Cuisine of Canada - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Canadian cuisine varies widely depending on the regions of the nation. The former Canadian prime minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

Joe Clark

Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

has been paraphrased to have noted: "Canada has a cuisine of cuisines. Not a stew pot, but a smorgasbord."

The three earliest cuisines of Canada have First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

, English, and French roots, with the traditional cuisine of English Canada

English Canada

English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...

closely related to British

British cuisine

English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, largely due to the importation of ingredients and ideas from places such as North America, China, and India...

and American cuisine

Cuisine of the United States

American cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter...

, while the traditional cuisine of French Canada

French Canada

French Canada, also known as "Lower Canada", is a term to distinguish the French Canadian population of Canada from English Canada.-Definition:...

has evolved from French cuisine

French cuisine

French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...

and the winter provisions of fur traders

Coureur des bois

A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....

. With subsequent waves of immigration in the 18th and 19th century from Central

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

, Southern

Southern Europe

The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...

, and Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

, and also from China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, the regional cuisines were subsequently augmented. Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

is the world's largest producer of Maple syrup

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...

Cultural contributions

Since the beginning, 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. The traditional cuisine of the Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

and the Canadian Territories is based on wild game and Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

and First Nations

First Nations

cooking methods; conversely bannock

Bannock (food)

Bannock is a variety of flat quick bread. The word can also be applied to any large, round article baked or cooked from grain. When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are often called scones. But in Scotland, the words bannock and scone are often used interchangeably.-Scottish:"Bannock"...

, which is popular across First Nations

First Nations

and Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

communities throughout the continent, is a method for making pan-fried bread introduced to their culture by Scottish fur traders.

The settlers and traders from the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

account for the culinary influences of early English Canada in the Maritimes and Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario

Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...

(Upper Canada), while French settlers account for the cuisine of southern Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

(Lower Canada), Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...

, and New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

. Many of the more south western regions of Ontario have strong Dutch and Scandinavian

Scandinavian

Scandinavian refers to a resident of or something associated with Scandinavia, including:* Scandinavians, a Nordic ethnic group* Scandinavian Airlines , an aviation corporation* Scandinavian Defense, a chess opening...

influences, while German, Ukrainian

Ukrainian cuisine

Ukrainian cuisine has significant diversity, historical traditions. "Cuisine - Flavors and Colors of Ukrainian Culture."] . Accessed July 2011. Common foods used include meats, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, berries and herbs...

, and Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine

Polish cuisine is a style of cooking and food preparation originating from Poland. It has evolved over the centuries due to historical circumstances. Polish national cuisine shares some similarities with other Central European and Eastern European traditions as well as French and Italian...

s are strong influences to the cuisine of the western Canadian provinces. Also noteworthy is the cuisine of the Doukhobor

Doukhobor

The Doukhobors or Dukhobors , earlierDukhobortsy are a group of Russian origin.The Doukhobors were one of the sects - later defined as a religious philosophy, ethnic group, social movement, or simply a "way of life" - known generically as Spiritual Christianity. The origin of the Doukhobors is...

s, Russian-descended vegetarians.

The Waterloo, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, region has a tradition of Mennonite

Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...

and Germanic

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...

cookery.

The Jewish immigrants to Canada during the late 1800's also play a significant role to foods in Canada. The Montreal-style bagel

Montreal-style bagel

The Montreal bagel, , is a distinctive variety of hand-made and wood-fired baked bagel. In contrast to the New York-style bagel, the Montreal bagel is smaller, sweeter and denser, with a larger hole, and is always baked in a wood-fired oven...

and Montreal-style smoked meat

Montreal-style smoked meat

Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply smoked meat in Montreal , is a type of kosher-style deli meat product made by salting and curing beef brisket with spices...

are both food items developed by Jewish communities living in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

Much of what are considered "Chinese dishes" in Canada are more likely to be Canadian or North American inventions, with the Chinese of each region tailoring their traditional cuisine

Chinese cuisine

Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...

to local tastes. This Canadian Chinese cuisine
Canadian Chinese cuisine
Canadian Chinese cuisine is a popular style of cooking exclusive to take-out and dine-in eateries found across Canada. It was the first form of commercially available Chinese food available in Canada. This cooking style was invented by early Cantonese immigrants who adapted traditional Chinese...

is widespread across the country, with great variation from place to place. The Chinese buffet, although found in the U.S. and other parts of Canada, had its origins in early Gastown

Gastown

Gastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...

, Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, c.1870 and came out of the practice of the many Scandinavians

Scandinavians

Scandinavians are a group of Germanic peoples, inhabiting Scandinavia and to a lesser extent countries associated with Scandinavia, and speaking Scandinavian languages. The group includes Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, and additionally the descendants of Scandinavian settlers such as the Icelandic...

' working in the woods and mills around the shantytown getting the Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

cook to put out a steam table on a sideboard, so they could "load up" and leave room on the dining table (presumably for "drink"). Ginger beef

Ginger beef

Ginger beef usually refers to a westernized version of a Chinese dish made from beef and ginger.While Chinese dishes made from beef and ginger are nothing new, the western Canadian version of it is claimed to have been invented in Calgary, Alberta in 1974 at the Silver Inn, and it can still be...

is a popular Chinese food purportedly originating in Western Canada

Western Canada

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...

.

The cuisines of Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

and the Maritime provinces

Maritimes

The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...

derive mainly from British

British cuisine

and Irish

Irish cuisine

Irish cuisine is a style of cooking originating from Ireland or developed by Irish people. It evolved from centuries of social and political change. The cuisine takes its influence from the crops grown and animals farmed in its temperate climate. The introduction of the potato in the second half of...

cooking, with a preference for salt-cured fish, beef, and pork. Ontario

Ontario

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

and British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

also maintain strong British cuisine traditions.

National food

Common contenders as the Canadian national food

National dish

A national dish is a dish, food or a drink that is considered to represent a particular country, nation or region.A dish can become a national dish for a variety of reasons. It can be the national dish because it is a staple daily food for the majority of the population. It can also be the national...

include:

Poutine
Poutine
Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...
Butter tarts

According to an informal survey by the Globe and Mail conducted through Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

from collected comment, users considered the following to be the Canadian National dish, with Maple syrup likely above all the other foods if it was considered:

51% Poutine
14% Montreal-style bagels
11% Salmon jerky
10% Pierogi
Pierogi
Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough - first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit...

s
7% Ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...

chips
Potato chip
Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
4% Donair
Donair
A donair is a variation on the döner kebab. It was originally introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. A restaurant called King of Donair claims to have been the first to serve this version in 1973...
1% California roll
California roll
The California roll is a maki-zushi, a kind of sushi roll, usually made inside-out, containing cucumber, crab meat or imitation crab, and avocado. In some countries it is made with mango instead of avocado...

Regional

While many ingredients are commonly found throughout Canada, each region with its own history and local population have unique ingredients. These regional ingredients in turn and made into region dishes.
Wild game of all sorts are still hunted and eaten by many Canadians, though not commonly in urban centres. Venison

Venison

Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor...

is eaten across the country and is considered quite important to many First Nations

First Nations

cultures. Seal

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...

meat is eaten, particularly in the Canadian North

Canadian North

Canadian North Inc. is an airline based in the Northwest Tower in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to major communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Southern gateways include Edmonton and Ottawa...

, the Maritimes

Maritimes

, and Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador

. Wild fowl like partridge

Partridge

Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...

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.

Wild Chanterelle

Cantharellus

Cantharellus is a genus of popular edible mushrooms, commonly known as chanterelles . They are mycorrhizal fungi, meaning they form symbiotic associations with plants, making them very difficult to cultivate...

, Pine

Pine mushroom

Tricholoma is a genus of fungus that contains a large number of fairly fleshy white-spored gilled mushrooms which are found worldwide generally growing in woodlands. These are ectomycorrhizal fungi, existing in a symbiotic relationship with various species of coniferous or broad-leaved trees...

, Morel

Morel

Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible mushrooms closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them....

, Lobster

Lobster mushroom

Lobster mushroom is not a mushroom, but rather a parasitic ascomycete that grows on mushrooms, turning them a reddish orange color that resembles the outer shell of a cooked lobster. It colonizes members of the genera Lactarius and Russula, such as Russula brevipes and Lactarius piperatus in...

, Puffball

Puffball

A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is...

, and other mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s are commonly consumed. Canada produces good cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

s, many successful beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

s and is known for its excellent ice wine

Ice wine

Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...

s and ice ciders. Gooseberries

Gooseberry

The gooseberry or ; Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a species of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia...

, Salmonberries

Salmonberry

Rubus spectabilis is a species of Rubus native to the west coast of North America from west central Alaska to California....

