Canada’s traditional food, often diverse, is distinguished by regions and determined by the people and visitors who first settled in the various areas. Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, the staple along these scenic coastlines is seafood based. There are more meals involving meats the further inland you travel.
Whilst exploring these traditional foods, we uncover interesting success stories that have left their mark on Canada’s foodscape. In keeping with modern times, you will find many traditional recipes altered to fit in with the times, with surprising results. Loosen up your belts as we take a journey through some of Canada’s most exciting and enticing offerings.
Canada’s traditional food
Just like its scenery, Canada’s traditional food has a wide range of origins. From the indigenous peoples that first occupied these lands to the immigrants that brought their cultures with them, these foods are entwined with the long-standing history. Along its coastal towns, lobster fisheries started trading as far back as the 1890s, when it was still unknown and inexpensive. Whilst soups such as the split pea soup can trace their origins to the French migrants from the 17th century, on the other hand, there’s the bannock, a favourite flatbread that can trace its roots to Scotland. This is the diverse landscape of Canada’s food that is sometimes unexpected but very often tasty.
Poutine
It goes without saying that poutine is one of the most famous Canadian foods. It’s a fine example where simple ingredients are combined to create magic on a plate. This humble plate of crispy French fries topped with cheese curds before it’s smothered in gravy is the height of comfort food and can be found almost everywhere in Canada and the world over. A dish that creates controversy, with many laying claim to its creation, there’s no doubt that it was first eaten in the late1950s in rural Quebec. It’s thought to have spread to other parts of the country in the 1990s. By the 1970s, versions of it had reached New York; not bad for a plate of fries and cheese with gravy poured over it to keep it warm. This is how it’s thought to have morphed into the dish it is today, becoming the Canadian national food.
It may have started its life as a street food or snack, but you’ll now find variations in high-end restaurants that include bacon, chicken or even lobster. To sample authentic versions of it, Quebec City is where to go. Here you’ll find all sorts of restaurants and fast-food chains dishing it up; Frite Alors is a good one. Head to the venues in the trendy Montcalm or Limoilou districts. But if you are in Montreal, then La Banquise is without a doubt where to go for some of the most famous food in Canada.
Bannock
We can’t talk about Canadian traditional food without mentioning the bannock. A flatbread made with flour, water and fat, you will now find variations that use milk, salt and sugar. This delicious bread comes either baked, producing a dense bread, or a lighter, fluffier version that is fried. It also comes with a range of toppings, including bacon amongst others. Thought to have been introduced into Canada by Scottish migrants in the 18th and 19th centuries, the old bannock was baked using oatmeal. Locals adapted it using wheat flour, corn flour and local plants to suit their own tastes. It’s now become a popular Canadian food, with bakeries around the country dishing it up in various forms.
In Vancouver, Salmon ‘n’ Bannock Restaurant, an indigenous-owned restaurant, serves this delicious bread with outlandish toppings with outstanding results. What sounds better than a bannock topped with sauteed mushrooms, melted cheese and sage blueberries doused with bison gravy? They even have gluten-free versions, which you can enjoy simply with jam.
Nova Scotia Lobster Roll
With an impressive coastline, the cuisine of Canada is permeated with some of the best seafood in the world. Ranging from smoked Atlantic salmon to the more decadent East Coast lobster, you’ll be spoilt for choice. It’s therefore not surprising that one of the favourite Canadian rolls involves seafood: the Nova Scotia lobster roll. Even though the first listings of this delicious roll appear on a menu in a restaurant in Connecticut in the 1920s, lobster in a bun is thought to have been served by fishers in New England as early as the 1890s.
However, it didn’t become popular until 1993, when the McLobster was born. Now, you can’t go anywhere in Nova Scotia without finding this popular Canadian food. If you can’t get enough of it or don’t know where to start, check out the Nova Scotia Lobster Trail; it details all the impressive spots, around 45 of them, where you can indulge to your fill.
