O Canada! Our home and native land. Well it would be if I was Canadian. It is Canada Day today and I decided to celebrate our cousins of the Commonwealth by cooking up some Canadian culinary delights for my chums!
I travelled to Canada in 2009 for my good friend Tim's wedding. And although I only got to see one city (shout out to all the Edmontonians!) I thoroughly understand why Tim chooses to live there (another reason would be of course his wonderful wife Florence). Edmonton is a very scenic city. Situated in the lush North Saskatchewan River valley, the North Saskatchewan River bisects the city from it's origin in the close by Jasper National Park. Surrounded by prairies and forests, Edmonton is a nirvana for adventurous types. Or those looking to strike it rich in the oil fields around Edmonton.
But for me it is Edmonton's commercial attractions and the general way of life that sells the city. Edmonton has an IKEA (although I didn't get to go to it), a Costco (my first foray into the phenomenon), Tim Hortons (genius for inventing Maple doughnuts and Timbits), and of course a myriad of Poutine stockists. I had my first native Poutine experience at the Mecca of shopping centres, West Edmonton Mall. The largest shopping mall in North America, it contains an amusement park, a waterpark, a seal show, an ice skating rink, a mini-golf course, an indoor shooting range, a hotel, a petting zoo, an indoor skate park, a few nightclubs, a chapel, and 4 radio stations. It even has themed areas like Bourbon St, Europa Blvd and Chinatown. It seriously was like Disneyland for shopping addicts! However, what I became addicted to whilst in Canada was A&W Root Beer! Could not get enough of it.
It was my birthday whilst I was in Canada and Tim took me to Outback Steakhouse to make me feel more at home. A very loose Australian themed restaurant, it was comical to see how Americans perceive the Australian way of life. Items on the menu include Walkabout Soup, Alice Springs Chicken, Sydney's Sinful Sundae, and Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. One thing that wasn't comical was that I found a new love...the Bloomin' Onion. I won't even describe it to you, but if you've never experienced one, you need to go find one and devour it NOW!
Since I've been home I have scoured for the products which I loved during my Canadian times, and I have found a few. Thankfully I have found A&W Root Beer and a Bloomin' Onion, but have resigned the hope that I will ever find Molson Canadian or a Tim Horton equivalent in Australia. So if there is any generous Canadians out there that would be willing to send me some, I promise I will construct a place of worship in your honour!
Some countries have dishes that they don't perceive to be their national dish, but the rest of the world may. Poutine is one of those dishes. Largely affiliated with Quebec, however can be found across Canada, from fast-food chains and street stalls to diners and pubs. Poutine is a dish of fresh cheese curds placed atop some French fries and then smothered with brown sauce or beef gravy! Sounds delicious? Of course it does! If you answered no, you need to be evaluated and receive 500cc's of Poutine STAT! Any aversion people have to the notion of Poutine will melt away after the first forkful (which leads to the first bucketful!)
Enjoy, or as they say in Canada, Enjoy! (ou bon appétit, si vous venez du Québec)
Need some delicious comfort food?: http://www.montrealpoutine.com/recipes.html
Recipe to make your own homemade cheese curds: http://www.ehow.com/how_5106352_make-cheese-curds-poutine.html
Difficulty: 4
Appearance: 4
Taste: 5
TOTAL: 13
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
Note: Difficulty is scaled in reverse to the other categories, where 1 = was extremely difficult to make, and 5 = was easy to make.
There was not a great deal of difficulty in making the chips. Chopping the potatoes with a chipper makes it a lot easier. The interesting process was making the curds from scratch. It didn't take that long and it was cool to see the milk transform before your eyes. You need to make it the night before though and the use of cheesecloth to rid all the whey out of the curds. And the gravy can be as simple or as difficult as you want. A regular instant gravy is fine, but a tasty gravy made from stock is brilliant!
There may not be a lot of colour to Poutine (white, brown and gold), and it may look greasy to some, but to me it symbolises the epitome of comfort food. The method of double frying creates a crunchier chip, which is juxtaposed to the softness of the cheese curds. You can tell if the curds are fresh if they "squeak" when chewed. But it is the beef gravy which gives of an irresistible aroma, that can be smelled rooms away and directs people to the culinary divination. Warm, crunchy and cheesy all rolled up into one. Comforting success!
The day of celebration for our Commonwealth cousins was a roaring and fun filled success! The poutine was delicious of course, and it was easily washed down with some Canadian Club, which for Chad and I it is the boisson de choix! But the surprise of the night was the revelation of the Nanaimo Bars. I asked my friend Tim why they had not introduced me to Nanaimo Bars whilst I was in Canada, but he had never heard of them, so I can forgive that. I highly recommend those that like chocolate and custard in slice form to find the recipe and make them quickly! The only thing missing was some awes Canadian entertainment [read: any of the Degrassi series], and of course some A&W Root Beer and Molson Canadian! O Canada, we stand of guard for thee!
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