, Pearberries, Cranberries

Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...

and Strawberries

Strawberry

Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

and gathered from wild or grown. Whipped Soapberry

Sapindus

Sapindus is a genus of about five to twelve species of shrubs and small trees in the Lychee family, Sapindaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions in both the Old World and New World. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. Members of the genus are commonly known as...

"Indian ice cream", known as xoosum (HOO-shum) in the Interior of British Columbia in most of the Interior Salish

Interior Salish

The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main subgroups of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further subdivided into Northern and Southern Interior Salish...

languages, whether in ice cream form or as a cranberry-cocktail like drink; known for being a kidney tonic. Called Agutak in Alaska (with animal/fish fat)

Savoury foods

Although there are considerable overlaps between Canadian food and the rest of the cuisine in North America, many unique dishes (or versions of certain dishes) are found and available only in the country. Some are more commonly eaten than others.

Sweets

Pets de sœurs (lit. "nuns' farts")—pastry dough wrapped around a brown sugar and butter filling
Matrimonial cake
Date square
A date square is a dessert or a coffee cake variety made of cooked dates and with an oatmeal crumb topping. In Western Canada it is known as Matrimonial Cake. It is often found in coffee shops as a sweet snack food. There can be nuts added to the base layer or crumb topping. There can be candied...

and pork pies (date filled desserts)
Maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...

, especially tire d'érable sur la neige, also as flavouring, for example in Maple leaf cream cookies
Maple Leaf Cream Cookies
Maple Leaf Cream Cookies, are a Canadian sandwich cookie.The cream filling is maple-flavored, and may contain real maple syrup...
Jam busters (prairie jelly doughnuts)
Apple pie
Various black licorices
Bumbleberry pie (Bumbleberry is "a mixture of fruit, berries, and rhubarb".)
Nanaimo bar
Nanaimo bar
The Nanaimo bar is a dessert of Canadian origin popular across North America. The Nanaimo bar is a bar cookie which requires no baking, and is named after the West-Coast city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. It consists of a wafer crumb-based layer, topped by a layer of light vanilla or custard...

s – most common in British Columbia
Butter tarts – said to be invented in Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...

around 1915 . The main ingredients for the filling includes, butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

and eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...

, but raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...

s and pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...

s are often added for additional flavour.
Beaver tails
Fried dough
.Fried dough is a North American food associated with outdoor food stands in carnivals, amusement parks, fairs, rodeos, and seaside resorts . Fried dough is the specific name for a particular variety of fried bread made of a yeast dough; see the accompanying images for an example of use on...

, also known as Elephant Ears, Moose Antlers or Whale Tails
Sugar pie
Sugar pie
Sugar pie is a typical dessert of the western European countries of France and Belgium, Quebec, and Midwestern United States states such as Indiana, where it is known as sugar cream pie .-Recipe:Sugar pie is a single-crust pie with a filling made from flour, butter, salt, vanilla, and...
Persians—somewhat like a cross between a large cinnamon bun and a doughnut, topped with strawberry icing, unique to Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...

, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

.
Sucre à la crème—Québécois sweet milk squares.
Nougabricot, a Québécois preserve consisting of apricots, almonds, and pistachios.
Candy apple
Candy apple
Candy apples, also known as toffee apples outside of North America, are whole apples covered in a hard sugar candy coating. While the topping varies from place to place, they are almost always served with a stick of sorts in the middle making them easier to eat...

—also known by the British term "toffee apple", candied apples are far more popular than in the United States, where the caramel apple
Caramel apple
Caramel apples or taffy apples are created by dipping or rolling apples-on-a-stick in hot caramel, sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing them to cool...

is common.
Moosehunters (Molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

cookies).
Figgy duff
Figgy duff (pudding)
Figgy duff is a traditional Canadian bag pudding. It typically contains butter, flour, sugar, molasses, and raisins, and is boiled in a bag....

– a pudding from Newfoundland
Flapper Pie
Flapper pie
Flapper pie is a custard pie topped with meringue. The Graham cracker cream pie dates back to the 19th century but entered Western Canadian pop culture in the 20th century as Flapper Pie.The pie is a staple of the Canadian prairie culture.-External links:*...

(Wafer Pie in Manitoba) – A custard pie popular in Western Canada

Commercially Prepared food and beverages

Chocolate Bars
Candy bar
A chocolate bar is a confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. In addition to these main...

: Coffee Crisp
Coffee Crisp
Coffee Crisp is a popular chocolate bar created in Canada.- History :The origins of the bar are in the UK in the 1930s with a chocolate bar named Rowntree's Wafer Crisp. This was later renamed to Chocolate Crisp. The bar was later introduced to Canadians as Biscrisp...

