. :)

In NYC, it kinda revolves around poutine -

Tpoutine - http://www.tpoutine.com/

The Inn LW12 - gastropub serving poutine and Quebecois-lite fare

Susur Lee opened a restaurant (Shang) in Manhattan last fall, but that is more of an pan-Asian/fusion flair

Epcot at Walt Disney World has the restaurant Le Cellier in the Canada pavilion. Although, beyond the servers being from Canada, I question how authentically "Canadian" of a restaurant it is.

With the exception of some Quebec foods, I find it hard to identify foods that are uniquely Canadian. I looked at Le Cellier's menu and didn't see anything on it that was Canadian other than the source of some of the fish/produce.

The things that I think of as uniquely Canadian are all Quebecois - Soupe aux pois, tourtiere, tarte au sucre, poutines, ragout de boulettes, and even most of these (except tarte au sucre and poutine) are 18th century French recipes which survived here long after they died out in France.

We have a few of these in RI, but to be honest I never been in one. I thought it was just a Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts.

Yes, I think Tim Hortons is the embodiment of Canadian cuisine.

I adore Tim Horton's iced cappuccinos with chocolate milk, but I don't really see them as the embodiment of Canadian cuisine. I obviously see them as "the coffee shop with my favorite frozen coffee beverages."

Vernon, CT Timmy's, baby! Plus the one in College Park in Toronto.

I also had poutine once, and it's my "favorite food that I can never eat again." It was delicious, but my cholesterol is 147 and I want to keep it that way.

Very true. But I challenge you to find a moose burger anywhere other than Canada. :p

On the whole it's hard to identify food as "typical" to Canada. But the same can be said of the US - beyond fast food (which is in every major city in the world; you really have to go out to the villages to get away from McDonald's etc) what is "typical" to the US? Did American's really invent apple pie for instance? (Maybe they did - I simply don't know.)

I know we're talking generalities here when we say "a typical dish from [insert country name here]", but when it comes right down to it, a lot of food is actually hard to classify as "typical". The North American concept of Chinese food for example doesn't always jive with "real" Chinese food in China. The similarities are adequately clear but the actual food (taste) isn't necessarily the same. Ditto Italian food. There are some true abominations in North America that pass as Italian cuisine.

It's on the menu where there are Alaskans!

(...of course, the chef providing the recipe has served them at his place in Ohio...)

In Paris we have The Great Canadian Pub, but as far as I know the only thing they serve that's Canadian is Molson Canadian beer. The rest is burgers, nachos, salads, etc. Oh, and they do have duck shepherd's pie and duck leg -- are those Canadian fare, by chance, or are they on the menu to cater to any unsuspecting French people who drop in?

The places I've been in Canada that do "Canadian cuisine" are usually based on regional ingredients. Things like PEI mussels, Alberta beef, wild Canadian salmon, wild halibut, caribou. Really "clean" food - with sides from Canadian-grown veggies or Canadian-made cheeses and fruit. And, good Canadian icewine!! For a "Canadian" food item coming down to the US, well, the candied salmon nuggets and salmon "Indian Candy" might fit the criteria.

Oh, for a Canadian restaurant, how about Earls's?? It's all over Western Canada, and there's at least 2 of them in Arizona (where the Canadians winter). It's Canadian, but definitely not Canadian cuisine!!

I don't think there's anything such as "Canadian" food. The country is very regional (as is the U.S.) and there was never a big "melting pot" philosophy to make a common cuisine (I call it the Lowest Common Denominator which is what describes U.S. food - dull and boring to cater to the widest audience). The closest that could be universal in Canada is the cuisine derived from British settlers which is not dissimilar to a broad U.S. cuisine minus the "Mexican" (or Tex-mex) influence among other things (Italian, southern U.S. (African & Cajun/Creole-derived/influenced)). I would say Ontario and British Columbia would have represented this cuisine until the latter '80s when other ethnic cuisines started to influence the bland food. One place where this cuisine can be found is in the Okanagan valley of B.C. where the maitre d' of a cutting edge restaurant told me the local taste just isn't very adventurous (which resulted in the chef/owner dumbing down the menu and eventually selling out). The cuisine here is generally dull and boring with no self-respecting restaurant in Vancouver would offer. This may be due to the very homogeneous northwestern European mix with some 16% of the people being Germanic (my partner's family being one of them).

The eastern provinces (Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) were settled mainly by British (broadly including the Irish) and a cuisine developed from this base. There is a Newfoundlander at my partner's company and he always brings canned seal flipper pie to potlucks. My partner describes it as a black gelatinous goo that no one else will even touch, so the Newfoundlander will happily devour the whole can.

