woman tapping for
tree sap, which is made into
maple syrup. Canadian cuisine has been shaped by the historical and ongoing influences of Indigenous peoples, settlers and immigrants.
Indigenous The traditional Indigenous cuisine of Canada is based on a mixture of
wild game, foraged foods, and farmed agricultural products. Indigenous peoples are known to gather more than five-hundred plant species for food. They cultivate and forage a variety of plants, hunt a diversity of animals, and use various tools to boil, smoke/preserve and roast their food. Though the origin of maple syrup production is not clear, the earliest known syrups were made by repeatedly freezing the collected maple sap and removing the ice to concentrate the sugar in the remaining sap. Maple syrup is one of the most commonly consumed Canadian food of Indigenous origin. Dried meat products such as and
pemmican are commonly consumed by the Indigenous peoples of the plains. In particular, the former was a predecessor for North American-style
beef jerky, with the processing methods adapted for beef. In most of the
Canadian West Coast and Pacific Northwest,
Pacific salmon is an important food resource to the First Nations peoples, along with certain
marine mammals. Salmon are consumed fresh during the spawning season, or smoked dry to create a jerky-like food that can be stored year-round. The latter food is commonly known and sold as "salmon jerky". Whipped
soapberry, known as (sk-HOO-shum,
"Indian ice cream") in the
Interior Salish languages of
British Columbia, is consumed similarly to
ice cream or as a
cranberry-
cocktail-like drink. It is known for being a kidney tonic, which are called
agutak in
Arctic Canada (with animal/fish fat). '' In the Arctic, Inuit traditionally survived on a diet consisting of land and marine mammals, fish, and foraged plant products. Meats were consumed fresh, but also often prepared, cached, and allowed to
ferment into
igunaq or
kiviak. These fermented meats have the consistency and smell of certain soft aged cheeses. Snacks such as
muktuk, which consist of whale skin and blubber is eaten plain, though occasionally dipped in
soy sauce. Chunks of muktuk are sliced with an
ulu prior to or during consumption. Fish are eaten boiled, fried, and prior to today's settlements, often in dried forms. The so-called "
Eskimo potato", (Inuit:
oak-kuk:
Claytonia tuberosa) and other "
mousefoods", are some of the plants consumed in the Arctic. Foods such as "
bannock", popular with First Nations and Inuit, reflect the historic exchange of these cultures with European fur traders, who brought with them new ingredients and foods. Common contemporary consumption of bannock,
powdered milk, and
bologna by Indigenous Canadians reflects the legacy of Canadian colonialism in the prohibition of hunting and fishing, and the institutional food rations provided to
Indian reserves. Due to similarities in treatment under colonialism, many
Native American communities throughout the continent consume similar food items, with some emphasis on local ingredients.
North and West European s were first brought to Atlantic Canada by
Scottish Highlanders in 1773, and remain a staple of Halifax coffee shops. Settlers and traders from the
British Isles account for the culinary influences of early English Canada in the
Maritime provinces and
Southern Ontario (Upper Canada). Fleets of fishermen from England,
France,
Portugal, and
Spain flocked to Newfoundland to return with fish, filling a market need in Europe and cutting out the necessity of importing from
Iceland. The English, Scottish, Irish, and French settlers of what would become the Atlantic provinces frequently built their communities beside the ocean and rivers for easy access, and the fishing industry along the Canadian east coast steadily expanded until it became the region's major industry. Local
forage and
game were typically incorporated into the cooking of early
English-Canadians in Upper Canada, such as
wild berries,
maple sugar,
venison,
partridge,
waterfowl,
maize,
pumpkin, and
turkey. The larger urban centres, such as
Toronto,
Kingston, and
Coburg in Upper Canada,
Montreal and
Quebec City in Lower Canada, and Halifax in Nova Scotia, saw the opening of
hotels that could better serve a burgeoning
upper class of Victorian patrons. These hotels, broadly, provided
beef steak, fried pork,
buckwheat cakes,
roast beef and pork, wild game and fowl, vegetables,
pudding, and tea. Cookbooks published during this period include
The Home Cookbook (1877) and
The Galt Cook Book (1898). Traditions that developed out of the Victorian era in Canada include the Victorian cooking
fireplace, which saw continued use in homes and restaurants even after the metal
stove was introduced, and
picnics, which often involved
ham, fowl,
meat pies,
tarts, and
cakes. In the territory of
Rupert's Land, the development of communities throughout the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries, which centred around
Hudson's Bay Company and
North West Company trading posts, saw to the intermingling of European (largely Scottish and French) traders, clerks, guides, and canoers with the local Indigenous population. The resulting genesis of the
Métis culture saw to the development of cuisine in the
Canadian West which combined the culinary traditions of these previously separate groups. With the arrival of the
Earl of Selkirk and his Scottish retinue (people largely displaced by the Highland Clearances), as well as the purchase of forty-five million acres of land in the
Red River Valley, many Scottish culinary traditions were brought to the region. Ontario's southwestern regions also have strong Dutch and
Scandinavian influences.
Central and East European from
New Westminster In Canada's
Prairie provinces, which saw significant immigration from Eastern and Northern Europe in the pre-WWI era,
Ukrainian,
German, and
Polish cuisines are strong culinary influences. Such examples include
perogies,
kielbasa, and
babka. Emigration from Russia to Western Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries also established a
Doukhobor influence, noted in particular for its emphasis on
vegetarian recipes on the cuisine of the
British Columbia Interior and the Prairies. Montreal
peanut-butter dumplings, Newfoundland
chow mein, and
Thunder Bay bon bons. The "Chinese
buffet", although found in other parts of North America, traces its origins to early
Gastown,
Vancouver, . This meal format developed from the practice of Chinese restaurateurs providing a steam table on a
sideboard to serve
Scandinavian lumberjacks working in local forests and mills.
Japanese-Canadians have had a profound influence on the cuisines of British Columbia and Ontario. Distinct varieties of
sushi, such as the
B.C. roll and the
California roll, originate from the
Metro Vancouver region, while
sushi pizza was invented in Toronto.
Japadog street food in Vancouver is also a popular example of Canadian west coast fusion cuisine.
South Asian , an
Anglo-Indian dish imported from the
British Raj, is commonly found in
Indo-Canadian restaurants.
Indian and
South Asian culinary influences are a relatively recent addition to Canadian cuisine, having gained wider prominence in the country during the post-1960's era of immigration, despite earlier South Asian settlement in British Columbia dating back to the late 19th century. Indian food is particularly popular in Canada, deriving mostly from
Northern Indian cuisine. It is characterized for its use of bread, curry, and use of yogurt and cream for meat-based dishes; it also draws inspiration from
South Indian cuisine in its use of sour and spicy combinations. Also known as butter chicken roti, the dish is served at many Indian restaurants and fast food locations across
Southern Ontario. Other Canadian food unique to the
South Asian community includes "Indian-style pizza" (also known as "Punjabi-style pizza" or "Desi-style pizza") Indian-style pizza has since expanded outside of Greater Vancouver, across other urban centres in
western and
central Canada with large
South Asian populations, including
Calgary,
Edmonton,
Regina,
Winnipeg,
Ottawa, and
Greater Toronto, later expanding to other regions. This type of pizza typically includes sauce with mixed spices and toppings such as
cilantro,
ginger,
spinach,
cauliflower,
tandoori chicken,
butter chicken, or
paneer. ==Regional ingredients==