CANADA: CULINARY EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Ask any Canadian chef if the country as a whole has a distinct cuisine and the answer will probably be a definitive “no.” Distinct cuisine and signature dishes are more of a regional thing. Think of Canadian cuisine as a vast, multi-cultural buffet to be enjoyed in various ways, coast-to-coast. Read more>>>
Food & Wine Festivals
Farmers Markets
Where to Eat Healthy
Wine Regions
Best Canadian Wines
Quebec's Best Culinary Trails
Ontario's Best Culinary Trails
British Columbia's Best Culinary Trails
Learn to Cook Packages
Other items of Canadian culinary interest
More About Canada's Cuisine
From Atlantic lobster, mussels and oysters, to P.E.I. potatoes, Quebec’s local cheeses and traditional dishes such "tortiere" and "poutine," Ottawa's Beaver Tail, Toronto's Peameal Bacon Sandwiches, to the fruit and veggies af the Niagara Region, the excellent beef of Alberta, the wild rice of Manitoba, wild game to the far north, and in B.C., Salt Spring Island lamb, Wild Pacific Salmon and the abundant fruit of the Okanogan Valley - Canada offers a full shopping basket of great eats. And, specialty dishes are as distinct as the country’s varying regions.
In the Atlantic provinces of Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, one of the biggest draws is the local seafood. Succulent lobster dipped in garlic butter, fat juicy oysters and steaming mussels are world famous. Few visitors leave without sampling the mandatory “lobster supper.” Newfoundland is famous for cod tongues and cod cheeks; Prince Edward Island is world renowned for its Malpeque Oysters. You can learn how to prepare local specialties at The Nova Scotia Seafood Cooking School which offers various three-day themed programs.
Quebec’s culinary culture is authentically French Canadian. Here you can dine on such traditional fare as tortière, ragout, pea soup and maple sugar pie. There are also several specially designated agro-tourism routes mapped out for visitors and featuring artisan studios, restaurants and local producers. Circuit du Paysan in southwestern Quebec and Route des Saveurs in Charlevoix are two. The province also offers some of the finest restaurants in the country, many of them in Quebec City, Montreal and at an upscale collection of country inns.
In Ontario the lush Niagara Region offers a cornucopia of fruit and berries and, of course, grapes made into award-winning wines. A number of wineries pair wine tastings with cooking classes – Strewn Winery in Niagara, for instance. In Picton, for instance, Waring House Cookery School, housed in the beautifully restored Waring House heritage inn, offers half day and evening themed classes plus customized menus for groups
To the far west, where fresh and smoked Pacific salmon is world renowned, B.C. has its signature style of cuisine called Pacific Fusion, combining local flavours with those of California and the Orient. A number of upscale properties – the Aerie Resort on the Malahat and the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino to name two – offer packages that tie in with the province’s Gourmet Trail.
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Quebec's Best Culinary Trails
Southern Québec is criss-crossed by nearly 30 routes dotted with farm tourism stops. In addition to the Wine Route and the Agricultural Tour, the most important routes include:
The Flavour Trail, in Charlevoix
The Cheese and Country Flavour Route
For a taste of the Outaouais Region you'll find suggestions on where to pick your own produce, where to buy and where to meet local producers at Agro-Outaouais
In the Eastern Townships there are seven farm routes grouped under Great Tastes from our Fields. Here are the links:Agro Tourism Trails
Wine Route of EasternTownships
The Laurentians have about two dozen growers and producers certified “organic.” Here are the web sites of three of them.
www.api-culture.com
www.fromagiersdelatableronde.qc.ca
www.fxpichet.com
One of the province's most popular culinary routes is:
The Gourmet Route (Québec City and Charlevoix)
In other regions of Quebec:
The Cider Route (Montérégie)
The Country Roads (Lanaudière)
The Countryside and Cheese Maker Tour (Alma)
Ontario's Best Culinary Trails
The Taste Trail, Prince Edward Country
Find out local producers, what's grown and what's in season when
Read about the region's slow food movement.
The Apple Route Northumberland County
British Columbia's Best Culinary Trails.
