Fiddleheads © Denzil Green A fiddlehead is the top of a fern when it first pokes through the ground in spring, curled up like the head of a fiddle. They are only available for 3 weeks in May. They are still mostly gathered from the wild, though commercial production is being explored. They taste something…
Canadian Food
Ginger Ale
Ginger Ale © Denzil Green Ginger Ale is a soft drink version of ginger beer. It is a carbonated beverage, flavoured with ginger extract (artificial or genuine.) Commercial brands are often coloured with caramel. The original style of ginger ale is still being made by Schweppes. Ginger Ale cognoscenti say that they prefer the style…
Girl Guide Cookies
Girl Guide Cookies © Denzil Green Girl Guide Cookies are cookies sold by the Canadian Girl Guides to raise money for their activities. The cookies are made commercially for them by the Dare company, and sold twice a year to the public (as of 2010.) From April to May, chocolate and vanilla cookies are sold;…
Half & Half Cream
Half and Half was generally considered the lightest of all the creams, at 12% butterfat (in many parts of Canada, 10% seems to be the norm), but now there are even lighter creams at 5%. Some people describe “Half and Half” as a mixture of half milk and half cream, but that’s not always true….
Heavy Cream
Heavy cream is a North American generic term for creams that have at least 35-36% butterfat in them. They can be whipped and because of the higher-fat content, aren’t as likely to curdle in sauces as lower-fat creams. Heavy cream is a bit too heavy for coffee (though you can thin it with milk or…
Hutterite Soup Beans
Hutterite Soup Beans grow on a bush type bean plant that grows 2 to 3 feet (60 to 100 cm) tall; 115 days from seed. It produces pods 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) long. When dried, Hutterite Soup Beans are oval, and buff-coloured. They have a firm texture when cooked. History Notes…
Ice Wine
Ice Wine is a sweet dessert wine, usually made from white grapes, but now some are made from red grapes. It is made in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. German Ice Wines are considered the best, and are the most expensive by far. A 375 ml bottle of van Volexm Saar Riesling…
Ireland Creek Annie Beans
Ireland Creek Annie Beans grow on a bush type bean plant that grows up to 2 feet (60 cm) tall. The plant flowers with light-pink blossoms, then produces green pods 4 inches (10 cm) long x ⅔ inch (1.5 cm) wide. Ireland Creek Annie Beans are good as a shelling bean or a dried bean….
Jean Paré
Jean Paré was the one of the world’s top selling cookbook authors, with 30 million copies of her books sold. Each of Jean’s cookbooks is a single subject.
Katherine Caldwell Bayley
Katherine Mary Caldwell Bayley was a famous home economist in the first half of the 1900s. She taught a National Cooking Course via newspaper in the mid-1930s, for which people could get a diploma. As her alter ego, Ann Adam, she also broadcast by radio the weekly “Cooking School of the Air”.
Legacy Garlic
Legacy Garlic has large bulbs, and inside an average of 6 large cloves that are easy to peel The garlic has strong, full flavour. It belongs to the Rocambole sub-group of hardneck garlics. Storage Hints Stores well. History Notes The origin of Legacy Garlic is unknown, but it was first identified on a farm in…
Maple Butter
Maple Spread © Denzil Green Genuine Maple Butter does not contain any butter; rather, it is a spread made from 100% maple syrup. The syrup used to be cooked down to a spread consistency. It would be formed into blocks of very thick Maple Butter wrapped in waxed paper. Keeping it spreadable, though, was always…
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is a viscous liquid sweetener produced from the sap of maple trees. It has a pronounced taste that is also complex and nuanced.
McIntosh Apples
McIntosh apples are, as of 2020, still the most well-known, ubiquitous apple in North America, though their popularity has been under attack for several decades from many other apple varieties. McIntosh trees are very hardy; oftentimes, they are the only ones in an orchard left standing after a bad storm. Note that despite being “mc’s”,…
Nanaimo Bars
Nanaimo bars are a three-layered, no bake dessert. The layers consist of a graham wafer base, a custard middle, and a chocolate topping. The dessert is chilled and cut into squares to serve.
Pannonia Ham
Pannonia Ham is actuallya brand name of Hungarian-style ham, made by the Celebrity company, in Canada. The bone is removed, then the ham is slightly flattened, then lightly smoked and then aged for a short period of time. It has a mild, smoky taste. It can be bought as whole hams for baking. Language Notes…
Parkland Apples
Parkland are small to medium-sized apples (up to 3 inches / 7 ½ cm wide.) Their skin is greenish-yellow with red stripes. Inside, they have off-white, crisp, juicy flesh with green tinges, with a somewhat tart but otherwise ordinary flavour. The tree is cold-hardy. Cooking Tips For cooking; some like it for fresh-eating. Storage Hints…
Potluck Suppers
Potluck Meal. Texas. 1920s © Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries. UH Digital Library A Potluck Supper is when everyone invited to the meal brings some food, generally already prepared and ready to eat, unless some of it is a food to go on a grill. They are often held at workplaces, churches….
Puslinch Rocambole Garlic
The bulbs of Puslinch Rocambole Garlic have white skin, with 12 purplish-skinned cloves per bulb. The cloves won’t be uniformly-sized; a few will be smaller than the others. Sweetish taste. The garlic belongs to the Rocambole sub-group of hardneck garlics. History Notes Puslinch Rocambole Garlic originated in Ontario, Canada.
Québecois Food
Québec is bordered on the top by the Arctic, on the west by the Canadian province of Ontario, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south by the American states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It is a very cold climate. In early May, there are often still huge…
Red River Cereal
Red River Cereal was a Canadian mix of dried grains for making a porridge-like cooked cereal. It was sold in distinct red boxes and came in Original, Ready to Serve and Ready to Serve flavoured (both Maple and Brown Sugar) versions. The Ready to Serve kind of Red River Cereal could be prepared in the…
Richelieu Apple
Richelieu Apples are medium-sized apples with light-green, glossy skin blushed with red, and mottled with white dots and light russeting. The white flesh is crisp, juicy and high in sugar. The tree bears well each year. Cooking Tips Can be used for fresh-eating or cooking, but because even Canadian government reports (usually full of mandatory…
Rouville Apple
Rouville Apples have pale, greenish-yellow skin mostly covered by red blushes. Inside, the coarse flesh is juicy and a pale cream-colour. It was bred to be both an eating and cooking fruit. The apples have a high sugar and tannin content (attention cider makers.) The apple is ribbed, making it not completely round. It ranges…
Sam Cherries
Sam Cherries are a large, firm sweet cherry with dark reddish-brown skin. History Notes Developed in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada.