For centuries, the citizens of Ontario have
farmed and tended vineyards and orchards. In this
region, Yukon Gold potatoes were first bred, McIntosh
apples were discovered and ice wine made from
frozen grapes gained international status. Cattle
ranches, cider mills, cranberry bogs, fish-smoking
houses and wineries dot the landscape. In trendy,
cosmopolitan Toronto, ethnic cuisine abounds. Here
a food lover can find authentic German sausage,
molasses shoofly pie, apple fritters, baked beans,
scones, oat bread, smoked fish and cipaille, or sea
pie (a layered meat pie).
Quebec’s multifaceted, multicultural cuisine is
built on a history of long winters and strong ties to
France. Venison and quail, waterfowl, nuts, sturgeon,
eel, root vegetables, buckwheat, pork, goats, lamb
and indigenous corn, beans, squash and maple syrup
are the essence of the land’s gastronomic fare. Recipes
proliferate for onion soups, fish chowders, country
patés, pickled vegetables and ketchup aux tomates
rouges (chili sauce).
Foods from the Atlantic provinces of
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
and New Brunswick center around one-pot meals
of boiled beef and root vegetables, stews, chowders
and sea harvests. Dried cod is said to have originated
in this rugged land. Cod, lobster, snow crab, sea
scallops and clams are dietary staples, as are dried
peas, root vegetables, lingonberries, oats, beef, maple
syrup and molasses. Zest is added with chowchow
(a spicy mixture of green tomatoes, salt, onions,
vinegar, brown sugar and pickling spices), chutney,
sauerkraut and mincemeat.
Canadian Costco warehouses stretch from
coast to coast. While many items in the warehouses
are similar to those found in the United States,
there are a number of regional specialties: poutine
(a dish of French fries, warm gravy and melted
cheese curds served at Costco Food Courts in
eastern Canada), Clamato (tomato clam juice),
peameal bacon (Canadian bacon) and cheese curd
(East Coast only), Saskatoon berry jam, BeeMaid
honey, Alberta beef, back bacon (akin to ham)
and Quebec maple syrup. AE
