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!

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