Author / Rhonda Cox

by Rhonda Cox

Top Tasty Canadian Dishes

Canada has their fair share of great cuisine from sweet and salty dishes to their version of the Bloody Mary in the Caesar. Here are some of the top tasty Canadian dishes from Canada.

Poutine


Poutine is a dish with origins in French Canada and has become known as the countries signature dish. It made up of peppery meat gravy smothered on top of cheese curds and French fries. The famous side dish was thought to be invented in 1950, and several small towns in Quebec claim to have invented the dish. You will find Poutine at most restaurants in Canada, and they even have it on the menu at McDonald’s.

Canadian Bacon

Canadian Bacon is known in Canada as pea-meal bacon but called Canadian Bacon in the rest of the world. This type of bacon comes from lean pork loin that has not only been brined but also rolled in cornmeal as well. This is different than typical bacon, which comes from the belly of a pig. Around 1900 pork was exported from Canada to England and to preserve the meat on the voyage it was rolled in yellow peas, but now it is rolled in cornmeal.

Split Pea Soup


Split Pea Soup has an interesting story as for 400th anniversary of the travels of French explorer Samuel de Champlain chef Marc Miron was interested in what the early explorers ate in their new land. Back in the day, the explorers would use things that could last on a long journey such as cured meats and dried peas. Vegetables were added and out came split pea soup, which is still very popular these days not only around Canada but in the United States as well.

Tourtière

Tourtière is a French-Canadian dish that dates back hundreds of years. It is a flaky pie, and the name of Tourtière is thought to be derived from the ship that it was made in. Usually, the pie has ground meat, herbs and spices, and potatoes. Different kinds of meat can be used to make the dish, and on the coastal regions, some will even use fish. Tourtière is very popular during the holiday season.

BeaverTails

BeaverTails are basically a doughnut that does not have a hole and has been flattened. This is a very popular Canadian treat, and while invented by Graham Hooker’s family, who had the recipe for decades it was not introduced to the public until the late 1970’s. In 1979 Hooker opened the first BeaverTails outlet in Ottawa. The tasty treat can be topped with several things such as sugar and Nutella.

Butter Tarts

Butter Tarts are very rich and sweet and very popular throughout Canada. The origins of the tar-tar thought to be around 1900, and it is a delicate tart that crumbles easily and has a cream filled centre of butter, sugar, and eggs. Many places that serve butter tart also add raisins, and you can find them at most bakeries and coffee shops.

Caesar

The Caesar is the one drink on the list and was invented in 1969 in Calgary by restaurant manager Walter Chell. It is kind of like a Bloody Mary, as the ingredients are vodka, a salt rim, Worchester sauce, and Clamato juice. Motts is the company that makes Clamato, and they have claimed that Canada makes in excess of 350-million Caesars annually.

by Rhonda Cox

Gourmet Cuisine – A Breakfast for Kings

Forget gourmet cuisine, Michelin-star food adventures. Forget about being served a few carrot strips with a bisque and pumpkin flavored ice cream, all for the not-too-paltry sum of a couple of hundred notes. There are greasy food adventures to be had. Most Brits love a traditional English breakfast. In fact, the Full English is one of the most popular breakfasts in the world. As it spreads across the globe, largely via expats and hotels/restaurants catering to expats, the Full English Breakfast is also becoming the focal point for a lot of health nuts. Health experts are telling Brits what they should and shouldn’t eat for breakfast, and how much of it to eat. The owners of greasy spoons up and down the country aren’t paying any attention to that, though. In fact, the Full-Full-Full English is now one of many food adventures that die-hard fans of this breakfast can now enjoy.

What’s in a Full English?

Lacking a proper name, what we call the Full-Full-Full English is a monster meal. Enough food for 2 or 3 days (sometimes more), these behemoth breakfasts are seen as more of a challenge and competition than a true food binge. So, what is the challenge and what kind of adventure are you likely to have taking it on?

For starters, the average Full English will have a few rashers of bacon, a couple of sausages, a fried egg (or two), hash browns, mushrooms, baked beans, toast, fried tomatoes, and possibly some black pudding (blood sausage) if you’re so inclined, typically costing under a tenner. Not bad for a breakfast worth over 1,500 calories. This hearty meal should see you through most of the weekend, which is when Brits tend to eat it. However, the Big Breakfast has now become the focus of many restaurants who aim to fill their tables with eager and food-loving competitors who swear they can take down a monster.

The Breakfast Adventure

There are many restaurants across the UK which will hand you a spot on their Wall of Fame and possibly the chance to eat for free, if you can finish their own take on the Full English. Before you think that this sounds easy, though, have a listen to this…

Four slices of fried toast, four large eggs, six pork or beef sausages, six strips of bacon, hash browns, slices of black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms and fried tomatoes. Britain’s Biggest Breakfast. The cost, £20, and the venue? The Wonder Café in Hillingdon, near London. If you can eat the whole lot in 45 minutes, it’s yours on the house.

Believe it or not, it has been done – once. Emma “the Human Hoover” Dalton managed to wolf down the 4,000-calorie behemoth live on This Morning, in a cool, calm and collected twenty-one minutes and thirty-four seconds.

Other venues offer similar challenges up and down the country. There is even a 9,000-calorie beast known as The Monster available in Rochdale’s Castle Café, although admittedly that offers up burgers and chips/fries, too.

Whilst many doctors will tell you to forget about this food adventure, it is something that many people find fascinating. Why stuff your face with red-hot chilis and spicy sauces in competitions, when you can eat your favorite breakfast (possibly for free) in one of Britain’s most loved and delicious food adventures?