What Kind of Grub do Canadians Eat? You ask?
To find out what Canadians eat it would be an advantage to know what a Canadian is. We could use some classifications of food and, for that matter, we should have an income scale and then and indication of what part of Canada the "Eaters" live in. There seem to be certain areas where proximity to the USA or isolation from the rest of Canada affects what goes on the table. History and ethnic origin have been the building blocks of Western fare, in particular. All these disclaimers having been made, let us see "what's for grits" in different parts of Canada.

The Great White North ...
If you think the price of food is high here in the South, you may want to give the Grocery Store down North a visit. The freight costs alone are enough to give you the blind staggers! Everything has to be protected from freezing so those out in "the Tent camps or Igloos" have to subsist mainly on Wild Game, flour, dried pasta, tea, sugar, peas, beans etc. The fact that in the Arctic and Sub Arctic, during the long cold winters, it takes 4200 calories per day for a working man to maintain health makes high fat content food, like Muck Tuk (Seal fat) and Arctic Char (oily fish), taste like candy to a body that is starved for fat generated body heat. The half-digested lichen in a Caribou's stomach is a Vitamin C-rich Salad. The Arctic Rabbit is so high in protein, that an extended survival diet would see you die of protein poisoning after 20 or so days. All of a polar bear is edible, except the liver, which will kill you with a gross overdose of Vitamin A. The inner bark of any pine/spruce will give you vitamin C to save you from scurvy. In place of potatoes the starch your body needs comes from heavy bread called Bannock. Local berries mixed into the Bannock provide natural sugar and enhance the bread-fried-in-fat flavour.

Newfoundland and Labrador ...
According to Newfie June, the folks on the Rock tend towards Moose and Cod (and other seafood), to supplement the main-landers' diet, especially when they are charged an arm and a rubber boot for imported beef and vegetables. Some of the delicacies enjoyed by almost all Newfs are Cod Tongue and Cod Cheeks. Fried on a galley stove and served with a mess of potatoes they should keep you jigging for Cod (when they return) for a long day. Booth, similar to scallops; Caplan and Seal flippers are also enjoyed.

PEI, NB, & Nova Scotia ...
Our Atlantic Provinces enjoy Moosehead beer, Boiled Dinners, Lobster and a wide variety of fish. Jacking Moose and Deer are also a pleasant way to pass the evening and reduce the food bill and then there are Fiddleheads and Blueberries. These people create something-called "Blueberry Grump", a delicious dumpling with bran and blueberries that will tickle your fancy. The diet here is probably the best in Canada. It is based on rural type food, such as free-range chickens and eggs and great thick soups with home made bread that's slathered with butter and a large dollop of Gramma preserves would make any "Downhomer" weep for joy. The McCain boys feed half the world chips with PEI and NB spuds. They haven't tackled the Quahog market yet.

Province of Quebec
Quebec has the Rural and the Urban. Those who work out in the northern area, again, depend on wild game and fish. All Quebecois seem to enjoy food based on what the early French settlers brought up their children with. The great thing about the French Kitchen is its willingness to experiment with every type of food brought into the province by its many African Francophone immigrants. One of the dishes spreading across North America is Poutine - French-Fries with shaved cheese and gravy (Goes straight to the arteries!). Pate, meat pies, Montreal bagels and smoked meats bring a different life to the sandwich. Maple syrup is good on anything but Beluga whale. The many Auberges (Inns) along the highways provide very distinct foods; many recipes having been handed down in the family for 200 years or more. If you enjoy good food, you will be welcomed. If they're not busy, the host or hostess will have a glass of wine with you. They make some of the finest breads and cheese in all of Canada.

Ontario.
In Ontario, and especially the Golden Triangle, but centered in Toronto, the only type of food you might have trouble getting is Tyrannosaurus Rex a la mode. If you reserve a week in advance, you can probably get that too. Toronto is thought of, as "a city of little towns" and this is quite true. The large numbers of ethnic enclaves provide some of the greatest varieties of economical eating experience one can find in North America. Immigrants traditionally have developed restaurants for their fellow immigrants. Unfortunately, when the non-immigrant finds them they often loose their ethnic character and then fail. Look in the Yellow Pages and see what Toronto offers. If you can't find it in "The Big Smoke", it's not edible! They even have Kosher Chinese restaurants and, if you drive outside the city, MAGNIFICANT corn on the cob (in season).

