What are some classic Canadian dishes??

[NicaZ]

Hi!

I'm cooking a dinner for a newly married couple. One is from Vancouver, the other from Ontario but they were just married somewhere on the west coast of Canada this summer and honeymooned there too. For their dinner, I'm looking to make some classically Canadian dishes. Here's the catch - they're both vegetarians (and no, not fish eating vegetarians where I could do a nice maple glazed salmon....). Any ideas would be sooo appreciated! Some more facts: the dinner is in Switzerland so it may be tricky to find tooooo specific Canadian things (like cheese curds...) and there will be 17 Canadians dining. And I'm from New York.......

Thanks for any help!!!!

[LotusRapper]

NicaZ, are you planning to make the entire meal for 17 vegan, or just some special dishes for the newlyweds (but other dishes with meat/dairy/etc) ?

[chefathome]

I thought of the vegetarian issue just after I posted my suggestions for Tourtiere and poutine! Darn it. :-(

[LotusRapper]

Actually I've made many-a-dishes (lasagna, chili, red pasta sauces, etc) using Yves Ground Round and none of my test subjects ever suspected they were eating meatless:

http://www.yvesveggie.com/products/de...

Now if only there are soy cheese curds ...........

[grayelf]

Poutine is okay unless they're vegans. My favourite "gravy" from St Hubert has no animal products (I just eyeballed the package). Though sourcing the curds in Switzerland might be a bit of a stunt, as the OP notes.

[thatwhileifound]

Maybe I'm entirely off-base, but I'd assume finding curds in Switzerland wouldn't be the hardest thing ever. At the very least, gassed curds should be something that they'd be able to find, although they're definitely not as good as the fresh stuff!

[Jzone]

If you go the substitute meat way, I think sloppy joes are fairly canadian, again not completely.

And Vegan gravy is easy to do and quite tasty either with mushroom stock or other veggie type stock. Could test a batch of poutine with extra-extra firm tofu and see how it turns out.

If you were a little further into the fall I'd say B.C. Matsutake mushrooms in any preparation you think is sufficiently canadian would kill the room. Various places deliver and early in the season (around mid Oct.) they are $20/lb or less which is a steal compared to $100lb later or $400lb in Japan.

Good luck though. If I'm a bit late and it's done already, could you let us know what you ended up with and how it turned out?

Thanks.

[Luna2372]

Please do not try to make peroigies by yourself for 16 ppl! It's awful unless you have 5 helpers and a vat of booze!

Mushrooms and gravy. mashed potatoes and butter, corn on the cob, noodles and cheese. Cabbage, tomato and rice. Grilled cheese. Yummy comfort food.

And remember...we love to travel cuz we want to know what YOUR having for dinner.

have fun at your party.

[chefathome]

Tourtiere is definitely Canadian! So are Beaver Tails and anything made with Saskatoon berries. Don't forget poutine!

[cdnprairiedog]

Other good Ukrainian suggestions are nalysnyky (baked cheesy crepes) and holopche (cabbage rolls). The Ukrainian Orthodox Church followers do 12 vegetarian dishes on Christmas Eve, might be worth looking into those. There's nothing like a Ukrainian wedding on the Canadian Prairie for a great feed.

[kinnickinnik]

"There's nothing like a Ukrainian wedding on the Canadian Prairie for a great feed"

And a great party! So true that. Now I'm craving nalysnyky - haven't had those for at least a couple of decades. So delicious!

I'd add a vegetarian borscht to the list of options.

[waver]

A couple quick thoughts:
- Caesars for cocktail hour (like a bloody mary but with Clamato juice, tho hard to get so just bloody mary will do)
- Caesar salad, I know not a Canadian invention but I think Canadians eat them more than anyone else
- Corn on the cob
- Blackberry pie or crisp.
- the Naam miso gravy comment is spot on!

-----
The Naam Restaurant
2724 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K, CA

[prima]

I agree- a lot of Canadians love Caesar salad. The typical Cdn Caesar salad is usually heavy with the bacon bits and parmesan, light on the lemon juice, and often contains no anchovies.

Warm spinach and artichoke dip, and cold spinach dip (the one made with Knorr soup mix, sour cream and/or mayo) served in a pumpernickel bowl, are also very common in Canada. I realize both also common in the States. They show up at a lot of parties/potlucks.

If you're looking for a common veggie main that many Canadians love, you might want to make Macaroni & Cheese, using whatever Cheddar you can find in Switzerland. Would think British Cheddar would be easier to source than Cdn Cheddar in Europe.

Apple crisp is also a very Canadian dessert, as is apple pie (sometimes topped with a slice of old Cheddar), despite the saying "As American as apple pie".

