Canadian Cuisine

Admittedly, Canada might not be famous for its culinary delights but there are definitely some dishes that you should try!

1. Poutine

Known as a typical dish from Quebec, you can actually also find it in other parts of Canada. I tried my first poutine in Kingston (yes, Kingston and YES, it did have cheese curds but the best poutine you can find, hands down, is definitely in Quebec). The combination of fries, gravy and cheese curds might not sound like something people would ever eat but it's surprisingly tasty - especially at 3 am after a night out. My favorite: Italian style poutine with tomato sauce.

2. Beer

Canadians not only love beer, they also like to brew beer. For beer lovers this means that you can choose from a sheer endless variety of local Canadian beers. My favorite: Mill Street Cobblestone Stout from Toronto.

3. Beaver Tails

For vegetarians: This is a meat-free pastry! And a delicious one, I might add. It is a typical desert from Ottawa and is basically a piece of fried dough (in the shape of a beaver tail), classically topped with sugar and cinnamon. My favorite beaver tail: chocolate hazelnut.

4. RISE Kombucha

Even if I risk repeating myself, this low-sugar, tea-based soda is actually the first soda I ever liked on this continent. My favorite flavor: all of them!

5. Maple Leaf Cream Cookies

This is probably as Canadian as it gets: a cookie in maple leaf form filled with a maple sugar cream filling. Way too sweet but also way too good to resist!

Bon Appetit!

Toronto vs. Montreal: Which Canadian City is Cooler?

Of the cities that I have seen in Canada, these would be my top two. While Toronto has a more modern, hip, trendy, cool and ultra clean vibe, Montreal is a little dirtier, more chaotic, more punk, and maybe a little wilder and it has the bilingual factor (which I love). So which one did I like best? BOTH!

                                                   Best Food: Japanese vs. Poutine

                  

 


                             Coolest Graffiti: Kensington Market vs. Sainte Catherine

                 

 


                              Nicest River View: Canal Lachine vs. Port of Toronto

                 

 

                                                   Chinatown vs. Chinatown

                   

 

                               Most Impressive Building: Notre Dame vs. Art College

                                

 

                          Most amazing view of the city: River View vs. Mont Royal view

                     

 

                                Craziest Piece of Art: Kombucha Man vs. Elephant Man

                                   

 

                                        Most Colorful Tongue: Raspberry vs. Slush Puppy

                                    

 

Which one's your favorite?

I Saw a Sign

Signs are per definition meant to be clear and precise, they are not supposed to be funny or artistic. Unless you are in Canada. Canadians have developed a very unique approach to signs (maybe due to their heritage of British humor?), but see for yourself:

Rising up to the soda challenge: How I discovered my new favorite soda in Canada

Since I left Germany 3 years ago, I have been on a strict drinking diet of water, coffee, self-made juice and beer. Anything else, especially the fluorescent-colored sodas in South America, was disqualified because it was a) waaaaay too sweet and/or b) waaaaaay too chemical. In the US the sodas changed colors and names but the taste was still the same: bubblegumsweeeeet. It took a trip to Canada to convince me that there really is a soda on this continent that I actually LIKE. A German friend, who had been drinking water and home-made Apfelschorle for the past 4 years, introduced me to my personal soda revelation of the decade: RISE Kombucha. Yes, it is made out of kombucha and yes, I also know the System of a Down song "Kombucha Mushroom People" (by the way, kombucha is not a mushroom, it is actually a living bacterial culture) and yes, I still think it's delicious! If you know anything about kombucha, or ever tried it, you'd remember that the taste has nothing to do with delicious but drinking it is more means to an end: getting energy and/or getting drunk. RISE Kombucha however is non-alcoholic, mixed with tea, and actually qualifies as soda, or - in my words - it's a sparkly, not too sweet (thank you!), refreshing, and tasty drink. And I know, it's not just me who feels that way about it, fellow blogger Leanne Vogel (just to name one) tried it out for 30 days - and it changed her life! I am not sure if I'd go that far but it's another point on my list of great things about Canada and I'll be sure to drink as much Kombucha as I can while still in Canada!

PROST

Oh Canada

It has been over a week now since I crossed the border from the US to Canada. Since that very moment I have been enjoying the small but significant little differences. It started already with the border crossing. When I came to the US three months ago, I had to face a hostile FBI / Homeland Security team. Smiling - not on the special agent agenda. I was scared and intimidated (probably the whole purpose of the non-smiling policy) and it took me a loooong time to convince them that I really did not want to live in the US and work illegally and that I was quite happy with my German citizenship.
Coming to Canada on the other hand involved one look at my passport, two friendly (!!!) questions and with that I was done: "Enjoy your stay in Canada!"
With these words I seemed to have crossed a line to a more European version (at least that's my interpretation) of the US:

- the cars got smaller and so did the roads and parking lots
- good bye automatic cars, hello stick shift
- finally the measurements are back to "normal": meters, degrees Celsius, and liters (even though it spelled "litre" and, strangely enough, Canadians still use ounces ...)

- everybody seem to be slim and fit
- there seems to be a Canadian obsession with recycling that reminds me of good old Germany


And then there are obviously some things that seem to be genuinely Canadian:

- girls, no matter what body shape or size, like their outfits as short and as tight as possible
- the beer is great but very expensive (I genuinely wonder how Canadians get drunk without having to spend a fortune!)
- and people are really as friendly as the stereotype claims

But then again, maybe that is just me (and I haven't even gotten to the French Canadian part yet) ... what do you think makes Canadians Canadian?

P.S. I decided to participate in this month's #31WriteNow challenge, write one post every day (http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/07/31writenow-blog-challenge.html), so stay tuned for daily news from the road!