Eating Well in the Cold

One of the interesting facets of Canadian cuisine is how they eat so well in a cold, northern climate. Being so far north means that the growing periods are short and though Canada has a huge farming culture in its bigger provinces, farming was not always the way that native Canadians survived. Like America, Canada has its own native populations who shared their culinary practices with the explorers and settlers from other countries.

These native populations knew how to find the best berries that grew locally, tap maple syrup, smoke and preserve meat for long periods of time, ice fish and forage. Part of Canada is in the Arctic circle and the Inuit people (commonly referred to as Eskimos) learned how to ferment meat and fish to preserve it. They also consumed seal, whale and whale blubber. Since fish is a huge part of the native diet, fishing and its practices played a part in helping keep the native cultures alive amidst the introduction of new cultures and ways of cooking. 

Part of eating well in the cold, is knowing when and how to preserve the foods that you will need for later. The Canadian Native Americans share many recipes with the American Native Americans like pemmican and smoked fish. But because of the different diversity of plants in the north, they have their own special recipes too like whipped soapberry. 

Because of the long periods of cold weather that Canadians experience, they have many favorite recipes for soups, stews and smoked meats in their culinary culture. Modern day Canadians also take advantage of the cold to make some of their favorite desserts too like maple taffy. Ice wine, which are grapes that have been left to freeze on the vine first before fermentation, is a popular dessert drink.