Date squares (aka Matrimonial Bars in the Prairies), puffed wheat squares, butter tarts and sugar pie are also typical in parts of Canada, in addition to Nanaimo or Tofino bars. An assortment of typical squares might be a nice way to end the dinner.

[NicaZ]

This is SO useful. Thanks everyone! Yes, through research I've learned you've got a varied - and meat heavy - cuisine but I've been looking here and through some of the best restaurants in Canada for inspiration and I'm getting somewhere. The groom of said married couple comes from a Ukrainian background so perogies are pretty well set on the menu, as is some sort of maple dessert (that maple cream pie sounds great). Once the menu is more thought out, I'll post it here. I'd love some feedback! Thank you!

[kinnickinnik]

Not classically Canadian, but classically Vancouver vegetarian: Naam miso gravy. It's very popular and now bottled for sale in various local markets. For the Naam experience (a Vancouver institution for 30+ years), make some sesame fried potatoes and serve with miso gravy alongside.

See here for a sesame fries adaptation for oven fries
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/crispy_oven_fries.php

This purports to be a Naam miso gravy recipe
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe...

-----
The Naam Restaurant
2724 W 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6K, CA

[4bugs]

I think the biggest hit you can make is for dessert. Last June I made a beautiful maple cream pie from my mother in laws kitchen in Vuissens and it was a success. Or you can make French Canadian baked beans with maple sirop, I think this is more of a Quebec thing.

[Florentine]

Try to not to get too caught up on "classic Canadian dishes" as Canadian cuisine is regional... and things like poutine and Nanaimo bars may be unique food items in Canada, but they're not exactly a part of your standard day to day Canadian diet. They're Canadian novelty foods.

If I'm thinking Canadian dishes - things like BBQ steak or roast chicken with dinner rolls, a green salad or a Caesar salad, corn on the cob, and a starch - baked potato, fresh new potatoes served with a bit of butter and fresh dill, rice, etc.. I know this doesn't help a vegetarian, but I'm just thinking along these lines to get you thinking of meals that Canadians would eat day to day (which might differ from the styles of cuisine you'd see day to day in Switzerland).

Vancouver and Toronto cuisine's hugely international - so don't count out dishes that might not have originated in Canada.

Vancouver's "classic Canadian dishes" would revolve around Asian cuisine and local Pacific Northwest ingredients.

If I were making a vegetarian meal for somebody in Vancouver, I'd maybe make a sunomono salad, a chanterelle/morel mushroom dish, maybe some fresh corn on the cob, some tomato/bococini salad with fresh basil - that kind of stuff. Maybe a quinoa salad or a lentil dish.

Greek food is hugely available in Toronto and Vancouver - maybe make a Greek salad, or a Greek orzo salad with some sort of eggplant/vegetarian-moussaka dish. That would probably make a Torontonian ache for home more than things like poutine.

But of course, when all else fails, there's always Macaroni & cheese... ;)

Oooh... perogies might be another idea. Ukrainian food (vegetarian cabbage rolls/perogies) are hugely popular across Canada due to the huge Ukrainian immigrant population over the last century. To an outsider you wouldn't think of it as Canadian cuisine, but the majority of Canadians grow up eating Ukrainian food - it's adopted part of our diet.

For dessert - a blackberry crisp, a blueberry pie, a rhubarb/strawberry pie.

[Philx]

I have made a tasty vegetarian split pea soup but I am not sure you would serve it for dinner maybe as a first course Bannock bread, nanaimo bars and butter tarts are decent suggestions. I don't know about the main other than to look up your google machine for some vegetarian recipies by Canadian chefs. Here is one collection http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/veg...

[fmed]

I'm sure you've already Googled this. The intersection between "Canadian dishes" and "Vegetarian" comes up with very little to base a meal on: baked beans (which is usually cooked with pork), fried breads (bannock, etc), Nanaimo bar, butter tarts. According to Wikipedia, pierogis are Canadian (which surprises me)...so you can make a vege filling. Most "Canadian" dishes seem to originate back east (Quebec, Maritimes, etc)....so neither of them would have grown up eating them.

It might be better to make a meal with Canadian ingredients.

[robinsegg]

Regional, but found in the eastern and western part of the country - may not be easy to find this time of year - but frozen fiddleheads or dried morel or chantrelle mushrooms incorporated into a dish would work fine. At a good cheese shop you might find some good Canadian cheddar or Oka cheese (Oka is uniquely Canadian.)

I second (third?) perogies - they have certainly been adopted in Canada. Here in NW BC we are lucky to have a local baker who makes amazing perogies stuffed with yam, smoked gouda and onion. Mmmm.

Anything with REAL maple syrup - even maple syrup on good vanilla ice cream - would work. We also love our blueberries here in Canada. Those dessert ideas posted below - rhubarb crisp, etc - a mainstay of our summer diets!