No.
This was a comment by the late Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook. He was factually wrong, but was actually making a point about diversity in the UK. By comparison with other takeaway dishes, chicken tikka masala falls a long way behind fish & chips by number sold. By comparison with restaurant cuisines, south asian falls along way behind more generically British menus. Even though Tikka masala is said to have been invented by a Glasgow curry house.
Fair enough. But if you dig enough, Iâm sure youâll find that most so-called national foods have roots in other cuisines. The question becomes where to draw the line. How long does it take for something to become Canadian, American or British?
A lot of Spanish food has Arabic and African roots. Does that make it less Spanish? What about all the Greek and Balkan food that has Ottoman origins? Beer and sausage were not invented in Germany.
No one is going to tell me that smoked meat, tourtière or ginger beef arenât Canadian. Bannock comes from Scotland and Northern England, but donât tell native americans itâs not THEIR food.
I know they are British, but they are not available in the US, unless you buy them at a specialty/import store. When I go to Canada, those are one of the candies I pick up since we donât get them here. Same with Cadbury chocolates â the Cadbury available in the US is complete different (and inferior) to the type available in Canada and other parts of the world.
The store near me that sells Smarties (Cost Plus World Market), sells Smarties that are either made in Toronto or made in Germany. Depends on their shipment, I guess.
I think the answer to the first question may lie in the opening post - when itâs a food ânon-Canadians would recognise as Canadianâ.
As for the second question - No. But much of that lies in the occupation of Spain, over several centuries, by the Moors. And, of course, the fact that Morocco and Spain are only separated by 14km. In similar vein, we Britons eat Dover sole. Twenty two miles away from my country, our neighbours eat Calais sole. Proximity is a great influence
Browse a few restaurant websites & look at their menus for inspiration. The Maritimes are famous for fish & especially lobsters.
The first time I went to Canada there was a big sign: âLetâs Drink Canada Dryâ & I did my best.
Ok, but youâll have to forgive me if Iâm not too keen on the idea of people from other cultures defining what is and isnât Canadian. For the purposes of this party, I can understand. But in general, I donât think itâs a great way to go about it. Canadians have enough trouble figure that out by themselves. Seems the best most of us have come up with is âWeâre not Americanâ which is pretty sad if you ask me. Canadians should be the ones who get to define what is and isnât Canadian.
In the end, I guess it all comes down to personal vision of what is and isnât oneâs culture and how we perceive other cultures. We could debate endlessly about whether spag bol or tikka masala are British dishes and I could never really get the last word. Same goes for pierogies or ginger beef.
Serve something super hot in honor of Justin Trudeau 
A little more seriously, Eskimo Pies?
You may have to re-pack them as Inuit Pies if that is preferred by the Canadian first nations. https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/resources/inuit-eskimo/
Still donât buy it. Pierogies are an ethnic (Eastern European) food that happen to be popular in some pockets of Canada, same as in pockets of the USA.
Suit yourself.
I shall. And I shanât ever thing of pierogies as Canadian. Just as I wonât think of clambakes as Ohioan or pierogie sales as native to northeast Ohio.
Please move this thread along with at least ONE item that YOU think is Canadian. TIA.
As a kid growing up in Manitoba, everybody pretty much knew what perogies were. I grew up eating them, though Iâm not remotely Ukrainian. They were more less a staple growing up in households. If nobody in your family made them, you knew somebody who made them from scratch who you could buy them from which was always better than the frozen ones from the supermarket.
Although not truly Canadian, they play a significant role in our culinary heritage.
Honestly, for a Canadian party, they make great finger food.
Maybe Canada doesnât have a real cuisine they can call their own? Other than poutine and maple syrup. Although, we have maple syrup here, too, so maybe that doesnât count?
This is a tough one.
I would tend to agree there arenât too many foods âoriginally from Canadaâ but for a Canadian themed party, advice for typical foods as eaten by this Canadian growing up are outlined above.
Honestly i think you should ask amongst your lovely coworkers who have their hearts set on a Canadian themed party what they think should be on the menu⌠seriously! When they voted what were they hoping to eat at said party�
Increasingly available in the UK, due to consideable immigration from Eastern Europe in the last handful of years ( a significant reason for us voting to leave the UK - the immigration, not the pierogies). Your guess would be as good as mine about how long, if ever, it will be before anyone regards them as British.
Whoa now. I feel the Canadianâs pain. He identifies foods that his fellow country people âownâ even knowing they came from outside. Everything up there and everything down here came from elsewhere except for indigenous fruits, veg and game. Just out of curiousity though, why draw the line at pierogies? I ask because Pittsburghers do not apologize for treating those things like a local invention. (There are drive-thru pierogie stores here.)
I suppose by that criteria, if I were throwing a âLos Angelesâ theme party, I would have to include spicy tuna rolls, fish tacos, carne asada, pad thai, and hamburgers.
Well, I guess itâs settled then. Thereâsâ no such thing as Canadian food. Better find another theme for that party.