Circle Farm Tours offers self-guided tours of BC’s Fraser Valley where you'll find fresh-from-the-farm goodies such as jams, honey, farm-aged cheeses and hand-crafted ice cream. The entire tour is all about specialty farm-gate vendors, artisans, open air markets, charming eateries, heritage sites, fairs, and other special events. Stop at places such as Vista D’oro Farms for their tasty artisanal preserves, Full-Bloom Farm for their lush lavender treats and Tanglebank Country Gardens for Birchwood Dairy ice-cream. Further along in Chilliwack you'll find Greendale Pottery & Country Guest House, Rustic Soap Co., and Honeyview Farm. Last count - about 60 different farm and country stops along the way.
Located a 25-minute drive north of Whistler, Pemberton Valley's annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday (August 17, 2008) is a 40-mile leisurely bike ride that participants through one of the most picturesque valleys and straight to the farmer's gates. Riders meet local growers and sample fresh produce with the successful formula of pedaling, snacking, socializing and slowing down. More than 1,300 riders and more than 20 local producers took part in the third Slow Food Cycle in the summer of 2007.
The entire Okanogan region is a "taste trail." Known as the "fruit belt of Canada" and one of Canada's two prime wine regions (the other is Niagara in Ontario) the Okanogan is a collection of vineyards and orchards. Visit and you'll find pink and white apples and cherry blossoms in the spring, bright red cherries in June to mid-July, peaches and apricots during July and August, then pears, plums, tomatoes right into the fall when the prime crop is apples. There are also walnut and hazelnut farms, and fruit stands dot the road sides.
Best BC Wine Tasting Trails
Edible BC offers the food-minded personalized culinary experiences including visits to bistros, farmer's markets, wineries, cheese shots and other local producers.
Island Chef Collaborative
features local chefs committed to supporting local producers. There are about 40 chefs and 60 farmers in this collaborative that launched over a decade ago.
Learn to Cook Packages
Trout Point Cooking & Wine School in Newfoundland hosts summer and fall cooking vacations. For more info
The Waring House Restaurant & Inn in Picton, Ontario offers a selection of hands-on cooking classes from August to October. Classes don't come packages with accommodations but it's easy to book a class, then book a room and create your own culinary getaway. For more info
Tuckamore Lodge in Main Brook, Newfoundland offers a six-day cooking class - Let's have a Scoff! - the last week of July. For more info
Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat and Guesthouse, located 45 minutes north of Victoria, BC in the Cowichan Valley, offers field-to-table cooking classes featuring fresh garden ingredients, buffalo mozzarella, locally raised meats and seafood. For more info visit Fairburn Farm
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Other items of Canadian culinary interest:
Take a Virtual Culinary Trip
Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)is offering a podcast series that takes lovers of fine food and travel on monthly trips across Canada as they discover fantastic new artisanal Canadian cheeses and culinary tourist hotspots.
In each episode, series host Ian Jones explores different areas in Canada that offer exciting and delicious regional food and cuisine. Listeners logging on to All You Need is Cheese will feel transported to another place through the combination of Jones’ storytelling style and his colourful interviews with a mix of characters from Canada’s food community.
Condiments with a Conscious
In support of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts' company-wide commitment to use local, organic, sustainable products whenever possible, Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York has teamed up with Canadian mustard producer Anton Kozlik to fashion its very own blend of gourmet mustard. With over 90% of the world's mustard seed grown domestically, but shipped oversees for processing, this new endeavor will save energy and valuable natural resources by substantially reducing the food miles required to produce the tangy condiment. Beginning in January 2008, ‘Dijon by Anton’ and ‘Double C Mustard’ will be served up to patrons in all of the hotel’s dining outlets. Showing its sweet side, the hotel, along with sister property The Fairmont Algonquin, will also begin making its very own blend of signature honey. Following the recent installation of several on property beehives, the hotels intend to utilize the fresh honey in the pastry kitchens and restaurants, and also have plans to bottle and sell the tasty topping in the hotel gift shops. www.fairmont.com/royalyork
Toronto Vegetarian Association
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