Of course, there was the French settlement of Quebec, eastern Ontario, New Brunswick and quite a bit of Nova Scotia (the latter/latter two until the expulsion/ethnic cleansing by the British which resulted in the Cajun settlement of Louisiana - Cajun = Acadian). These French settlers mostly derived from Norman and Breton stock and the cuisine is derived from there (after a few centuries). There was a strong British presence in Quebec until the advent of the Parti Québécois which started an exodus of English speakers. There has been a healthy mixing of Scottish/Irish with the French in Quebec where 2 prime ministers and 2 provincial premiers were of French and British heritage (Trudeau's maternal line being the Scottish Elliotts) and provincial Quebec francophone leaders having names like Ryan and Johnson (the latter made of 2 brothers who led the PQ and provincial Liberals).

Prairie western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) has a lot of British settlers but also a large proportion of Ukrainians, Germans and a scattering of other eastern/central Europeans. It's my belief that the early European ethnic settlers are integrating into the mainstream so their cuisine is disappearing (for one, perogies and other eastern european cuisines are not as popular as they were 30 years ago though now there is a Russian revival with new Russian immigrants).

There are many ethnic cuisines in Canada, more so in the past 40 years, so a lot of cuisines have arrived and but have not made it into the mainstream. Some have been here but never made a mark in its homeland let alone here. I'm specifically thinking of Dutch cuisine - ever try to get Dutch food in the Netherlands? You do get a lot of "Chinese-Canadian" cuisine in the smaller towns and cities all over Canada but you also get genuine Chinese cuisine in Vancouver and Toronto. Albeit primarily Cantonese, Shanghai and other Chinese regional cuisines are beginning to pop up (earlier, all other flavours of Chinese cuisine were tinged by Cantonese taste).

Finally, one shouldn't ignore the First Nations who have made some culinary contribution.

Not Canadian at all, but the duck sheperd's pie certainly sounds mouth-watering, as long as they don't desecrate the duck with canned creamed corn...

As an American, when I think Canadian food, the first thing that comes to mind is poutine, maple syrup, and Tim Horton's. Beyond that, what makes a dish Canadian to me is that the food orginated in Canada (ie, wild Canada salmon, icewine, etc.).

Canada has little to no distinguishing culture. There is no real national food. Each of the regions have differences, but nothing that stands out. Modern Canada is really a melting pot of various cultures as the country has had massive immigration levels to make up for the aging baby boomers. There's no real Canadian food. The closest thing is possibly a medium double double with a Boston Cream donut. Even that isn't really Canadian.

...as opposed to Quebec :p

Some widespread, uniquely Canadian dishes to add to the mix...

-Nanaimo Bars
-Saskatoon Berry Pie
-Montreal Smoked Meat on Rye

Quebecois food (eg. tarte au sucre, poutine, crepes, tourtiere, is arguably Canadian - I see it as more Quebecois than anything "Canadian" I'd eat out here in Alberta. When in Rome...

For me, Canadian cuisine is similar to American - it is our regional specialties that shine. Alberta beef, Taber corn, anything from the Okanagan Valley, Niagara Ice Wine, Malpeque Oysters, BC Wild Salmon, PEI mussels & potatoes, Armstrong Cheese....etc etc.

We have just as many regional specialties as the US does, too. Is there any region in the states well-known for its Fish and Chips? No. But we have Newfoundland. Is there any place in the USA where almost every restaurant serves perogies, bacon, and sour cream? No. But we have the Regina-Winnipeg corridor.

I don't think I've ever had real Canadian maple syrup in all of my 26 years, and I live here!

I find that American impressions of Canada are largely based on Quebec....kind of similar to thinking of Egypt as "Africa" or Guam as "the United States".

Canadian cuisine also consists of:

Polar Bear tartare
Penguin stew
Puffin pie
Narwaal skewers

IIRC, these meats are traditionally snow-cooked over an open fire in igloos.

"I'll tell ya another thing: their beer sucks!" ;)

Le Cellier used to be one of the best restaurants in Epcot, now it's just plain bad IME. Ate there in February, had to send back my Prime Rib because it was raw, not rare, RAW. The cheddar cheese soup was so rich I wanted to be sick.

Also, I asked the server where the beef was from, knowing that western Canada is great cattle country. The beef was from Argentina. And it wasn't high quality churrascaria meat either :-(

Penguins are native to the southern hemisphere, while their cousin the Puffin is their north american counterpart. Be informed before you slam.

And, for the record, you're not far off - I visited Baffin Island in Canada's High Arctic in 2007, and I dined with the Inuit natives on frozen caribou, maqtaq (frozen whale blubber & skin), and frozen Arctic char. So, these dishes could be as close to being endemic to Canada than anything else would be. Most all native food is eaten frozen in the Arctic regions - never cooked.

