Much more Than Poutine: A Journey To Discover What It Means To Eat “Canadian”

When it comes to travel, most men and women want to take in all that a nation has to offer you. Men and women will save their pennies to venture into far off and exotic areas in order to expertise the architecture, music, landscape and — I assume most importantly — the meals. Consuming one thing delectable in a strange location rounds out one’s foreign, cultural encounter by delivering yet another sensory layer to the trip. It creates depth.

Even though on the road, I have been asked time and again, “What is common Canadian meals?” Far too quite a few times I have drawn a blank. “Poutine from Québec . . . A fish fillet from Newfoundland?” I curiously respond. My inability to offer a concrete answer has produced me wonder if my personal Canadian expertise has been hindered, eating Portuguese sandwiches and Vietnamese pho for sustenance. Then I wonder, possibly this is what it indicates to consume “Canadian.”

The truth is, I have no idea what a standard Canadian meal is. Much like our cultural identity, Canadian dining has no defining function. Instead, I feel like Canucks rely on the mosaic of selections to please their palates, swapping our basic lack of  culinary identity for our plethora of possibilities.

Nevertheless, there is one particular man on a quest to learn what it implies to be Canadian cuisine. Ian Brown has taken upon this good job of what Canadians eat and has been maintaining the nation posted on his blog, featured in The Globe and Mail. The outcome, so far, has been what we had originally hypothesized: they eat anything. From rose and butter poached elk in Calgary to a sorrel topped scallop in St. Catherines, it seems as though Canadians are not picky.

Most have a tendency to think that Canada’s culinary prowess only exists in our 3 important cities: Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. These metropolises are multicultural hubs delivering not only diverse neighborhoods but an array of meal choices. Like most factors in huge doses, the plenitude of possibilities would  infer that you can only uncover delicious meals in the city.

Even so, as Brown points out, the country’s obsession with very good food is not only discovered in our large-3. “[In Canada,] there are a vast number of individuals who feel about meals more or much less incessantly. It’s a national delirium. It ranges in intensity from obsessive to slightly less obsessive, at just about every level of sophistication and which means.”

What is reassuring for those that want to escape the cities and appreciate the Canadian terrain is realizing that there will nonetheless be selections. The much more outlandish — typically “moose” or “elk” meat is a great indicator of game found in our forests — the far more Canadian it will be. I guess my recommendation for all travelers trying to totally practical experience the North would be to try everything.

Probably that is the Canadian culinary identity: we are delirious with hunger and are prepared to consume anything. Then, the query is, why? The answer lies in the hands of Ian Brown. Go forth and eat!

By Brit Weaver

About the Author

Toronto born and based, Brit is an avid leisure cyclist, coffee drinker and beneath-a-tree park-ist. She frequently finds herself meandering foreign cities hunting for street eats to nibble, trees to climb, a patch of grass to sit on, or a little bookstore to sift through. You can locate her musing life on her personal blog, TheBubblesAreDead.wordpress.com.