Typically Canadian Food?

I'd like to try some Canadian food, Carolina (a student intern from Germany) told me last summer when she was spending a few days with us.

My youngest son had spent a year in Germany as an exchange student a few years back. Now Caro, one of his German friends, was on her way to an internship in Edmonton.

Canadian food, eh? Do we even have Canadian food?

Over the next few days, I came up with a short list of things that I think could be considered "Canadian." I have included links to the recipes found on the website: recipelink.com

The first three are French favorites from Quebec, but we in Ontario eat them too.

1. "Poutine" is from Quebec. It's basically French fries with gravy topped with cheese curds (cheddar cheese before it has been pressed into blocks). Most people don't make it - they buy it at an outdoor stand called a "chip wagon."

2. French onion soup - served in a bowl topped with croutons and cheese that is baked until it melts in the oven

3. Tortiere - Quebec-style meat pie. I have my own favorite that I found in an Air Canada in-flight magazine one time.

We do have Canadian desserts - or at least I think they're Canadian:

4. Flapper Pie - My mother used to make this cream pie for my brother all the time. Baked on a graham wafer crust, the cream filling is topped with merangue.

5. Nanaimo Bars These layered bars are very sweet, but delicious! I'm not sure whether or not they're Canadian, but there is a city called Nanaimo in British Columbia, so Canadians assume they are!

6. Butter Tarts - very sweet, syrupy tarts

7. Ottawa's own favorite "junk food" - Beavertails: deep-fried flat doughnuts smothered in lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon (or other options) These are sold at a stand in the Byward Market and at special events in the city. I notice that the recipe here does not mention adding a touch of lemon juice after frying the beaver tail.

Visitors to Ottawa have been known to ask, Are those really fried tails from a beaver?

To which residents have been known to reply: Of course! If you don't want yours, I'll eat it.

If there are any more "Canadian" dishes I haven't thought of, let me know and I'll post them!