Canadian By Everett

“Forget the beaver, forget the glorious maple leaf, forget the haunting loon, for all these years the country has completely overlooked the most important contribution to our identity as a nation, the tart. The delicate crust supports the rich and creamy center just as the oceans border our natural resources and the people and the animals that dwell here.” (The Canadian Encyclopedia).

There are many different opinions on what ’s best most iconic is, and most opinions vary from province to province. The most recognizable desserts have varied from era to era. Many factors have contributed to the identity of Canadian desserts. Canadians love a good dessert which has evolved over time, some desserts are the most popular and each popular dessert has a reason why it's considered Canadian.

Today in Canada there is a wide selection of desserts to choose from but the most recommended desserts will change depending on what province you are in. On the east coast the is the most popular dessert. on the prairies the flapper is all the rage but in the reigns supreme. The Nanaimo bar is Canada’s favorite confection as declared by a readers poll in the national post in 2006. There are many reasons why the Nanaimo bar is so popular; one reason is that it is named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. Another reason is that it has been around for so long and it's kind of grown on people. But the most popular dessert might vary from person to person or some people might believe that butter tarts are better with raisins or they are better without. In a survey conducted in 2020, over sixty percent of respondents replied that the most popular desserts were either the Nanaimo bar, or Apple pie, Seventy percent of respondents said butter tarts are better with raisins, twenty eighth percent said that butter tarts are better without raisins and two percent did not know what a butter tart was. There are many different desserts in Canada and there are many different opinions on what is the best dessert. This diversity could be summed up by Roberet Heidbreder’s poem, ‘One Nanaimo bar’ In the poem he lists many of Canada’s favorite desserts but clearly favors the Nanaimo bar. “For Fiddleheads a penny, For bannock a dime, A nickel for some tourtiere, A quarter for perogy time, A loonie for some maple pie, A toonie for a star, But all the GST you want, For one Nanaimo bar!”

The desserts in Canada have changed over time and have been influenced by different people. The first cooks in Canada were the First Nations peoples but they did not have the sweets that we have now so their desserts were drastically different. For example the First Nations would have used an assortment of wild berries and fruit to sweeten their dishes. When the Europeans came to Canada they brought new techniques and new ingredients. For example the Europeans brought sugar over from Europe but sugar was expensive and hard to come by but alternatives were molasses, and honey. During WWII the options for desserts dwindled because of the war but apples were cheap and readily available and were incorporated into most dishes, sugar was expensive and rationed, which meant families were only allowed to have so much. One of Canada’s most popular desserts the Nanaimo bar, was popularized in the years following WWII and came from a long line of no bake desserts dating back to the beginning of the common era when Marcus Gavius Apicius described making a jelly with bread crumbs soaked in wine and cheese and then chilled in snow. More recent is the English trifle, made of stale sponge cake brushed with liquor, layers of , jam and cream on top which dates back to at least the sixteenth century. Different people have influenced the desserts in Canada which lead to the evolution of deserts.

There are many challenges in defining what makes a dessert Canadian. Some countries including France and China have a recognizable dessert or food. Canada does not have as recognizable of dessert because Canada is bustling with multiculturalism and different people. In Canada instead of suppressing different desserts and culture they celebrate differences in food and desserts. To identify a Canadian dessert look at the menu in a restaurant or a coffee shop and it is guaranteed that in at least one coffee shop or restaurant there will be a nanaimo bar or butter tart as an option to order. Another spot to look is at festivals or food trucks and if a dessert has an ingredient that is sourced from Canada included in its recipe it could be considered Canadian. If a particular dessert is in a cookbook for example the Toronto pie appeared in the Home Cookbook and was the best selling cookbook of the nineteenth century, now the Toronto pie is a regional favorite in Toronto. The difficulty in defining a Canadian dessert appears from the immense size of Canada and is further complicated by an aboriganal ancestry, a long history of immigration, and a multicultural population whose differences are celebrated rather than suppressed.

When people think of symbols of Canada desserts do not always come to mind but Canada has a rich variety of desserts which have evolved over time, became the most popular, and developed their own reason to be considered Canadian. Popular desserts are loved by most Canadians and some can not wait to sink their teeth into a Nanaimo bar. Desserts have changed over time because of the ingredients which have also changed such as sugar being more readily available which have made desserts more sweet and loved by all. With the evolution of desserts and the rise of the most popular, each popular dessert has developed a reason why it is Canadian. The desserts in Canada are always changing and being influenced by different people. In one hundred years the desserts in Canada may be drastically different from what they are today. The selection of dessert might dwindle or grow but the desserts in Canada are always changing.

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