Thanks for reminding Americans there is a world outside our borders... and sometimes it's actually doing things better than we are.
Sometimes I think America can act like the oldest sibling in a big family; bestowed with privileges they didn't always earn, always the focus of attention and responsiblity, indulged when they fall down on that; and sometimes mercilessly bullying the younger ones.
I'm glad that you think poutine is smarter than GWB. Personally, I think a pile of compost is smarter than GWB.
"...and the same time zones at the US."
Well not quite 
. Canada doesn't have Alaskan or Hawaiian, and the US doesn't have Atlantic or the 1/2 hour Newfoundland time zone. In the US there's always the comment about TV shows, "show starts at 8, 7 Central". In Canada (especially on the CBC) it's, "show starts at 9, 9:30 in Newfoundland".
And poutine at 4am after the bars close in Montreal is always great (or you can get it "Italian" style with Bolognese sauce on top instead of gravy, amongst other variations). But I'd also settle for a peameal (back)bacon sandwich in Toronto, or some Smoked Meat at Schwartz's in Montreal, with butter tarts, saskatoon pie, Nanaimo bars and beavertails for dessert.
I thought this was a good thread to bring in some great quotes from Micheal Moore's film "Canadian Bacon"
http://imdb.com/title/tt0109370/quotes
Edwin S. Simon, NBS News Anchor: Like maple syrup, Canada's evil oozes over the United States.
Gus: Canadians are always dreaming up a lotta ways to ruin our lives. The metric system, for the love of God! Celsius! Neil Young!
Roy Boy: I want to call the American embassy!
Boomer: All I said was "Canadian beer sucks!"
[riot intensifies]
Kabral: People! People! Can't we all just get along?
Edwin S. Simon, NBS News Anchor: The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here.
Edwin S. Simon, NBS News Anchor: Think of your children pledging allegiance to the maple leaf. Mayonnaise on everything. Winter 11 months of the year. Anne Murray - all day, every day.
Roy Boy: Are you sure we're in Canada?
Honey: You smell anything?
Roy Boy: No.
Honey: Exactly. Canada!
[the Mountie explains that Honey has been taken to the capital]
Boomer: The capital Toronto.
RCMP Officer at Headquarters: No, the capital of Canada is Ottawa.
Boomer: Yeah, right. Do we look that stupid? Ottawa!
Roy Boy: Nice try, Dudley.
Boomer: There it is, men. Toronto.
Roy Boy: It's beautiful. Like no other city I've ever seen. It's like Albany. Only cleaner.
Thanks for sharing, Thor.
There's a lot about Canadian cuisine I do not get. Poutine, for one. The very idea makes me shudder. ("Italian style" sounds vaguely more palatable. We've got a lot of Greeks in Vancouver -- I'm imagining a "Greek style" floating in tzatziki. Mmmm.)
And Nanaimo bars. Understand that I'm 15 minutes from a ferry that will put me in downtown Nanaimo in under two hours. It's a nice place (the authentic First Nations restaurant at the Cowichan Cultural center down the road in Chemanius is not to be missed; order yourself a classic Cowichan hand-knit sweater while you're there). And I get that Nanaimo bars are so sweet because they were meant to survive the three-month trip around the horn by ship back 120 years ago when this was still the last Hudson's Bay Company outpost on earth.
No Vancouver potluck is complete without someone bringing a pan of Nanaimo bars -- but they're so sweet they literally make my teeth hurt. I can feel the blood sugar spiking with the first bite. Like I said: I don't get them.
Canadians. Yes, they walk among us -- smartly and soberly dressed, and saying "I'm sorry" to the sidewalk for stepping on it. ("I'm sorry" rivals "Now, let's not get excited" as the national motto. You can always tell a Canadian by their quick willingness to apologize for stuff they didn't even do. I find this quality endearing, though it took me about two years to learn to stifle the impulse to say, "Please don't. It's not your fault." (Cheeky American, I know.)