Montreal Bagel
New York may claim to have some of the best bagels, but in Canada, the Montreal bagel reigns supreme. If the question “what do Canadians eat?” has ever crossed your mind, then this is it; well, amongst other things too, but this is iconic. It’s denser, thinner and sweeter than the NY version, as here it’s dunked in honey before baking in a wood-fired oven. Ever present on almost any breakfast menu, how better to enjoy it than served warm from its very source?
The best place to have your Montreal bagel is of course in Montreal and more precisely at Fairmont Bagel. This bakery has been running since 1949 and is most probably the oldest in town. Apart from the classic bagel, which comes sprinkled with sesame seeds, modern variations include chocolate chip and blueberry bagels. That’s your sweet tooth taken care of. What’s more, they are open every day of the week, 24 hours a day. Otherwise, pick up a cheesy one from the Nosherz deli and head for a picnic at the nearby Yitzhak Rabin Park.
Peameal Bacon
One of the best Canadian delicacies, peameal bacon, was invented by one William Davies from England in 1854. Wanting to find ways to preserve his pork loins for export, he found that they travelled better and kept longer if rubbed in crushed yellow peas. These days, it’s made with lean pork rolled in corn meal, which gives it its distinct colour. Not only is it leaner than normal bacon, but it’s also much more succulent.
Toronto serves up some of the best Canadian dishes with this speciality. Carousel Bakery is thought to have created the first peameal bacon sandwich in the 1960s, using trimmings from a nearby butcher. Serving it in a bun with honey mustard, it became popular, so it only makes sense that you should try yours here.
Montreal Smoked Beef
Hot on the heels of the peameal bacon is the smoked beef sandwich, and it’s not just any old sandwich. The Montreal smoked beef sandwich is made with cured beef, not unlike the pastrami, that’s been cured in a range of spices for about a week. The meat is then smoked before steaming to produce a perfectly tenderised scrumptious piece of beef.
Typically, the meat is then layered between two slices of rye bread and spread with a piquant yellow mustard to create a lip-smacking sandwich; then add a pickled gherkin to complete the flavour explosion. This is easily one of Canada’s famous foods. Head to Schwartz Deli in Montreal, which has been running since 1928 and has become a cultural institution.
Halifax Donair
If you head to Halifax, as of 2015, the city’s official food is the donair. This popular snack is favoured by night owls and is perfect to soak up any alcoholic indulgences. Made with shaved pieces of beef roasted from a rotating vertical skewer, they are then stuffed onto warm pitta bread. To complete the ensemble, tomatoes and onions are added with a dousing of a sweet garlicky sauce. It’s very much a celebration of an immigrant craving food from his home country, in this case, Greece. There is therefore no better place to have this tasty morsel of a wrap sandwich than at King Donair, where it was invented and first served in 1973.
French Canadian Tourtiere
For classic French-Canadian food, there’s none better than the tourtiere, Quebec’s signature dish. Made with minced meat, this double-crusted pie is filled with potatoes and onions and spiced with cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. You’ll find it often served with a chilli dip accompanied by homemade tomato sauce. Although traditionally served during the holidays, this morish pie can be enjoyed any time of the year.
Aux Anciens Canadiens, a restaurant based in the oldest house in Quebec, serves authentic Canadian dishes using local produce, tourtiere amongst them. You won’t find a better environment to enjoy it than amongst the collector’s items and antiques found in the house that the author Philippe Aubert de Gaspe once occupied. It’s a Quebecois institution.
Split Pea Soup
With the type of temperatures Canada experiences, especially in the winter, it comes as no surprise that some traditional Canadian meals should include soups. Nothing is more comforting and warming than a bowl of soup. The split pea soup, with Quebecois origins, is earthy, creamy and utterly delicious.
Originally made with split peas and ham hock, it’s thought to have come to Quebec with French immigrants as early as the 17th century, later spreading to other parts of Canada as people moved to find work. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it’s now made using pork or ham, especially at Easter when there’s leftover ham after the Easter celebration. Here, it’s often served with doughboys, a large dumpling that can be used to scoop up the tasty soup. There’s no better companion.