, Mr. Big
Mr. Big (chocolate)
Mr. Big is the largest sized candy bar produced by Cadbury, hence the name. The standard bar is made of a long, layered vanilla wafer, coated in caramel, peanuts and rice crisps, which is then covered in the simulated chocolate coating. A Mr...

, Caramilk
Cadbury Caramilk
Caramilk is a caramel-filled candy bar made by Cadbury Adams in Canada. It was first sold in 1968.Variations available, some of them limited editions, include Caramilk made with dark chocolate maple, chocolate, or cappuccino. The standard bar is not actually made with chocolate, and is simply...

, Big Turk
Big Turk
The Big Turk is a chocolate bar manufactured by Nestlé Canada, that consists of pink Turkish Delight coated in milk chocolate. The 60-gram bar contains 4 grams of fat, which is advertised as 60% less fat than the average chocolate bar. This is one of the key selling points of the bar...

, Cherry Blossom
Cherry Blossom (candy)
Cherry Blossom is a type of chocolate bar produced by Hershey Canada Inc at their Canadian manufacturing facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario. The candy was originally manufactured by The Walter M. Lowney Company of Canada which was taken over by Hershey as a subsidiary brand...

, Crispy Crunch
Crispy Crunch
Crispy Crunch is a hard chocolate bar with a crispy peanut flake inside that is made by Cadbury. Harold Oswin, an employee of William Neilson, developed Crispy Crunch in the late 1920s. Harold was a candy roller in Neilson's hard candy room and joined the company when he was fourteen years old....

, Aero
Aero (chocolate)
Aero is a milk chocolate bar filled with bubbles of air, made by Nestlé and primarily sold in the United Kingdom , the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, Australia, Middle East and Canada.-History:...
Other candy: Glosette
Glosette
Glosette is an exclusive Canadian brand of confectionery. They are little pieces of candy with a glossy chocolate coating on the outside, with either raisins, peanuts, or almonds inside. The brand was acquired by Hershey Canada on July 1, 1987 from Nabisco Canada.There used to be Glosette Cherries...

Pieces (Peanut, Raisin, or Almonds), Bridge Mixture (bridge mix)
Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner
Kraft Dinner, known as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the United States and Macaroni Cheese in the United Kingdom, is a macaroni and cheese convenience food that requires minimal preparation by the consumer. The original product, a packaged dry macaroni and cheese mix, was introduced in 1937 by the...

(many purchase store brand mac & cheese, but still call it this)
Canadian pizza: (mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, bacon, pepperoni, and mushrooms)
Québécois pizza: (mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, green peppers, pepperoni, and mushrooms)
Shreddies
Shreddies
Shreddies is a breakfast cereal sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Germany produced by Post Cereals and General Mills, consisting of malted squares of inter-woven whole grain wheat.Shreddies has been made in the UK since 1955...

Cereal
Cows Ice Cream (Prince Edward Island)
Red River Cereal
Red River cereal
Red River Cereal is a porridge, or hot cereal, made of wheat, rye, and flax, produced in Canada, with some availability elsewhere. It was first created in 1924 in Manitoba. The cereal takes its name from the Red River of the North, more specifically the valley around Winnipeg. The brand name is...
Ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...

, Salt and Vinegar, dill pickle, and "all-dressed" flavoured potato chips
Nabob Coffee
Nabob (coffee)
Nabob is a brand of coffee produced by Kraft Foods and sold in Canada. The Nabob Coffee Company originated in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1896, was the food manufacturing arm of Kelly Douglas Limited, house brand for Super-Valu Stores, and was purchased by Jacobs Suchard in 1976, and...
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast casual restaurant known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in...

, Second Cup
Second Cup
Second Cup is Canada's largest Canadian-based specialty coffee retailer, operating more than 360 cafés across Canada. Its headquarters are in Mississauga, Ontario. Founded in 1975 by Tom Culligan and Frank O'Dea, Culligan eventually purchased O'Dea's shares. After building it to a 150-store chain,...

Coffee
Hawkins Cheezies
Cheezies
Cheezies are a brand of cheese curl snack food made and sold in Canada by W.T. Hawkins Ltd. The snack is made from aged cheddar and sold in various size bags.-History:...
Canada Dry
Canada Dry
Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks owned since 2008 by the Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group. For over a century Canada Dry has been known for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers...

ginger ale
Spruce beer
Spruce beer
Spruce beer is a beverage flavored with the buds, needles, or essence of spruce trees. Spruce beer can refer to either alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages....

