The final part of my Canada Day long weekend series includes a mixture of quintessential Canadian foods and dishes as well as terminology and fun food-related facts. Most of these things are from experience, so please leave a comment if I’ve made a mistake or left something out.
Miscellaneous Canadian Foods
- Cheese curds
- Poutine
- Montreal smoked meat
- Moose meat
- Habitant canned pea soup
- Peameal (aka Canadian) bacon
- Meat pie/tourtiere
Food Terminology
Canadians refer to napkins as serviettes.
In Canada, Kraft macaroni and cheese is branded and referred to as Kraft Dinner (abbreviated KD).
Based on observation alone (please correct me if I’m wrong), the word barbecue seems to be used differently in Canada than in the states. We refer to the actual outdoor grilling device (whether propane or charcoal) as a barbecue, and when you’re making food using it, you are barbecuing. A summer outdoor gathering featuring food cooked on the barbecue is also called a barbecue; as far as I know, Americans call this a cook-out. In the U.S., the term barbecue is the process of slow roasting meat over low heat, whereas the word grilling means cooking food relatively quickly on a hot grill. Even more confusing is that Americans refer to the actual meat being cooked as barbecue.
We call it pop, not soda.
We call them chocolate bars, not candy bars.
Miscellaneous Food-Related Canadiana
Milk in Canada is commonly sold in bags – I didn’t know bagged milk was a Canadian thing until last weekend. Now that I think about it, it seems pretty silly to have to purchase a special milk jug to place the bags in before you can pour it.
The legal drinking age in Ontario is 19, and 18 in Quebec. I’m usually slightly offended when asked to show ID in the states because, in my mind, that means I look like a high school student (I’m 26 and typically wearing business attire while travelling).
We put vinegar on our french fries, both white and malt. Although this is probably an English thing rather than Canadian, most restaurants provide vinegar on the table; this doesn’t seem to be the case in the U.S.
Do you have a favourite Canadian food or would like to share a uniqely Canadian food fact? Leave a comment!
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