Eh? Magazine voted it as a hotspot for Torontonians to summer in 2009.

[redacted] Shouldn't you be at Big Texas Jim's All-You-Can-Eat Steak N' Fixin's for the early lunch special? Maybe go clean your shotguns? Go laugh at Jerry Springer? Mock universal health care while you suck up a $500 Doctor's visit bill? Use the word "Reckon?" :rolleyes: Two can play at this game, if we must....

The above is said all in good friendly fun, of course :D

I reckon' so. ;)

Buttertarts!

Try to find that somewhere else.

The foods are there, but the distinctions are often subtle, so they are not often easy to spot or notice.

Dark vinigar and salt on french fries are something you will not find generally in the States, but will elsewhere.

Fried baloney as a main course for dinner is a French Canadian dish.

I thought we're talking about food here? :D

For a long time, my Canadian friends would rave about Smarties... those flat M&M candies. In the US, Smarties are different - little fruity mints that come stacked up.

I dunno if Smarties are Canadian, though.

Another fond memory of mine re: Americans is the concept of "Canadian Bacon".

I remember in my teens working at McDonald's, I'd often get Americans asking for "Canadian Bacon". Not one person knew that this was any different than actual bacon, so instead of ham, bacon would be served (much to their disdain). It was even better when they ordered "bacon" thinking that they'd get "Canadian Bacon", and they still got actual bacon :p

"This is American bacon, I wanted Canadian bacon!" "I'm not sure where it is produced, sir" "I want HAM" "So why didn't you just say that? What's all this bacon business about?"

We caught on after a while.....

I believe Smarties are originally British. They were created by Rowntree but are now manufactured by Nestle.

"Smarties" in the USA are called Rockets in Canada:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/28...244de799a2.jpg

Smarties originated in the UK - they're available throughout Europe, South Africa, South-East Asia, Canada and Australasia, according to Wikipedia. I still prefer M&M's.

Some Canada-only chocolate bars I cannot live without are Peppermint Aero, Coffee Crisp, and Crispy Crunch.

I'm from there so I may be biased, but Canadian food to me is Quebecois. Just like this:

http://www.wayfaring.info/2009/02/09/quebec-2/

I know it's Quebecois and not representative of the rest of English Canada, though.

As for English Canada... Beaver tails!

JP

Actually, "Canadian bacon" as sold in the US is what the UK & Canada would call "back bacon," and is a cured pork loin product.

what about
 

Pea Meal bacon is my favorite canadian food
Chip Trucks favorite fast food venue
and butter tarts

I'd have kept on giving them regular bacon just to mess with them. ;)

Perhaps I've dealt with too many idiotic customers in my life and have become too jaded... :p

BTW, every now and then, I get a craving for an iced cappuccino from Tim Hortons. Deliciously refreshing and sweet! Almost missed my flight back from YYG once because I had to to stop and get one last one...

Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)

What would be the Canadian national dish.....?

We don't have one.....much like the Americans don't really have one.

One would think they'd try and differentiate themselves and come up with one, though. If only to shake the label of America, Jr. ;)

I think that a "national dish" is a misnomer no matter where you are. There are so many national dishes in every country that it would be hard to choose just one regardless.

When you remove the cultural diversity that the African Americans brought into the south and other niches like Kansas City, along with the Latin American influence in the southwest and the Hawaiian influence, there isn't much "truly American" left. Burger and Fries? Maybe American - but I'm fairly certain that one would have been discovered regardless of where. Hot dogs? German. Pizza? Italian. Roast Beef? British. Outside of those influences, the American and Canadian culinary culture is largely the same. Think, what has Oregon and Washington state brought to the table (literally) that British Columbia or Alberta has not?

Canada's immigrants were mostly eastern European settlers to the prairies, bringing with them perogies, sauerkraut, sausage, and the like. There were no African American immigrant populations to spice things up, or Latin American populations to introduce any of their culinary influences. Toronto might be a melting pot today, but "back in the day" it was certainly not - and places like Calgary never were. I had not seen an African American or Latin American outside of television until I was 18 and going to college in Minneapolis!

For the Canadian "drink" it would be a tossup between a Bloody Caesar or a Rye and Ginger.

It always surprises me that the Bloody Caesar never has taken hold to the south. You get strange looks when asking for one...

I totally agree with the Rye and Ginger....I went to college in Kansas, and there was NO bar anywhere that seemed to have ginger ale on hand (nor in restaurants, for that matter). I recieved plenty of stares. My compromise, Whiskey 7's, were just not the same.

Even better than Rye and Ginger.....Rye and PC Ginger Beer