The West Coast is rich in seafood, especially salmon. Vancouver's Granville Island market is seafood heaven.
The British Columbia interior and Victoria Island shelter an expanding wine trade. Adventurous and expensive restaurants look to the new as much as to tradition.
Canada is a mosaic of cultures and cuisines so the "real" food is what you make of it. Chinese and Southeast Asian fusion and all sorts of South Asian curries express the nature of the country as clearly as dried buffalo. "Canadian bacon" is only called that in the USA, while poutine is as much fad as food. Eat them anyhow. Trust your taste buds rather than aribtrary categories.

We absolutely love seafood and will be spending a couple of days in Vancouver on our return trip South. Thanks for the tip on Granville! We were wondering if there were any "local" specialties when we were going North towards Alaska?

Note that you want Granville Island; Granville street is a long thoroughfare.

You have to try Naniamo Bars in situ. Your dentist will love
you for it!

IMO, Vancouver Island has the most restos serving 'local'
food - lamb, seafood, foraged greens, etc.

Salmon (and other saltwater fish) on both coasts.
Nova Scotia - best lobster ever, scallops
Northern Ontario - freshwater fish like pickerel and trout and my childhood favorite - smelts
Ontario and Quebec - wild blueberries, butter tarts (tart au sucre in Quebec), Maple Syrup
Quebec - poutine, really rich and filling meat pies (tourtiere)
Southern Ontario - in season - best peaches anywhere
Manitoba and northwestern Ontario - wild rice

Look for food locally sourced if possible. The variety is amazing.

Vancouver's known for salmon, sushi, and Hong Kong style Chinese. Going north along the coast towards Alaska, halibut, especially in Prince Rupert.

In Vancouver for seafood http://www.joefortes.ca/ a must!!

Im pretty sure butter tarts are Canadian. And of course maple syrup

We are currently in Banff and went to the brewery here...AMAZING! Our blog TheConstantRambler will be doing a write up for sure. I am looking forward to all the amazing seafood up the coast I am also very intrigued by butter tarts now

There's a difference between "Canadian food" in terms of items that originated somewhere in Canada, and food that's representative of Vancouver cuisine.

Maple syrup, butter tarts, poutine, etc. are staples of eastern Canadian cuisine, but they're certainly not representative of Vancouver's culinary identity. Kind of like somebody asking for "American food", and people telling them "Texas BBQ" or "Philly cheesesteak" - and then you discover they're going to Seattle.

Butter tarts are like pecan pies, without the pecans. They're rare in Vancouver, although you can probably find them at the Granville Island Public Market.

If you like beer, however, check out the Howe Sound Brewery in Squamish (on your way north to Whistler). Lots of delicious beer in Vancouver... check out the Alibi Room or St. Augustine's for a good selection of local craft beer.

Also... if you're going to Granville Island, do check out the Edible Canada bistro for an entirely Canadian dining experience: http://www.ediblecanada.com/bistro.php

(They also have a store that you can just pop into).

And check out Chocolate Arts nearby on W 3rd Avenue and Pine Street... right now they have an incredible pumpkin/praline chocolate made with local organic sugar pumpkins and rum (it's incredible!) http://www.chocolatearts.com/

And if you're looking for a memorable evening, reserve a dinner at Bishop's - one of the pioneers of locally-sourced menus:

http://www.bishopsonline.com/

Everybody knows that Canada doesn't really have its own unique food.

When was the last time somebody stopped you to ask:
"Where can I find a good Canadian restaurant?"


French Fries and Gravy doesn't count for much.

And heaven knows why we call anything "Canadian Bacon"...

Maybe you can find a fried Mars bar ??


And then of course there's Boston Pizza! (wait a minute...)

Maybe just have candy at mealtime - the candy counters in Canada are full of all sorts of neat things. Glosette Raisins are definitely happening.

NorthwestMale,

Canadian food is regional, just like American food is regional, inspired by local ingredients and local immigrant patterns. To write off the whole country as not having its own "unique food" isn't fair. You just have to bring it down to a regional level, and stop looking at the country as a homogenous mass; it's not.

It's more about the local food culture than one particular food item that can't be found anywhere else. For example, in Vancouver, it's entirely normal grab sushi for lunch, several times a week, for under $10 or have perpetual access to fresh Sockeye salmon, and make it a weekly dinner item. I have a feeling this isn't the food culture in NYC, for example. Montreal smoked meat sandwiches, steamed hot dogs and poutine is a part of the Montreal/Quebec diner scene... it's a part of that food culture. To write it off as not being unique as a Montreal food experience completely unfair. Ukrainian food and Alberta beef plays a large role in the diets of Alberta, Saskathewan and Manitoba... you get Americans visiting Canada totally perplexed at what a perogie is, and yet, perogies are a familiar comfort food to most Canadians. Greek donairs with a sweet sauce are huge part of the food culture in Halifax and Edmonton, but are unheard of elsewhere.

Anyhow... my point is, just because these food items can be found elsewhere in the world, doesn't mean they're no less significant of a proper regionally Canadian food culture.

<<Everybody knows that Canada doesn't really have its own unique food.>>

NorthwestMale, how did it take you four days to join this thread with your tired old rant about Canadian food? You're slipping.