As for the time zones: I'd gently suggest you're being a tad pedantic. Of course Canada doesn't go as far west as Alaska; and the US doesn't go as far east as Nova Scotia. But we do have the same zones in the places where it's appropriate, which includes the vast mass of both countries.
I meant to include a link to the Cowichan tribe's sweater website:
http://www.sa-cinn.com/
cowichans...hansweaters.htm
This is the real deal. Everything else is a knockoff of these. They last for generations -- I know people who own treasured Cowichans that their grandparents bought in the 40s and 50s. And like kilts and squashblossom necklaces and a great pair of cowboy boots, they're an investment that never goes out of style.
Mrs. R
Sorry for being pedantic
Per google searches & wikipedia there is a Greek poutine served with tzatziki (or other mediterranean sauces) and feta cheese.
And if you think Nanaimo bars are too sweet - then you wouldn't want to try sugar pie (almost a caramel-ish pie).
Never been to Nanaimo myself - always seemed to take the ferry to Schwartz Bay instead.
Time to wash it all down with a bottle of La Fin du Monde or a Caesar.
That's the Tsawassen ferry, which leaves from a terminal right down by the border. Swartz Bay is the ferry you want if you're going to Victoria.
The Nanaimo ferry leaves from Horseshoe Bay, which is on the north coast just before you turn inland and go up Howe Sound towards Whistler. It's the one you want if you're going anywhere on the northern 2/3 of Vancouver Island.
Since I live on the North Shore, I'm nearly an hour from the former, but just a few quick miles on Canada 1 from the latter.
Heh, when I grew up in Nova Scotia, the joke was always, "The world will end at 9 o'clock! 9:30 in Newfoundland" said in your best CBC announcer voice.
Poutine makes sense when you think of it growing out of the logging camps when heavy, filling food was necessary in the rather inhospitable conditions. As to sweet things, I've got some oooold cookbooks from my grandmother, and almost everything was way sweeter back then (like potato candy, which was essentially mashed potato mixed with an equal portion of confectioner's sugar). Change in tastes overall, I suppose.
I'm still incensed that I can't find pepperoni by the link in Ottawa...
Um. Pepperoni. I miss Columbo and Gallo dry salami, which are standards on any California snack table. Can't get 'em here, though.
There are compensations. Salmon candy (bits of smoked salmon candied in maple sugar) for one. Oh. My. God. Also Montreal smoked meat on rye with Edam cheese, which is Canada's very worthy answer to a pastrami with swiss on rye. I like mine with horseradish.
And then there's Tim Horton's: best donuts on earth. They tried to bring Krispy Kreme up here the year we arrived, which I knew was doomed the minute they announced it. Somebody didn't do their market research -- KK was gone in eight months flat. These people know from donuts, and Tim's is a national institution. (I try to stay out of the place entirely, but when I do go, I'm partial to their berry bran muffins.)
As for sweets: Canadian candy and soft drinks are made with real sugar (from Cuba) and thus taste different than the US corn-sweetened stuff. It's probably better for you healthwise, too -- corn sweeteners are strongly implicated in diabetes, and there's indeed a bit less of that up here.
It's the same food, but not quite the same food. And you cannot get decent Mexican to save your life. (When we go to the States, good Mexican and real brewed iced tea -- completely unknown here -- are the two things I go out of my way for.) I gave up, and got better at making my own.
If you're ever in Nova Scotia, there's a traditional Mexican restaurant in Fairview, run by a husband and wife team (a Newfie and a Mexican, respectively). Great food, and cheap too.
Krispy Kreme still survives in Ottawa, at least, but only after a fashion. They're carried in cool cases by some of the local convenience stores, but none of them have storefronts the way Tim's do.
I remember the confusion my American friends had at the Wayne's World movie. "What's a hockey player got to do with an all-night donut shop?"
Hey, I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader....
I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled....
and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really really nice.
I have a Prime Minister, not a president.
I speak English and French, not American.
And I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot'.
I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, not policing,
diversity, not assimilation,
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch,
and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed' !!!!
Canada is the second largest landmass!