Caesar Cocktail
It’s perhaps only right to mention a drink that’s favoured by most Canadians, especially for brunch: the Caesar cocktail. Attaining the emblem of Canada’s national cocktail, just like the bloody Mary, it’s made with vodka, tomato juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. That’s where the similarities end, however. In Canada, the garnishes are what it’s become famous for.
These range from simple onion rings, sliders and hot dogs to even a whole roast chicken. Whilst in Vancouver, the recommended place to consume yours is with brunch at Core on Davie, a gastropub that opened in 2007 and has become a firm favourite with both locals and travellers alike. Try the corn dog with dill and honey mustard accompanied by onion rings.
Maple Taffy
At the very top of Canada’s sweet treats is the maple taffy, made with one of Canada’s biggest exports: maple syrup. A toffee of sorts, the treat is made with hot maple syrup poured over snow, which causes it to harden immediately. Using a popsicle stick, you roll it into the mixture for your gooey morsel to enjoy as you please. It’s without a doubt the most common of Canada’s famous foods, especially during the winter months. Quebec is known for its sugar shacks and is the best place to try this popular treat whilst on your ski break.
Ketchup Chips
For those who prefer a savoury snack, then look no further than ketchup chips, a typical Canadian food snack. Though the origins aren’t known, it’s been a favourite of Canadians from as early as the 1970s and comes in many shapes and forms; thick and crispy, baked or even crinkly. The flavours, as many Canadian foods are, may sometimes be shocking. They range from your typical salt or vinegar to BBQ and even poutine – who can resist?
Saskatoon Berry Pie
Out in the Canadian prairies, there is an abundance of berries, one of which not only gave a town its name but is also one of the main ingredients of a loved Canadian desert: the Saskatoon berry pie. A bluish-purple berry, it’s got a distinct flavour and was a favourite of the indigenous people, who harvested and preserved it to be used in the winter months in pies and meats. Saskatoon berry pie is made with a pie pastry filled with these delectable berries, sugar and butter before being baked in the oven. Once baked, the pie oozes with the combined ingredients, leaving one of the tastiest pies around. Enjoy it in the summer months between June and August, when the berries are in season, with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.
The Berry Ban, on the picturesque South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, is where to indulge your sweet tooth. Though open seasonally, it’s well worth a visit, especially if you’re looking for things to do with the family.
Nanaimo Bars
Another town that this time gives its name to a favourite Canadian dessert is Nanaimo, in British Columbia. The dessert in question is none other than the Nanaimo bar. This is a delightful three-layered dessert that requires no baking and will satisfy any chocolate cravings. The bottom layer is made from a crispy coconut biscuit base that is topped with a thick custard before being crowned with a chocolate ganache.
What you’re left with are contrasting layers of crunchiness, soft gooeyness and chocolate heaven. Its origins are far ranging but it’s thought to go as far back as WWII. They may have been made popular much later, in the 1970s, by one Susan Mendelson, who first commercialised them to pay her way through college.
Butter Tarts
When it comes to Canadian desserts, often simplicity does it. Take the butter tart, for example; soft and flaky on the outside whilst oozing delicious gooeyness on the inside. It’s made simply by filling a pastry case with sugar, butter, syrup and eggs prior to baking, with tremendous results. Of course, like many foods with regional variations, it evokes much debate on whether or not to add raisins. Why not make up your own mind by trying both? The best opportunity to do just that comes in Ontario, courtesy of the Wellington County Butter Tart Trail, which features roughly 17 wonderful spots to sample it. Wellington is also home to a provincial Butter Tart Champion. On the trail, you’ll find a range of fillings from pecans to blueberries to white chocolate. How decadent.
If you’re a foodie, then the following articles are must-reads. Learn more about food in Italy with our articles on Italian street food and Italian food traditions. When planning a trip to Germany, don’t forget to check out our blog on traditional food in Germany for the diverse foods available before you head out. The melting pot that is Dubai has foods with many interesting origins, as detailed in our foods of Dubai article. Spain is, of course, also well known for its food culture, so read all about it in our article of the best traditional food of Spain.
