What's the most extraordinary Canadian meal you've ever had, and why?

Well as a Canadian born and raised, all my meals have been Canadian and I love the food my country calls it's own.

I can't believe nobody mentioned Butter Tarts, you haven't experienced real Canadian fare until you eat a homemade Butter Tart. The ones you buy at the store are frankly, disgusting in comparison. Nothing can come close to the flaky pastry, sweet centre and crispy, chewy, bubbly coconut crust on top of a homemade buttertart. The secret ingredient must be present otherwise they just aren't the same! My Mom has always baked the best Butter tarts, and nobody should come to Canada without having a REAL Buttertart! If they don't have vinegar in the recipe, they aren't worth eating!!

As for main meals some of my favorites include.. Cottage roll and cabbage, Homemade Cream of Broccoli soup which is my own family recipe passed down through the years. Beef stew and dumplings.. mmm You haven't tasted Canada until you have tasted a dumpling.. Cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and beef, Turkey pie.. wow!

Nobody, nobody has had a REAL Blueberry pie until they have had one made from fresh picked blueberries growing wild in Canada. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.. Store bought Blueberries are tasteless as is store bought pie.. You can't experience Canada if you don't eat a blueberry pie!! Every year I walk outside and down the street to pick enough for a pie.. I'd never trade that for the world it must really suck to live where no blueberries grow!

I'd also like to mention Canada's long tradition of wild game.. Some of my favorite meals were made from Partridge... My Mom makes the absolute best Bear roast on the planet.. with carrots and potatoes you can't imagine how good. We used to live at a hunting camp where my Mom cooked the meals for the hunters and campers. Year after year they came back just for the food and when my Mom left many looked her up and tried to convince her to come back and cook! Bass cooked in beer batter is AWESOME!!

I find Canada also has alot of unique preserves.. On Manitoulin Island near where I live there is a yearly festival called "Haweater" hawberries grow wild all around and it is a tradition of the islanders to make jams and jellies from the berries.. My grandma used to make her own Red currant jelly never tasted better in all my years!

The diversity is what gives Canadian food it's greatness.. There is so much diversity in the food. German, french, italian, and more. All mixed together and blended in harmony, it's a joy to the taste buds!

PS Fiddleheads! how could I forget fiddleheads? You should try them sometime. I usually eat them when I go camping, along with freshly caught bass or pike.

I've lived in four Canadian provinces and visited a few others. Based on all the fines meals I've had (aside from my mom's delicious cooking which is in a league all its own), I would have to put Montreal and Quebec City at the top of the list of cities with consistently great restaurants. But that's not to say that the smaller French Canadian towns don't deliver their own delectables.

The best greasy spoon that you'll ever have can be found on road trips through French speaking communities such as Montmagny, Rimouski and all along the Gaspe Coast. Yes, the poutine, fries, hot chicken sandwiches, galvaude (basically a hybrid of the 3 aforementioned items), hot hamburgers, soupe aux pois, and tarte au sucre (to name a few) REALLY ARE that good!

In Ontario, you visit the chip wagon. In Quebec, it is referred to as a cantine. Try a hot dog with the works, especially if fried onions are involved. Any stop along the way is usually a safe bet.

When it comes to fried chicken, Gaspesians are passionate about the Dixie Lee franchise. Though D.L. restaurants exist in the Maritimes and Ontario, there's something special about the 'salle a manger' of a D.L. in the land of the fleur de lis.

Can you tell that I'm partial to Quebecois cuisine (i.e. the type that is really bad for you)? That isn't entirely true. I will leave the province and venture to the little town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia for the best pizza slice I've ever had. The place is called The Acropole, or as residents refer to it, 'home of the big slice'. Apparently, people come from all over to enjoy this special recipe from a local Greek family.

I could go on and on, but I'm getting hungry (despite the fact that I've just had lunch).

Having grown up on the Canadian prairies in a sort of semi-liberal, yet still quite Mennonite setting, I was quite accustomed to various casserole dishes and some of the best one-pot-wonders you'll ever eat.

