Taste the NATION
Patriotic dishes from chefs across Canada,
Chef Anne Yarymowich
Frank Restaurant at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Dish Beavertail Sandwich Ingredients Maple-cured bacon, Canadian bacon, two-year-old Mapledale cheddar, apple butter and Macintosh apple slaw. Why does this represent Canada? “Nothing’s more Canadian than a sandwich. We eat them in the finest restaurants, at the cottage, on a picnic, on a road trip, in all seasons, across the nation. I wanted to come up with a sandwich that had a little bit of Bob and Doug Mckenzie to it — nothing too fancy, but yummy, eh? It’s the ingredients that make this sandwich ours. Canadian bacon is necessary, maple syrup is a given and apples are the classic Canadian fruit. The Macintosh apple was developed right here in Ontario. Two-year-old Mapledale cheddar, made in Ontario, is my choice, not just because of its name, but because of the perfect sharpness and meltability. The celebrated beavertail, served most frequently in our nation’s capital, needs no explanation.”
Chef Lee Cooper
Co-owner of L’Abattoir Restaurant, Vancouver Dish Warm salad of sockeye salmon and crunchy potatoes Ingredients “This staple on the menu at L’Abattoir features steelhead not salmon. The lightly poached fish is served with crunchy fried potatoes, dill, pickled ramps and spicy radishes. At the end it receives a healthy dose of freshly grated horseradish root. It provides many different sharp flavours and textures that I hope people enjoy as much as I do.” Why does this represent Canada? “To make it a little bit more representative of Canada, I decided to use sockeye salmon in place of steelhead. Sockeye salmon was (and still is) a staple in the diets of the aboriginal people of the West Coast. A large part of my heritage is aboriginal and my ancestors have been eating sockeye salmon since long before Canada was even established. So I suppose that would make sockeye salmon an original Canadian food! The other elements of the salad are all grown/harvested in the Lower Mainland region of B.C., also making it quite Canadian.”
Chef Craig Flinn
Chives Canadian Bistro, Halifax Dish Roasted Atlantic Halibut with Lobster Hodge Podge Ingredients “Line-caught Atlantic halibut, with early summer vegetables (beets, hakuri turnips, carrots, asparagus, snap peas, fingerling potatoes) and lobster in a classic Nova Scotia hodge podge.” Why does this represent Canada? “With the summer harvest, Canada’s natural beauty and diversity extends to our tables. This dish showcases our farmer’s markets at peak season, with locally grown produce, line-caught halibut and lobster from the waters of Nova Scotia. At Chives Canadian Bistro, we believe local and seasonal ingredients at the peak of freshness make memorable meals, and represent the best of Canada.”
Chef Susur Lee
Lee Restaurant, Toronto Dish Wild Blueberry Tart Ingredients Homemade crème fraxche with local cream, Ontario wild blueberries, Canadian flour and Canadian ice syrup. Why does this represent Canada? “There are a lot of wonderful ingredients available in Canada. But one of the first things that comes to mind are the delicious wild blueberries available in Ontario. That was the inspiration for my dish. And the ice syrup [from Niagara Region] is the perfect example of a unique product only produced in Canada.”
Chef Andrew Springett
Chef instructor at SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary Dish Eggs Canada Ingredients “Poached free-range eggs, Brassica mustard hollandaise and Oka cheese, maple-glazed Alberta pork, Yukon gold potato hash and baked vine-ripened tomatoes.” Why does this represent
Canada? “I love breakfast and it is a perfect venue to showcase some iconic Canadian products such as Oka cheese (originated in 1893 in Oka, Que.) and maple syrup (Sinzibuckwud, the Algonquin word for maple syrup, meaning literally ‘drawn from wood’).”
Chef Anna Olson
Host of Food Network Canada’s Bake with Anna Olson Dish Panna Cotta with Summer Fruit Ingredients “The beauty of this dessert is in its simplicity (and the fact that you don’t have to turn on the oven). Lightly flavoured cooked cream is cool and refreshing alongside any summer fruit.” Why does this represent Canada? “Other than the obvious red and white colour scheme, this dessert represents that glorious summer fruit season that we have in Canada. This one basic dessert transforms itself with each fruit it can be served with, from strawberries in June and July, raspberries and blueberries in mid-summer and peaches and blackberries in late summer.”
Chef Anthony Walsh
Corporate executive chef at Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants, Toronto Dish Bannock Duck Poutine Pizza Ingredients : “I grew up in Quebec, we had poutine before it was hip. It’s a part of me, not sure if that’s a good thing. At Bannock, we do it by the book: chicken gravy, squeaky curds and double-fried Yukon potatoes. Why does this represent Canada? “Bannock in its varied forms is quintessentially Canadian, from our First Nations people, and early pioneering settlers — Scottish and Irish, both with different variations, from cattail flour to milled wheat flour. The addition of simple, delicious Canadian restaurant staples — fatty duck legs, onions, leeks and old white cheddar — these elements put together are uniquely Canadian.”
Chef Roger Mooking
Host of Food Network’s Everyday Exotic and Heat Seekers Dish Smoked Salmon Share Plate Ingredients “B.C. smoked salmon is lightly rubbed with a mix of lemon zest and oil. Drizzled with sour cream and topped with watermelon radish julienne and shaved onion. Served with sourdough crisps.” Why does this represent Canada? “Our country’s roots are in First Nations traditions. They were smoking salmon long before it was discovered. So I’d like to honour the roots and I am serving smoked salmon as the dish that best represents Canada. It’s dressed up and meant to be served to share between two friends.”
Chef Vincent Leung
Sen5es Restaurant & Bar, Toronto Dish Maple Syrup and Green Tea Glazed Atlantic Salmon Ingredients “Maple syrup and green tea glazed Atlantic salmon, Ontario strawberries, grilled tofu slices, green asparagus and reduced balsamic.” Why does this represent Canada? “As a first-generation Canadian, Canada is many things to me. It’s beautiful and bountiful, urban and rural; it has a wonderful national pride, but is welcoming and multicultural. This dish brings together all these elements: regional ingredients, with maple syrup from Quebec, East Coast salmon and local strawberries and asparagus. It also draws on Canada’s multiculturalism with the use of cooking methods and additional ingredients from Asia and Europe — a little of the Old World meeting the New World.”