(bière d'épinette, non-alcoholic soft drink) from Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
Loganberry
Loganberry
The loganberry is an hexaploid hybrid produced from crossing an octaploid blackberry and a diploid red raspberry. The plant and the fruit resemble the blackberry more than the raspberry, but the fruit colour is a dark red, rather than black...

(drink) from Crystal Beach, Ontario
Crystal Beach, Ontario
Crystal Beach is a community within Fort Erie, Ontario with a population of 3,800. It was named for the "crystal-clear" water conditions present when it was founded on the northeast shore of Lake Erie, across from Buffalo....
Bagged Milk
Milk bag
Milk bags are plastic bags that hold milk. They are usually stored in a pitcher or jug with one of the corners cut off to allow for pouring. A typical milk bag contains approximately 1 1/3 litres of milk.- Popularity :...
Ready-to-Eat Soups
Canyon Creek Food Company
Canyon Creek Food Company is a food processing company based in Edmonton, Alberta that provides fresh soups and other prepared food products geared towards health conscious consumers...

Straight

Canadian beer
Canadian beer
Beer in Canada was introduced by European settlers in the seventeenth century, and a number of commercial brewers thrived until Prohibition in Canada. Though short-lived, very few brewers survived, and it was only in the late twentieth century that new breweries opened up...
Canadian whisky
Canadian whisky
Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles...
Yukon Jack
Yukon Jack (whisky)
Yukon Jack is a honey-based Canadian whiskey advertised as the "Black sheep of Canadian Liquors". It is a 100 proof or 80 proof drink.Yukon Jack is produced by Heublein Inc. In 1987 Heublein Inc. was bought out by Diageo. Yukon Jack is made in Valleyfield, Quebec...

, a Canadian whiskey-based liqueur similar to Southern Comfort
Canadian wine
Canadian wine
Canadian wine is produced in mainly southern British Columbia and southern Ontario. There is also a growing number of small scale producers of grapes and wine in southern Quebec and Nova Scotia. The two largest wine-producing regions in Canada are the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and the...

, Ice wine
Ice wine
Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...
Ice cider
Ice cider
Ice cider is the cider equivalent of ice wine: a fermented beverage made from the frozen juice of apples. There are two main approaches to producing ice cider: cryoconcentration and cryoextraction...
Newfoundland Screech
Newfoundland Screech
Newfoundland Screech is 40% alcohol rum sold in Newfoundland. Screech is an award winning rum that, through clever marketing, has a name that was once just a colloquial term to describe almost any cheap, high alcohol spirit, including moonshine...

Mixes

Maple liqueur
Maple liqueur
Maple liqueur refers to various alcoholic products made from maple syrup, primarily in the Northeast United States and Canada.In Canadian French, such products are known as eau de vie d'érable....

: Sold bottled as Sortilege, this drink combines Canadian whiskey and maple syrup
Caribou
Caribou (drink)
Caribou is a sweet Québécois alcoholic beverage composed of red wine, hard liquor, usually whisky, and maple syrup or sugar.Caribou can be made at home but is now available as a premixed beverage by the Société des alcools du Québec. It can be consumed hot or cold depending on the weather and...

: A mix of red wine, maple syrup, and Canadian whiskey. Consumed during winter festivals in Quebec.
The Caesar
Caesar (cocktail)
A Caesar or Bloody Caesar is a cocktail created and primarily consumed in Canada. It typically contains vodka, Clamato , hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, and is served with ice in a large, celery salt-rimmed glass, typically garnished with a stalk of celery and wedge of lime.It was invented in...

, originally called the Bloody Caesar, is a cocktail made from vodka
Vodka
Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....

, clamato
Clamato
Clamato is a drink made of reconstituted tomato juice concentrate flavored with spices and clam broth. Made by Mott's, the name is a portmanteau of "clam" and "tomato"...

juice (clam-tomato juice), Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...

, Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce
Tabasco sauce is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor...

, in a salt-rimmed glass (table salt or celery salt
Celery salt
Celery salt is a flavored salt used as a food seasoning, made from ground seeds, which may come from celery or its relative lovage. These ground seeds are mixed with salt, either table salt or sea salt....

), and garnished with a stalk of celery
Celery
Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac , depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten: celery refers to the former and celeriac to the latter. Apium graveolens grows to 1 m tall...

