Tuesday 4 September 2012

Guest Post - Jessica from Laces and Lattes. A food journey through Canada

I am so pleased to introduce my first guest blogger. Jessica, owner and author of Laces and Lattes kindly agreed to write a post all about Canadian foods. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!


This is Jessica from www.lacesandlattes.com. I was so excited when Tracey asked me to write a guest post for her blog talking about Canadian cuisine because I lived in England for a semester last year and I had a lot of fun comparing what I ate at home to other cultures. 


I should tell you first off, after the list I am about to share with you, you may think that Canadians have no sense of healthy living or food choices. Wrong! The area where I live is surrounded by gorgeous farmland and there are fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere! I just need to walk up the road a bit and there are fresh eggs and small quaint vegetable stands at the end of farmer’s driveways where you can drop a few coins in and walk away with the best that Ontario can offer! Our national foods, however, are a different sort. 



  Maple Syrup. And by that, I mean the fresh stuff from the tree, not the sugary confection in the grocery stores. When I was a child, my grandfather owned a “sugar bush” and I would wander from tree to tree, gathering sap in steel buckets and carrying it to the boiler. After it was complete, we would drink fresh, hot syrup – absolutely plain. Perhaps not great for cavities, but an absolute party in your mouth! To be truly Canadian, it is a treat to make ‘Snow Taffy”, which is to pour hot maple syrup on (clean) snow, wait until it hardens and enjoy! I love maple syrup as a natural sweetener, on top of pancakes and waffles or on top of oatmeal! 



Bannok – I lived in North Ontario for a summer, surrounded by huge rock faces, wild blueberries and the best camping trips in the world. Bannok is an Aboriginal recipe and is a versatile bread that is perfect for camping trips. It can be made in the oven, or you can put the ingredients in a bag, find a clean stick and roast it over the fire. Delicious with fresh Ontario berry jam!




Poutine: Many people scratch their heads at this National treasure of ours. It sounds wretched but it actually delicious and our best poutine can be found in Quebec! It is piping hot French fries, covered in fresh cheese curds with hot gravy poured over top, which melts the cheese. Artery clogging delight. 





Kraft Dinner: I have written on this subject before, and unfortunately, our national food doesn’t change. Kraft dinner is pasta shells with a fake cheese sauce. Many people love it and children love it with hot dogs cut up into it. Me? I let them enjoy it. It is not our best food forward. 



Beaver Tails: Bought at every skating rink and ski lift, Beaver Tails are an oblong shaped pastry dough that is fried and covered in sugar or other topping such as peanut butter, jam, nutella or fruit. Enjoyed mainly during winter sports. (And for good reason, year long consumption would cause a heart attack!) 


I hope you have enjoyed this “drive through” snap shot of popular Canadian cuisine. I love travelling around the world and trying new foods and bringing back a piece of each region to create my own version of Canadian cuisine.  

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