Tuques, Two-Fours, and Tourtieres: Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Canada, Eh? (An encore presentation) Week 4: Canadian Cuisine & More Fun Facts Dr. Danny Szpiro [email protected] Course Overview • Goals • Mine: share some interesting information about the United State’s greatest ally and, historically, largest trading partner (until quite recently) • Yours? • Structure • 4 sessions: History, Culture, Fun facts, Cuisine • Interaction – lots, eh? Canadian Cuisine • Regional treats • Well, Quebec treats, mostly • Desserts • Some Canadian, some borrowed from the UK • Canadian versions of (sort of) familiar foods Regional Treats: Quebec • LaFleurs, La Belle Province • Poutine: a purist’s definition (3 ingredients) • Hand-cut, chunky, flexible (ideally) french fries • Poutine gravy (chicken-based, but then adjusted) • Squeaky cheese curds Regional Treats: Quebec (cont’d) • Montreal bagels • St. Viateur vs. Fairmont • Smaller and more dense than NY bagels • Sweeter, too • Montreal smoked meat • Schwartz’s on St. Laurent • Spicer and more dense than pastrami Regional Treats: Quebec (cont’d) • Tourtiere • Different types of fillings regionally (pork, game, fish) • Spiced (cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg) • Buttery, flaky crust • Quebec pea soup • Yellow split pea soup • Garnished with ham Regional Treats (cont’d) • First Nations Bannock • Based on Scottish origins; unleavened barley or oatmeal dough • Combined with indigenous cuisine in many regions • Heavy and dense when baked, fluffier when fried • Recently going through commercialization in Canada Desserts: Quebec & Sugaring-Off • Traditional spring event when maple sap starts to “run” • Popular in other areas where maple syrup is produced • In French, “cabane a sucre” (sugar shack) • Usually, breakfast event where everything is smothered in maple syrup (eggs beans, etc…) Canadian Desserts • Nanaimo Bars • No-bake, layered treat • Crumb base, custard icing center, chocolate ganache top • Butter Tarts • Butter, sugar, syrup, egg, baked in pastry shell • Beaver Tails • Fried dough, flattened • Many toppings! Borrowed Sweets • Smarties • Kind of like M&M’s but smaller (thinner?) • You decide • Coffee Crisp • Originally from UK as Wafer Crisp • 1938 Coffee-flavored wafer coated in chocolate Canadian Variations • KD - Rarely referred to as “mac and cheese” • Canadians eat 55% more of this than Americans • Out of 7 million boxes sold weekly globally, 1.5 million in Canada Canadian Variations (cont’d) • The Bloody Caesar • Preparation: Rim a highball glass with the juice from the lime wedge and a combination of celery salt. Add the vodka and clamato juice. Season with pepper, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces to taste. Stir well. Garnish with a celery stick. Canadian Variations (cont’d) • All dressed potato chips • The flavour combines the potato chip flavours of barbecue, ketchup, sour cream and onion, and salt and vinegar • In 2015, American food manufacturer Frito-Lay began selling the all-dressed variety of their Ruffles potato chip in the United States. Finally: Bacon • American Canadian bacon • Canadian peameal bacon • Back bacon • wet-cured pork loin from • pork loin from the back of the back of the hog that the pig has been trimmed of fat • derived from the same cut and rolled in cornmeal, used for pork chops creating a yellow crust Alcohol by Volume vs by Weight • ABV x 0.8 = ABW • Both are 5.0% ABV • Mainstream brands in both countries range between 4.0-6.0% and average around 5.0% • Some specialty beers with higher levels in both countries Canada Fun Facts: The Flag (cont’d) Canada Fun Facts: The Flag • When was the current flag of Canada adopted? • For extra points, what was it before? Thoughts? Comments? • I hope you had fun, eh? • I hope we all get to visit Canada again real soon, eh? • Until then, don’t be a hoser, eh? Sorry!.