Oh Canada And Its' Cusiine

Mike Myers makes a joke of his native Canada's cuisine. He said once that" You never hear any one saying "Let's order out Canadian." The problem is that unlike our neighbor to the south, Mexico, the country's cuisine is not well known or popular here. However thanks to the Vancouver, Games, now everyone south of their border is curious. Is it just mooseburgers , Molson's and maple syrup ?Or is it something much more complex ? Is it a blend of indigenous and immigrant foods?.

What is Canadian cuisine?It's a mixture of the First Peoples tribes, European and Asian cooking . It's mostly French around Quebec and Montreal, where the locals enjoy pea soup and tourtieres. flaky meat pies usually eaten after Christmas Midnight Mass. Would you believe that the Chinese buffet, so popular here in the US is really a Vancouver invention? It started as early as the 1870''s when Chinese cooks made lunches for Swedish lumber jacks. The result was combining the smorgasbord with a variety of good provincial Cantonese and Mandarin foods . Indigenous and European cuisines came together in the fried bannock cakes, so beloved by the Inuit people. These were introduced to them when Scottish fur traders began business with them. Native meats are also eaten such as beaver and caribou. Seafood is big in Canada too. The country is basically surrounded by water, from north and th e Arctic Ocean to south with the Great Lakes. The Maritime and Pacific provences also benefit from the abundance of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. too.

Canadians also like their sweets. and there are many to choose from. one popular one is the naimioni which is a loaf cake filled with cream and topped with chocolate. this is from British Columbia. Another is the sugar pie which is similar to a cream pie and made with maple syrup , cream and sugar. Imagine a pecan pie with the the pecans and you have this treat. Canadians also have their version of Dunkin Donuts with Tim Horton's named for its' founder Canadian hockey great Tim Horton. Some Tim Horton's can be found in the states. , namely in Maine and New York(however they're also in Indiana and Kentucky right now too)

Canadian cuisine is varied and multicultural. Like the US and Mexico it is a blend of indigenous ingredients and European style cooking techniques. The food and the provinces it represents are as varied and and as delicious as any other on this continent.