Food
Canada is a country of
immigrants; consequently, the cuisine is a mix of many
cultures. [E1][F1][S1]
Canada doesn’t have a “national”
cuisine as such. There are typical Canadian
dishes.
If you ask a
Canadian "What food is uniquely Canadian?" most will mention “poutine"
[E1][F1], a 20th
century mixture from Quebec
that combines french fries with cheese curds and gravy.
The
traditional
cuisine varies from British Columbia (Salmon & Wild
Rice, and Nanaimo Bars [E1][S1])
to Newfoundland (Cod Cakes and fish cheeks),
to Native dishes (maple sugar pie [E1][S1])
to French Canadian Foods (Tourtiere [E1][F1], Yellow Pea Soup).
A typical
Canadian production is Maple syrup [E1][F1][S1][I1]. It is
a sweetener made from
the sap
of maple
trees. It is most often eaten with pancakes
or waffles,
but is also put on everything from ice cream to corn bread. It is also
used as
an ingredient in baking
or in preparing desserts.
Popular ethnic cuisines include the
omnipresent Italian and Chinese restaurants. In larger
centres, you'll likely find Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, German,
Middle
Eastern, and Greek cuisine.
Canadians are important
producer of beer. Americans may
find Canadian beer to be strong (in flavour, not alcohol content);
Canadians, who are used to a stronger flavour in their beer, feel that
American
beer is too much like water. And Europeans might prefer
the stronger
choices among the Canadian beers. The most popular Canadian beers are Molson
Canadian and Labatt's Blue;
Molson is the oldest brewery in North America, established in
1786 in Montreal.