BC_Robyn--good post!

Good point BC_Robyn. Canada does indeed have great regional differences. Lauren ... Newfoundland Labrador is in eastern Canada and has a very unique yet Canadian (since 1949) culture. Food included. Jiggs dinner, fisherman's brewis with scrunchions, toutons, fried cod tongues, flipper pie, partridgeberry pudding, jam jams, bakeapple tarts etc. etc. etc. have been part of our cultural experience for centuries. Come see!

That's just B.S. - trying to justify the unjustifiable.

Maybe, after all this time, hamburgers are a
"regional food" native to San Bernardino, California and/or to St. Louis!

When Canada's number one casual dining brand is named after an American city, well, you can pretty much determine the rest of the tale.


Trying to take credit for food stuffs brought by mass groups of immigrants, while in any way passing it off as your own regional cuisine is just a joke.

I mean, at least Texas can rightfully claim part of Tex-Mex.


Were there any authentic Canadian food stuffs of substance, you'd be able to go somewhere in the world and find a "Canadian restaurant".

These days, even in Canada, when a travel guidebook says:

"Cuisine: Canadian" many don't have a clue what to expect!

(yeah, maybe "...something with gravy" )

Here in Vancouver-Izakaya definitely.

I would call the foods prepared and presented by the native
peoples of Canada to be labelled Canadian cuisine without
any doubt. Bannock, pemmican, cedar-planked salmon, seaweeds,
oolichans, etc. Can't get more 'Canadian' than the dishes
prepared and presented by the original Canucks.

This mild-mannered Canadian would like to know how it's
possible to come out of the water railing against the
perceived mis-labelling of 'Canadian cuisine'...really?
Metaphorically foaming at the mouth over Boston Pizza
and gravy? Really?

Only one mention of Nanaimo bars - and it was misspelt! And you don't need to have it "in situ" - it's everywhere!
DON'T MISS THE NANAIMO BARS!

"Metaphorically foaming at the mouth over Boston Pizza
and gravy? Really?"



"Only one mention of Nanaimo bars......!?

Follow the Nanaimo Bar Trail all the way to a diabetic coma!

http://www.nanaimo.ca/assets/Business/PDFs/NanaimoBarTrail.pdf

NorthwestMale: A cogent argument indeed, but why stop at Canadian cuisine?

After all, there is nothing unique about Canada. Its culture--art, music, theatre, literature, films--is just a pale imitation of that of other lands. Its political institutions are borrowed from abroad. Its sports all originated elsewhere, and even the so-called national game of hockey was devised by some British Army officers over-wintering here with nothing else to do. Its languages, except for a few insignificant aboriginal ones, are all from other lands. In short there is nothing unique to Canada and to argue otherwise is, as you so aptly put it, to justify the unjustifiable.

So why doesn't Canada just submit to the inevitable and join the great republic that it borders and which is the source of everything great and wonderful (and unique to boot).

Why should Canada be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the War of 1812 when it should be regarding it as the great lost opportunity to become part of the shining city on the hill?Then at least we would be able to call our food "American" and no-one would dream of thinking otherwise.

I have one slight quibble with your flawless argument--Boston Pizza, the restaurant chain you mention, is by no means the largest Canadian fast-food chain. That Canadian icon, Tim Hortons (named after a real Canadian BTW) has ten times as many outlets.

I think Saskatoon Pie is Canadian- have never seen it anywhere else- and I have only seen it in the prairie provinces.

Real Canadian food? They have to be aboriginal. Whitefish, bannock and buffalo hump. These 3 items were served to the visiting royalties and on special occassions in the old days. They are all traditional western Canada fare. Salmon is more coastal to BC where Whitefish is more inland.

For people with a more modern taste, try buffalo burger, venison, elk sausage and other local specialties. Wash it down with a beer made from local hobs and barley.

Saskatoon berries jam is very good and would make a great souvenir.

Depending on what part of Western Canada you will go through, tehre is a strong culture / heritage of Ukrainian in westewrn Canada (early settlers and farmers). The Ukrainian food there is better than in the Ukraine (better quality of product)

" Wash it down with a beer made from local hobs"

Make that hops -Beer is made with hops.

It's a typo ... ... many more mistakes on the same post ... fingers not working well ...

Hi!

My parents are Canadian and I grew up about 30 minutes south of the Canadian border, 45 minutes south of Vancouver. For the holidays, we had butter tarts always, sipped Murchies tea, we ate haggis at Christmas for my Scottish cousin-in-law, shortbread cookies, Nanaimo bars, Coffee Crisp chocolate bars, Alberta beef, Saskatoon berry jam, marmalade, McIntosh toffee, and recently, the Asian and East Indian cuisine is huge in Vancouver. Most of the fish in British Columbia was very fresh, swimming just last night, as my Alberta-born mother would say. Seafood is spectacular. Find a small German delicatessen and get a sandwich on water bread. We never ate our French fries with gravy and/or cheese. We would eat at White Spot, which is a Canadian family dining chain. Everyone swears by Tim Horton donuts and coffee, but I remain unconvinced, though it is certainly a Canadian tradition.

Lots of fun - great question!