I've since moved into a suburb just outside Montreal, and I must tell you I've been quite delighted with a special selection of food I can only get once a year during "sugaring-off" season in the early spring. These meals are expertly provided by any of the local "Cabane a Sucres" which simply means: sugar shacks. And they're only open in early spring.

There you can have a delightful seven course brunch consisting of thick pea soup, sugar-baked beans, pork hocks (which look disgusting but are actually the best thing since sliced bread), omelettes, crepes, sugar pies, and dumplings. This style of feasting was inspired by Natives and was refined by French-Canadians who also loved the sugaring off season and found it cause enough to eat and eat well.

After the meal everyone gathers outdoors to enjoy some delightful hot maple taffy, served on a platter of SNOW, and scooped into the mouth on wooden sticks. And it would be a sin if you left a sugar shack without first enjoying a hay ride and stocking up on the richest maple syrop you'll ever taste.

Everything from the setting of the environment to the richness of the foods served makes this kind of Canadian dining experience a MUST and a rare kind of pleasure. Frought with history and blended with mouthwatering delights, Cabane a Sucres are one of our simplest and most pleasurable palatable offerings :*)

Ontario served freshwater lake fish like Pickerel, Perch and Whitefish from Lake Huron every day during the summer months. Served right on the St. Clair river with boats going by, the batter is super light and crisp, the fries are awesome and you can't beat the prices. Always stop when I'm visiting the folks, and some of my friends will drive 2 hours + just to go there.

B) Anything from Chef Susur Lee - my words don't do this man's food justice - so just go look him up, while you can - his restaurant in Toronto is due to close for renovation soon.

WOW now there's a loaded question !!! I just finished reading most of the answers and they are all excellent and true ......food is food and nothing ties people together more than food.

When dignitaries visit other countries or visit our country...how do they celebrate???? They sit down and break bread. There is nothing more natural than eating ( besides maybe breathing!!).

I have been across this country and back, flying and both driving and the best meal I have ever had is the last one I just had, the meal does not only entail the food that you are eating but it also concerns the company, the ambiance and the scenery, in essence the experience as a whole ..... so, if you are in the parking lot of a Timmie's eating a timbit and sipping

a 1M/3S( that's how I like it ) or eating lobster on the shores of Cape Breton Island and listening to a couple of locals playing the fiddle and guitar, having a clam bake on the "red"beaches

of P.E.I.or in the maple woods of Quebec at a "cabine a sucre" or family bbq at the cottage in muskokas in Ontario....etc ( you get the picture ) ..... " The Meal " gives you a sense of community, belonging and connection with the ones you love and your neighbors.

Now if you asked what my favorite Canadian food was then that would just as complex of a question .....Fresh cod from the atlantic, fresh digby scallops , yes and poutine with a steamy from montreal pool room , an " all dressed " pizza from MAMA's pizzeria on Ave des Pines or Tevere's pizzeria On the west island of Montreal , smoke meat spaghetti from Rueben's deli on St.Catherine's st , fresh vegetables from the abundant farms in southern Ontario ( corn is incredible )

The best burger I have ever had was in a little dive in Longhorn Alberta (was the only time I asked the cook where they got their meat) The best steak I had was cooked by my buddy who owns a restaurant in Cheticamp N.S. but the best prime rib I had was in Calgary at Smuggler's Inn.Best chicken ??from my brother's backyard bbq he is a bbq master !!!!

I love food and anytime someone else cooks for me it is excellent ( sometimes it's MORE excellent than others ).

MAY THE FORK BE WITH YOU

For me the thing that makes my mouth water every time I think of it is a hamburger at the white spot in Vancouver. When I was a teenager back in the fifties that was "the" place to hang out and they made the best hamburgers, cheesecake and chicken and chips( they called it chicken pickens) that I have ever eaten, even to this day. All the white spots were drive-ins back then and the whole eating experience was quite a treat. But alas, all things must come to an end. The white spots are now sit down restaraunts and the hamburgers are still very good but they don't taste quite the same as they used to and no, it's not just my memory, they really have changed a bit. Oh well, anyone who grew up in Vancouver will know exactly what I'm talking about.

