Week 10: Oh, Canada!

Having been around the world and back for our cooking adventures, we decided it was time to try and represent the essence of our home and native cuisine. Trying to work from coats to coast, we began in the Maritimes and finished in B.C., with the centre of Canada represented by one the most popular of French Canadian dishes. This allowed us to work with some ingredients essential to the Canadian experience: fish (specifically Atlantic salmon), maple syrup and rum. Oh, and of course, poutine - just a small starter portion to kick things off.

For this meal we tried to pair each region-representative course with a true Canadian potable. Jamal had never tried rum and coke before, so one greeted him, and all, at the door. For our salad course, what better than a champagne cocktail? This time we tried blueberry juice, in honour of Jenny's having grown up next to Oxford, N.S., the self-proclaimed blueberry capital of the world. A smattering of Sleeman's Honey Brown lager accompanied the tourtiere. And finally, courtesy of Andy's sister and brother-in-law in Niagara-on-the-Lake, we shared some Inniskillin ice wine with dessert.

We observed traditional, everyday Canadian table setting.


Starter: Maple-Galzed Salmon Skewers.


We were also careful to observe traditional Maritime Salmon Skewer placing technique.


A while later, everyone gathered in anticipation...


... as Matt revealed...


... the Main Course: Tourtiere. Maple Leaf design courtesy of Jenny.



The Recipe.



The Driections, courtesy of Canadian Living magazine. Our version also included a side dish of cabbage boiled in reduced white wine.


Dessert: Nanaimo Bars. This recipe is the definitive winner of the official 1986 Nanaimo Bar recipe contest.