Look in the Yellow Pages and see what Toronto offers. If you can't find it in "The Big Smoke", it's not edible! They even have Kosher Chinese restaurants and, if you drive outside the city, MAGNIFICANT corn on the cob ( in season).

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta ...
Our Prairie Provinces also have a dietary base of ethnicity, but with higher meat content. Our grain fed beef is, without a doubt, the best in the world. Good western beef has white sweet fat and is fed good nourishing prairie hay over the winter.

A Westerner is never far from a Bar B. Q. As an aside, Bar B Queue comes from the early French occupation of England, circa 1066. The English cook would say "how'd you want dis ear sheep cooked?" and the French Lady of the castle would lose her cool and shriek at the cook, "Mon Dieu ~ Bar B Que. la mutton!" Which means, "Jam an iron bar up the sheep's tail section and roast it on the spit!"

If you want to see how your grandparents ate, visit a Hudderite colony when passing through the west. The Hutterites are related to the Amish in their basic beliefs. The woman cooks homegrown ingredients into very hearty meals for the men, who eat first and by themselves. Women and children eat after the men. The diet would kill a non-Hudderite in about two weeks. It is solid, working man's food, loaded with fat and cholesterol, which is burned off by these hard working people. This is comfort food from the 1800s

Pancake breakfasts are a year around get together device on the prairies. Besides pancakes/griddlecakes/flapjacks/flatbread/flannelcakes (or many other names), there are eggs, bacon, sausage, hamburger patties, beans, spicy chili, coffee laced with Rum, tea laced with Gin, orange juice laced with Champagne, etc. and, to top it off, hot apple or Saskatoonberry pie. These events are not held daily, except during Stampede week or during the fall Round up. If you're invited you're usually expected to dress western and on a ranch or farm to work for it.

British Columbia.
BCs population is heavily concentrated in the lower mainland (Vancouver) and on Vancouver Island. Fish food restaurants, although expensive, are plentiful and, generally, a great pleasure. Fish stocks are greatly diminished, but what is available is fresh. BC'ers like to say that they live in Lotus Land, although I never saw one restaurant that served Lotus flowers (but I have eaten them in the far east).

The tendency out there in BC leans toward health food and strange mushrooms (on the coast) In the Okanogan Valley the seniors retired there serve up meals from across Canada. Of course, fruit pies are everywhere. Montreal smoked meat sandwiches, and the local wine, which will make you walk funny and our two cultures blend in harmony!

Now let's look at some standard Canadian Food that joins us all together from Sea to Sea to Sea!

1. Chips
2. Hamburgers
3. Pizza
4. Chinese food (Dim Sum)
5. Pasta (all kinds)
6. Cheese
7. Jam Sandwiches (that's two pieces of bread jammed together with something weird jammed in the middle)
8. Chili(super hot)
9. Pies (any kind including meat)
10. Steaks, Pork Chops, really good sausage.
11. Very hard to find ~ Good Bread
12. Once in a while, Wild Game
13. Cold Beer with pickled eggs, pickled sausage, hot pepperonis, Beef Jerky, Steak and Kidney pie, and more beer at any B B Q where the "iron bar" is not pointing at me.

To complete your own personal survey, go for The Canadian Pacific Sunday Brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel. They have everything from "a baby's burp to a clap of thunder for you to try." This is where real Canadians take their ladies so they can enjoy a Sunday with no DISHES TO DO AFTERWARDS! All food is good from sea to sea to sea if she can get that on any Sunday.

Jack C. Downey CD
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Comments of Jack's article:

comments: What are your thoughts about Jack Downey's articles?

Loved it. Of course, there will be those in-bred portions of the populace of our southern neighbours that will fixate on the part about the lichens. LOL!!

Being a home grown Newfoundlander, I must add that you have forgotten/omitted one major staple of the Newfie's diet...at least in the month of March......seal.

And yes, in spite of what the press may tell you, we DO actually eat them. ;-)

Another is the "touten"...which is, simply, bread dough which has been pan fried. Usually served for breakfast.

Great article! All the best.

A. Boone, Canada

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Jack C. Downey CD
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