The first nation of hockey!
and the best part of North America
My name is Joe!!
And I am Canadian!!!
http://www.coolcanuckaward.ca/ jo...oe_canadian.htm
Somebody had to do it!
oooh, I love the sweater link!
Supposedly some of Canada's best Mexican is in the city of Leamington, Ontario (Canada's tomato capital). Migrant workers come up every summer to help with the tomato harvest - so much so that the Mexican government opened a consul office in the city. There was also an article in the Globe and Mail (national centrist paper tending to be traditionally conservative for non-Canucks) in the last 6 months about Mexican families coming north from the US (to the Windsor area...not that far from Leamington) to escape some of the American troglodytes.
Leamington and it's neighbouring town Kingsville are the furthest south Canadian mainland municipalities (41 degrees) - at approximately the same latitude as Des Moines (since Iowa's been in the news) or the California/Oregon border.
Salmon candy - that sounds delicious!
I've done the Tsawassen ferry a few times having always come in from Alberta on the Trans-Canada - it did not make sense to fight traffic on the Port Mann bridge to get to Horseshoe Bay. I've never been on the Trans-Can north of the PNE and subsequently Horseshoe Bay.
Not all Canadian sugar comes from Cuba. Growing up in southern Alberta, our sugar also came from sugar beets processed in Taber. I know the difference in the sugar vs corn syrup when I order a Coke (or other soft drink) in the US because it's too sweet. It makes my teeth hurt sometimes.
I've seen the tea comment numerous times and in articles - that Canadians can brew a great cup of hot tea, but can't make brewed ice tea to save their life.
Now living in Toronto, I miss the green onion cakes that Edmonton served at all their summer festivals with hot sauce.
One summer though I have to make it out to Prince Edward Island and have some mussels, served with island potatos and fiddleheads from New Brunswick.
Stan Makita's donuts 
Make my coffee a double double.
Mrs. R. There's only one place in Vancouver worth going for Montreal Hot Smoked Meat and that's Kaplan's up on 40th and Oak. The Smoked Meat is flown in several times a week from Schwartz's in Montreal. When I come to town I buy several pounds worth to bring home with me and Diane and I had them cater our wedding (I married a Jewish lady and her whole extended family eats at Kaplan's on a very regular basis)
Tim Horton's has gone way downhill since Wendy's bought them out. They built a new Tim's here in Trail almost two years ago and I tried their doughnuts a couple of times and they were tasteless. I've been told that they are all made in a central plant now and shipped frozen to each outlet - not sure if that's true (but I could see a bit into the back room one time and there were a lot of boxes being unloaded onto racks and no sign of deep fryers). The one thing that has always amazed me about Tim's is how good a reputation they managed to get for really pedestrian coffee (and what's with them not allowing you to add your own cream and sugar so you get it exactly the way you want it)
I'm a coffee snob I confess - if it isn't fresh roasted (as in the last week at the very most) I'm not interested - thankfully there is a magnificent roaster here in town and I'm more than willing to pay $12.90/lb for fresh roasted Mocha Java or Espresso (I like my coffees on the dark roasted side)
Doug - I was going to make the same comment about the quality of the Timmy's doughnuts since they centralized production. I've heard conversations around the country including between a couple Toronto bus drivers about how the quality has fallen. (Being the national institution that it is there could be a Royal Commission to investigate :D)
I put up with Tim's mediocre coffee (especially after having lived in Vienna and its coffee houses). I have a mokka pot to boil up espresso on the stove if I feel like it. Or I wander out to Little Italy.
Does Kaplan's also bring in orders of the Karnatzel? Now just to find some Fairmount bagels from Montreal (sweeter and chewier than their NYC counterparts).
Yes, Timmies has all their donuts frozen for delivery. It was something that rubbed people the wrong way. I don't mind their coffee--it's exactly middle of the road for me (not too dark and not to light a roast), and never a surprise in what you're getting. Reliable, just like Canadians.