, or more adventurously with a spoonful of horseradish
Horseradish
Horseradish is a perennial plant of the Brassicaceae family, which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, and cabbages. The plant is probably native to south eastern Europe and the Arab World , but is popular around the world today...

, or a shot of beef bouillon
Bouillon (broth)
Bouillon, in French cuisine, is simply a broth. This name comes from the verb bouillir, meaning to boil. It is usually made by the simmering of mirepoix and aromatic herbs with either beef, veal, or poultry bones and/or with shrimp, or vegetables in boiling water.This is not to be confused with...

. The Caesar was invented in 1969 in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, by bartender Walter Chell to mark the opening of a new restaurant Marco's.

Street food

While most major cities in Canada (other than Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, due to local by-laws) offer a variety of street food

Street food

Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable stall. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street food are both finger and fast...

, regional "specialties" are notable. While poutine

Poutine

Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...

is available in most of the country, it is far more common in Quebec

Quebec

. Similarly, hot dog stand

Hot dog stand

A hot dog stand is a food business stand that sells hot dogs, usually from an external counter on a public thoroughfare such as a road, street, ballpark, mall, or food court....

s can be found across Canada, but are far more common in Ontario

Ontario

(often sold from mobile canteen trucks, usually referred to as "fry trucks" and the hot dogs "street meat") than in Vancouver

Vancouver

or Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

(where the "Mr. Tube Steak" franchise is notable and the term "smokies" or "smokeys" refers to Ukrainian sausage rather than frankfurters). Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

offers a number of specialties including Shish taouk

Shish taouk (Montreal)

A shish taouk is a Montreal-style chicken shawarma. It is the Montreal version of the traditional Lebanese dish, and is usually served in a pita wrap. Montreal's Middle Eastern community, which originates mainly from Lebanon, has made the shish taouk a restaurant staple in Montreal...

, the Montreal hot dog

Montreal hot dog

The Montreal hot dog is one of several variations of hot dogs served as a fast food staple at restaurants and diners in Montreal and other parts of Quebec...

, and dollar falafel

Falafel

Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread known as lafa. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces...

s. Although falafel is widespread in Vancouver, pizza

Pizza

Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...

slices are much more popular. Vancouver also has many sushi

Sushi

is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...

establishments. Shawarma

Shawarma

Shawarma is a Levantine Arab sandwich-like wrap of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats. The meat is placed on a spit, and may be grilled for as long as a day. It is eaten with pita bread, tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus,...

is quite prevalent in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, and Windsor

Windsor, Ontario

Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...

, while Halifax offers its own unique version of the Döner kebab

Döner kebab

Doner kebab is a dish made of roasted meat cooked on a vertical spit. It is also known regionally as gyro , shawarma, and al pastor . It consists of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or mixed meats roasted on a spit. Less common alternatives include fish and sausage...

called the Donair

Donair

A donair is a variation on the döner kebab. It was originally introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. A restaurant called King of Donair claims to have been the first to serve this version in 1973...

, which features a distinctive sauce made from condensed milk

Condensed milk

Condensed milk, also known as sweetened condensed milk, is cow's milk from which water has been removed and to which sugar has been added, yielding a very thick, sweet product which when canned can last for years without refrigeration if unopened. The two terms, condensed milk and sweetened...

, sugar, garlic and vinegar. Ice cream trucks can be seen (and often heard due to a jingle being broadcast on loudspeakers) nationwide during the summer months. Recently, the city of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

has allowed street vendors from around the world to sell their food. Because of this, Kebab

Kebab

Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...

, Falafel

Falafel

, Shawarma

Shawarma

and other Halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

foods are also a very popular street food.

Meals

Chinese Smorgasbord: though found in the U.S. and other parts of Canada, this term and concept had its origins in early Gastown, Vancouver, c.1870 and resulted from 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, so they could "load up" and leave room on the dining table (presumably for "drink").

Lumberjack's Breakfast, aka Logger's Breakfast, aka "The Lumby": a gargantuan breakfast of three-plus eggs; rations of ham, bacon and sausages; plus several large pancakes. Invented by hotelier J. Houston c 1870, at his Granville Hotel on Water Street in old pre-railway Gastown, Vancouver, in response to requests from his clientele for a better "feed" at the start of a long, hard day of work.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Cultural contributions

National food

Regional

Savoury foods

Sweets

Commercially Prepared food and beverages

Straight

Mixes

Street food

Meals

See also

External links