I have been across this country and back, flying and both driving and the best meal I have ever had is the last one I just had, the meal does not only entail the food that you are eating but it also concerns the company, the ambiance and the scenery, in essence the experience as a whole ..... so, if you are in the parking lot of a Timmie's eating a timbit and sipping

a 1M/3S( that's how I like it ) or eating lobster on the shores of Cape Breton Island and listening to a couple of locals playing the fiddle and guitar, having a clam bake on the "red"beaches

of P.E.I.or in the maple woods of Quebec at a "cabine a sucre" or family bbq at the cottage in muskokas in Ontario....etc ( you get the picture ) ..... " The Meal " gives you a sense of community, belonging and connection with the ones you love and your neighbors.

The most delightful, succulent, amazing lobster in the world is the Digby lobster! Now perhaps I'm a little biased being a "bluenoser", however, I have tried many different types and there is nothing that even comes close to the flavor. Easy to prepare (if you don't get pinched) and no fuss--fixings are pretty easy when it goes down nicely with dinner rolls, perhaps some malt vinegar, a little butter, and a fine wine. Nothing better!!! Now when I was a kid we would have a feast about three times a year. We looked so forward to it. Now living on the west coast I don't have the opportunity to enjoy it as often. However it still rings true that when my whole family sits at the table to enjoy it, this reminds me of home, the smell of the sea, the fishing boats....my heritage.

I'd have to say my most favorite Canadian meal is Rappie Pie! A traditional East coast Acadian meal. I've had many American friends ask "what is that??" along with some relatives from out in the Canadian west. Yet on most Nova Scotia menus you can find it there. I've heard of a Florida woman who took a liking to it so much that when she returned to her Florida home she incorporated it into her own restaurant menu which turned out to be a hit with customers according to her web site.

Not a desert, it is made with raw shredded potatoes which have been squeezed of their starch either by hand (old fashion way) or by machine. You can buy the potato base at local supermarkets which is now days the most popular choice. Added to that are onions and lots of broth, meat (turkey, chicken, rabbit or a combo of all) and salt and pepper. Baked in the oven in usually very large and deep rectangular pans, it is topped with pieces of pork fat and/or fatty bacon and butter. The end result is a nice crispy golden top. This dish is can be served with condiments such as molasses, ketchup or piccalilli (chow chow/pickled green tomatoes).

Not good if you're watching the waistline, but definitely a wonderful taste of a traditional Atlantic Canada meal.

Yuuuummmy!

What food epitomizes Canada? Is that what you're asking here?

No. I don't think that's exactly what you're getting at. If that was all that it was, you'd ask about what the typical Canadian meal was. But that too would be a hard question.

I think you are inquiring about something much more deep and meaningful here.

So I delve into my fondest food memories. And for me, there are just so many because I happen to have be so blessed as to live with a great Chef!

She has made me so many heavenly meals over the years, like Roasted Rock Cornish Game Hen with Orange Cranberry and Chessnut stuffing. Or Veal Osso Buco with Risotto, homemade Pizza, Turkey at Christmastime, Prime Rib Roast and Torkshire Pudding, amazing omlettes, soups, salads that look as good as they taste. All these have been the opening acts for astonishing desserts.

What are some other great Canadian food experiences I've had? I remember sitting with my wide on the patio of a truly great Indian restaurant on a beautiful summer afternoon, sipping a Martini and having the privilege of being in this beautiful woman's company. I don't even remember the food (and I LOVE Indian food). I just remember the moment.

Something else I love is the smell and taste of a great backyard barbecue using my charcoal barbecue. Barbecuing with this method is great because it hits all of your senses. The smell, the sight of all the smoke, and of course the taste which is 10,000 times better than anything you can do on a gas grill. Pork, beef, chicken, lamb, and fish are all just to die for when done with Charcoal.

What a great question this was. Thanks for asking!