Which for some reason reminds me of packets or sachets and the dedicated drawers for them in kitchens. Salad cream, ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, duck sauce, malt vinegar, mayo, …
With further respect to geography, when I demonstrated the famous baking soda and vinegar volcano experiment to my nieces my wife and her sister were fascinated. This has led, after some exploration, to the family saying that “there is no science in New Jersey” despite Princeton and Einstein. Current nieces and nephews have confirmed that public school science in New Jersey is lacking. That reality has increased the entertainment value of Uncle Dave. My brother in law, after the potato clock demonstration, told me to stop playing with my food.
I’ve got over 50 jars of sauces, spreads and condiments in my fridge right now.
Worcestershire
Caesar dressing (have been trying different ones- a German Caesar from Farm Boy in Canada is our favorite right now)
Realemon lemon juice
A few local mustards
Yellow ballpark mustard (from Schwartz’s in Mtl , which is fancier than usual)
Dijon
Maybe 7 hot sauces, inc Tabasco, Franks, Jamaican, Cholula
Greek sour cherry spoon sweets
Apricot jam (I cook w it)
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Mayo
Ketchup (barely use it)
Tomato paste in a tube
Mint sauce
Mint jelly
Red pepper jelly
Chocolate sauce for ice cream
Pico de gallo (bottled)
Mirin
HP
Maggi
Maple syrup
Diana sauce
Blue cheese dressing
It isn’t that popular, but it is available at every grocery store where I shop in Ontario, Canada. There are a lot of people of British extraction, as well as people who immigrated here over the past 60 years, so Salad Cream is a staple in some homes. I think most Canadians who use Salad Cream use it on salad, and would keep mayo on hand for other uses.
We also have HP, Branson Pickle in our grocery stores. Some stores have a small British section, with imported Brown Sauce, imported
HP (Canadian HP is in a plastic bottle and made here, imported HP is in a glass bottle) and some other British favourites.
We had Marks & Spencers across Canada when I was growing up. The last one closed roughly 20 years ago. That is where a lot of British Canadians would have been buying their Salad Cream, other British foods and underwear. The M& S underwear was better than Cdn underwear. It lasted longer. I still stock up on M & S underwear in the UK, but it isn’t as good as it once was.
2 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
20
M & S has never had a full enough range to do the week’s shopping there. But, they have just teamed up with Ocado, which is an online supermarket, so we can get their products alongside Ocado’s normal range. It’s the most expensive of the home delivery options but we get from them maybe once a month at present, just to get a wider range of, say, organic products. And, yes, M & S is where I buy my underwear.
#Calvé is a Spanish company and they have factories in the E.U. and export as well.
They make Mayonaise, tomato sauce, tinned sardines and mackeral (caballa) amongst all types of jarred veggies and tinned shellfish and sauces and dressings. The Spanish mayonaise traditional style is natural. And has no sugar or chemicals.
1 Like
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
22
My mother’s cousin immigrated to Ontario, probably in the late 1930s. I remember meeting him when he was back here on holiday, when I was about 10. He was then very proud of his son who played in a band which had just recorded a No. 1 hit in the Canadian charts. I did at one point have the record - it’s the nearest I’ve come to knowing a rock star.
I know there was a lot of immigration during the late 19th/early 20th centuries. In real life I’m a military historian with a special interest in the Great War. The various war memorials in our town have the names of over 20 local men who were killed during the conflict serving with the Canadian forces. I suspect that the troops based here for a while would have come across the salad cream,as it was introduced in 1914, and may well have taken a taste for it back home in 1918.
I’m with you, Harters, it’s vile nasty stuff. My ex preferred it to mayo.
My collection of jars and bottles is legendary…just on my counter you’ll find horseradish, chili garlic sauce, nutella, sesame oil, honey, fish sauce, ponzu, and Crystal hot sauce.
I keep a pantry stocked with pad thai sauce, stir fry sauce, and various curry based so a quick stirfry-ish dinner is to hand at all times.
That is a neat story about your cousin and his son. It makes me wonder which band he was in, and which song was #1.
There definitely have been waves of immigration from the UK. I went to a girls’ school which took in English girls as boarding school students during WW2. My close family friend immigrated here from Newcastle via Vancouver in the late 60s. My ski club in Toronto has new members from the UK join each season. We also have a lot of people immigrating from other Commonwealth countries, who like British groceries. My dad, coming from Saskatchewan, has always had some British foods as part of his daily regimen: porridge and orange marmalade. He also likes licorice allsorts. Sticky Toffee Pudding has also been a very popular dessert in Toronto the last 12 years, or so.
We keep a good number of the bottles listed above. One condiment always on hand is house made preserved Meyer lemon. This is my “go to”, from which i make several jars a season.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
28
Bingo!
I’ve just had a skim through Canadian #1 hits for the late 50s and early 60s to see if I recognised a name. And I did. In 1963 (I was 13 then, not 10)
Richie Knight and Mid-Kinghts. Their Wikipedia page notes that, by 1961, Mike Brough had joined the band on sax. Mike was still with them in 63 when they had their #1 hit “Charlena”. Apparently the first Canadian band to have a #1 hit in the Canadian charts.
