Cuisine of the Maritime Provinces (Canada)
Encyclopedia
The Maritimes
region of Canada
has some unique foods; the region has foodstuffs that are indigenous the area and cultural phenomena has brought non-native foods to the area. The region is in Eastern Canada
, and comprises three provinces
: New Brunswick
, Nova Scotia
, and Prince Edward Island
. On the Atlantic
coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada
. Much of what is local food or regional cuisine there could be found in the foods of the Native Peoples or indigenous people, sometimes called Indians, whose cultures preceded those to be found in the Maritimes today. Fiddlehead greens (fiddlehead ferns, fiddleheads) are unique to Canada
and to the Maritimes and can be served in various ways.
, or Acadie in French, is the French Canada different from Quebec
, based in the Maritimes, and known to those in the United States
chiefly because Longfellow
's Evangeline
and the Cajuns of Louisiana
originated there.) Seafood
is of great importance in the Maritimes and it is prepared in many ways, probably limited only by the number of cooks. Lobster
rolls are to be found wherever tourists go, but the locals love them too; these can be found in the United States as well, particularly in Maine
, which adjoins the Province of New Brunswick
, the only province with two official languages, French and English, which is an indication of the cultures one will find in this province between Quebec
and Nova Scotia
.
No one who has visited the homes of Maritimers who go back a few generations is likely to forget dulse
; dulse is seaweed of a certain type and grows along the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts. Maritimers crunch on dried dulse, a reddish-purple-to-black salty-tasting snack, rather as others would munch potato chips and one usually sees a small dish on a side table somewhere near where family members are sitting.
Maple
sugar, in many forms, from maple syrup
(sirop d'érable) to little maple-leaf-shaped crunchy candies is an important sweet in Eastern Canada
, where sugaring-off excursions (involving 'tire d'érable sur la neige,' when the hot syrup is poured onto snow to crystallize) are one of the better winter activities. It is also an important export, economically.
On Prince Edward Island
, Cow's Ice Cream is an important purveyor of a local favorite, and dairy products in various forms are important to residents of the Maritimes. A popular variety of ice cream in the Maritimes, and also New England
, is grape nut ice cream.
Wild blueberries grow in abundance in the Maritimes and are there for the picking for anyone willing to take the time, which is considerable because they are small.This cited source does not support the proposition footnoted. They can be made into the Acadian dumpling dessert called blueberry grunt, among others. Seal
flippers and seal flipper pie
, various bean dishes, usually flavored with pork
, any fish found in the many rivers, and many other foods are not to be forgotten.
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...
region of 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...
has some unique foods; the region has foodstuffs that are indigenous the area and cultural phenomena has brought non-native foods to the area. The region is in Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
, and comprises three provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
: 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...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, and Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
. On the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. Much of what is local food or regional cuisine there could be found in the foods of the Native Peoples or indigenous people, sometimes called Indians, whose cultures preceded those to be found in the Maritimes today. Fiddlehead greens (fiddlehead ferns, fiddleheads) are unique to 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...
and to the Maritimes and can be served in various ways.
Common foods and dishes
Poutine râpée, an Acadian pork-potato dish, and rapée/rapie pie, an Acadian poultry dish, are Maritime-based. (AcadiaAcadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
, or Acadie in French, is the French Canada different 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....
, based in the Maritimes, and known to those in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chiefly because Longfellow
Longfellow
Longfellow may refer to:* Longfellow, Minneapolis, United States** Longfellow , Minneapolis, United States* Longfellow, Oakland, California, United States* Longfellow , one of America's first great thoroughbred racehorses...
's Evangeline
Evangeline
Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, is an epic poem published in 1847 by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the Expulsion of the Acadians.The idea for the poem came from...
and the Cajuns of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
originated there.) Seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
is of great importance in the Maritimes and it is prepared in many ways, probably limited only by the number of cooks. Lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
rolls are to be found wherever tourists go, but the locals love them too; these can be found in the United States as well, particularly in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, which adjoins the Province of 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...
, the only province with two official languages, French and English, which is an indication of the cultures one will find in this province between 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....
and Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
No one who has visited the homes of Maritimers who go back a few generations is likely to forget dulse
Dulse
Palmaria palmata Kuntze, also called dulse, dillisk, dilsk, red dulse, sea lettuce flakes or creathnach, is a red alga previously referred to as Rhodymenia palmata Greville. It grows on the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a well-known snack food...
; dulse is seaweed of a certain type and grows along the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia coasts. Maritimers crunch on dried dulse, a reddish-purple-to-black salty-tasting snack, rather as others would munch potato chips and one usually sees a small dish on a side table somewhere near where family members are sitting.
Maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
sugar, in many forms, from 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...
(sirop d'érable) to little maple-leaf-shaped crunchy candies is an important sweet in Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
, where sugaring-off excursions (involving 'tire d'érable sur la neige,' when the hot syrup is poured onto snow to crystallize) are one of the better winter activities. It is also an important export, economically.
On Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, Cow's Ice Cream is an important purveyor of a local favorite, and dairy products in various forms are important to residents of the Maritimes. A popular variety of ice cream in the Maritimes, and also New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, is grape nut ice cream.
Wild blueberries grow in abundance in the Maritimes and are there for the picking for anyone willing to take the time, which is considerable because they are small.This cited source does not support the proposition footnoted. They can be made into the Acadian dumpling dessert called blueberry grunt, among others. 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...
flippers and seal flipper pie
Flipper pie
Flipper pie is a traditional Eastern Canadian meat pie made from young harp seal flippers. It is specific to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and commonly eaten in April and May, during the annual seal hunt.-References:* *...
, various bean dishes, usually flavored with pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, any fish found in the many rivers, and many other foods are not to be forgotten.
Categories
- Food and drinkFood and DrinkFood and Drink was a long-running British television series on BBC Two between 1982 and 2001. It was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations....
- Snack foods