Canada150_2

Thank you for joining us and if you're just landing here for the first time today, be sure to start with our kick off post HERE! This hour we wanted to share some of the foods Canada is known for and some of our favourites for sure! Alyssa shares this… 

"I must admit, I love good food. My father and I share the belief that if we have to eat it should be good. A few years ago this conclusion was a big problem for me because I was an expert at burning water…so I set off on a journey to learn to prepare amazing food. Five years later I’m proud of my culinary skills and find feeding large groups to be so much fun, especially because I only do it on special occasions and never do the dishes after!

Two Canadian favourites, each with many varying recipes, are Nanaimo Bars and Poutine. We’ll start with dessert. (Who doesn’t like dessert first?!)

 Nanaimo_bars

Although enjoyed all over the country, Nanaimo Bars are a western Canadian design. A thick layer of chocolate atop the middle layer of sweet and rich creamy custard buttery icing, all atop a thick crumby chocolate/walnut/coconut base makes this square a finger-food dessert. As a little girl, Nanaimo Bars were one of my faves at showers and parties…except I hate the bottom of them! Thankfully, my dear cousin Jessica loves the base layer and hates the top two. I’m sure you can image two little girls snagging (another!) treat from the dessert buffet and splitting it. She often had to tell me she was done, as her sweet tooth wasn’t nearly the size of mine, so I’d go and find my mom who also loved the bottom layer. (Just a little tip: Chill them before splitting, otherwise you’ll wind up with a gooey mess.) Recipe here!

  Poutine-canadian-dishes

What would Canadian cuisine be without poutine? (Pronounced poo-teen or poo-tin or pass-me-that-now-because-I-can’t-resist-it, depending on the person with whom you are sharing this dish!) French fries, or ‘chips’ as they are known to many, are fried to perfection, covered in cheese curds, and smothered in gravy. You’ll find many variations, some adding meat or spices. I once met a chef who boasted that her classic poutine recipe took 5 years to perfect – from potato to cheese curd to gravy, the combinations were tried thousands of times; truly was a treat to stop and enjoy, unfortunately her doors have closed. For our American friends who would like to indulge, I’ll meet you at Leunig’s Bistro in Burlington, Vermont for a twist on this favourite, Confit Duck Poutine; to our Canadian friends I promise getting a passport will be worth this one.

Ketchup

We cannot complete our day without discussing the most controversial and prized of Canadian condiments: Ketchup. It may come as a surprise to you that Canadians put ketchup on…everything. Ok, not everything, but almost everything. We put it on french fries, hamburgers, hotdogs, hash browns, meatloaf, mac and cheese (Kraft Dinner), and scrambled eggs. We dip chicken fingers, grilled cheese, fried fish, and mozza sticks in ketchup. Some people like it on onion rings, mashed potatoes, and pizza. We even have ketchup flavoured chips. Phew! Time for me to go and find some bbq sauce…

Butter tarts

Ok, one more. Let's not forget butter tarts. Butter, sugar, eggs and sometimes raisins all baked in a delicious crust! Goodness in just a few bites!"

Did we mention dill pickle chips, the magnificent Bloody Caesar, smoked salmon, Montreal style bagels and Saskatoon berry pie! Hungry yet? We'll get to the maple syrup later!

Canada-150-toonie-loonie-2017As mentioned in our first post, we would love to share a loonie and a toonie with lucky readers each hour (along with some other fun prizes along the way!) Be sure to leave a comment below by July 7th and we will randomly select one lucky winner this hour to win them! After leaving your comment here we hope you'll take a moment to visit us on Facebook and Instagram (@sctmagazine) and leave a comment there as well for THREE chances to win! We'll be compiling all the comments each hour.

Next hour, it's the Bay of Fundy! 

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 Fun Fact: Canada consumes more macaroni and cheese than any other nation in the world. Thanks Kraft Dinner!