Fun Facts about Tim's:
-- Wendy's no longer owns it, having sold it off to shareholders over the course of the past couple years. The reason is that the chain was competing directly with Wendy's in some areas -- and beating its ass in every possible way.
-- Tim's sells 76% of all baked goods in Canada.
-- Tim's sells 62% of all walkaway coffee in Canada. (Starbucks is number two -- at 7%.)
-- Tim's commands 22% of the fast-food market in Canada. It has more outlets, and makes more money, than McDonald's.
-- There's a Tim's in Kandahar, which is tremendously popular with Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
So they're frozen. They're still better than most of the pre-baked schlock you can find elsewhere.
Long live the Timbit Nation!
I've been in Canada for two years, and I still don't find Rick Mercer all that funny. And a poutine now ranks as one of the foulest things I've seen.
There is /was awesome Mexican food in Whitehorse, YT, last time I was there. Great people, very nice. Liard burgers in upper BC, almost to YT, were also awesome. That is where the Miner/Klondike/Yukon burger theme starts along the highway, where you get a beef patty, ham/Canadian Bacon slice, American (belly) bacon, three kinds of cheese and a fried egg on a huge bun, usually with the veggies on the side. Reindeer sausage for breakfast meat as well. The hot springs at Liard are very nice as are the campgrounds, and if you like adventure I highly recommend driving the Alcan once in your life.
Poutine is not really an old-time food outside of a few places, perhaps, in Quebec. I remember about 15 years or so ago newspaper articles (in the Globe of course) explaining the fad. Then it spilled out of Q and into the basically French-settled parts of Northern Ontario. I remember it showing up here. I said, "This is what will kill healthcare."
It's settled in very nicely here; Sturgeon Falls Ontario has great poutine just as it has great butter tarts.
Now somebody should talk about seapie.
My two-bits' worth:
I just have to sing the praises of the magical PEROGIES! They're pasta pockets (of Ukrainian descent) stuffed with potato &/or cheese/s, boiled fried or baked ... I heartily recommend them with Philly, although the traditional topping is cottage cheese.
Lots of Ukrainians in places like Edmonton - the Cheemo brand is quite alright, but you can still get handmade ones in most of our big cities if you look around. Oh damn are they ever goo-oo-ood.
Sorry about that long comment, eh?
And a poutine now ranks as one of the foulest things I've seen.
suburban refugee | 01.06.08 - 5:43 pm
As it does for most people - but looks and how it tastes are two different thing
Now somebody should talk about seapie.
sm | Homepage | 01.06.08 - 6:35 pm |
A quick use of teh Google brought me this http://community.chatelaine.com/...id=8&
lid=508627
The pyrogy is fantastic. The village of Glendon (210 km NE of Edmonton and about 70 km W of the Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake-home of 4 Wing) even has the world's largest Pyrogy monument. http://members.mcsnet.ca/glendon...ndon/
index.html.
Spinning off the hamburger link up above, for you roadtrippers making your way through Calgary make sure you stop at Peter's Drive-in. You'll get fantastic fries by the box and fresh dairy milkshakes in addition to the burgers.
Look, Mrs. R., it all comes down to this. You have Paul Gross. We don't. Oh, we were able to borrow him for a few years, and he brought us one of the cleverest TV shows to grace the lower 48, "Due South" but we weren't smart enough, certainly, to make sure it had a 20 year run (far too much irony and tongue in cheek; we need our laugh tracks here), and back to Canada he went, and stays. I will shovel snow (like I don't have enough of that this year in Maine), learn the metric system, exceed the speed limit in kilometers instead of mph and have been practicing saying "aboot" instead of "about" for years should I ever go abroad and need to pass for a non-insane North American, as LONG AS I CAN HAVE ME SOME PAUL GROSS. Deal?
Get in line, punkster.
First taste of Tim Hortons was during a hockey road trip to see the Sharks play in Edmonton and Calgary. We traveled by bus from Edmonton to Calgary and asked the driver to stop at a TH just outside of Edmonton so we could stock up for the trip. Mmmm, Timbits...
The sweaters are amazing.
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