Digesting the American-Canadian Cooking Project

The dishes have finally been put away in New York and Ottawa, and we’ve finished off the last of the Nanaimo Bars and Sweet Potato Pie. With a chance to step back, Jill and I begin to reflect on the outcome of our American-Canadian Cooking project. Perhaps without realizing it, we concocted a recipe of distinctive ingredients – one part culinary detective work, one part cultural exchange, and one part oral history. It was a tasty cross-border collaboration So, what did we learn? Jill and I compare notes:

TW: First of all, if you're going to get involved in a major cooking project, you should clean the oven first! But beyond that, I thought it was fascinating to track down the history of several dishes. I knew nothing about the menu items you suggested, and with the exception of pea soup, had never heard of any of them before. It was sort of like a culinary treasure hunt with only a name as an initial clue. Everywhere I looked I found a new story linked to each of the food items on my Canadian list.

Jill: And if you're going to make clam chowder, you should really invest in a large stock pot to avoid a tidal wave of clam broth in the kitchen! While I had heard of the dishes you selected, I had never made any of them and knew little about their background. Along with learning about the history of the menu items, I got caught up in all sorts of interesting side-tracks, making for a combination culinary and American history lesson. I also made the (pleasant) discovery that my pre-conceptions about some of the dishes were wrong.

TW: There was tradition and history layered into every dish, and lots of local variations. While I ended up picking some of the more classic versions of each recipe, there were many distinctive versions that had grown out of specific cultures and communities.

Jill: I found it fascinating to look at some of the early recipes for the American dishes and see how they had evolved over time. It seems that recipes have changed or new versions been created as a result of the availability or popularity of certain ingredients, changing tastes, and to adapt to different cooking methods.

TW: It was surprising to discover how passionate Canadians are about certain dishes. I mean, there is actually a national dialogue about the qualities of butter tarts, and everyone drinks Bloody Caesars! In the U.S., there are certainly debates about regional foods, but I'm not sure Americans are collectively vocal about a single dish, unless it's pizza or burgers and fries.

Jill: Maybe it's because our population is so much smaller - there's room for everyone to get involved in the butter tart debate. I certainly discovered a very lively discussion about the various types of chowder, including some particularly vehement commentary on the merits of Manhattan clam chowder. By the way, while it's well-known that we all eat doughnuts, I can't confirm that all Canadians drink Caesars.

TW: Lydia at "The Perfect Pantry" blog noted, with good humor, that all of the Canadian foods were brown. Would you care to comment on that further, Jill?

Jill: Don't forget about the red and green Caesars! Still, I can't deny that I picked a decidedly neutral-toned menu. Your choices produced a much more colourful meal. But T.W., let me assure you and Lydia that not all Canadian food is brown. We grow apples, blueberries, and peaches, to name a few colourful foods, and we really do have fresh veggies.

TW: It seemed like most of the Canadian foods had roots in Europe, and actually have a certain longevity. The stories of the food become part of the fabric of the culture in each province. However, some of the American foods may have fallen out of fashion.

Jill: I found it curious that Country Captain, which seems to me to have quite "modern" ingredients and appeal, has come in and out of fashion. New England Clam chowder, on the other hand, appears to have consistently maintained its popularity. It's certainly an essential part of the region's culture.

TW: I was just as interested in what you were discovering about American foods as what I was learning about Canadian cuisine. I had never heard of the story of Oscar Tschirky and Waldorf salad, nor Cecily Brownstone's passion for Country Captain.

Jill: I agree. I think I learned as much about Canadian cuisine as I did about American dishes. Walter Chell's creation of the Caesar, the official Naimano Bar recipe, and the history of the butter tart were all new to me.

TW: There were some subtle connections between countries and cuisines that started to emerged as we shared our individual research.

Jill: With the proximity of Canada and the U.S., it's not surprising that our foods share many connections. It was interesting to discover that some of the dishes we chose may have particularly close ties, for example, chowder first being brought to eastern Canada and then down to New England, and the theory that butter tarts descended from the pecan pie brought to Canada by American slaves. I even found a recipe for tourtiere in a New England cookbook, reflecting the French Canadian influence in that region.

TW: Of course, you didn’t tell me until after the fact, that you were not a great fan of tourtiere! I was impressed with your investigative skills, the trips to the library and the detailed Internet searches. At one point, I was pressed for time, and just ordered several Canadian cookbooks on the Barnes and Noble website.

Jill: Until we started this project, I wasn't aware of the amazing historical cooking sources that exist electronically. For instance, I could have spent hours (in fact, I did) browsing through the Historic American Cookbook Project at the Michigan State University Library. I was impressed by your research as well, but also by how whole-heartedly you and your guests immersed yourselves in the Canadian experience. You may have to celebrate Canada Day this July 1st!

Well, I’m always game to add another day of feasting to the calendar. When we first started this exploration, Jill listed burgers and fries when I asked her what came to mind when she thought of American cuisine. We’ve certainly learned that there is some deep history, tradition and a bit of legend attached to the foods of Canada and America. Jill has confirmed there is more to American cuisine than burgers and fries, and I’ve come to appreciate the therapeutic value of starting out a good Canadian meal with a round of Caesars, and concluding with the esteemed butter tart!

©2007 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

The American Feast in Canada

Jill’s preparations for the American Feast in Canada on March 18th are characterized by a relaxed, smoke-free morning, a search for appropriate wine (always an admirable goal) and a ticking clock. She writes:

I begin the day of the American feast at a leisurely pace. After all, my guests aren't arriving until 6 p.m., so I have lots of time to prepare the remaining dishes.

I spend the morning rolling out and chilling a rich, buttery pastry and baking sweet potatoes for the pie. By noon, the house is filled with the candied aroma of the roasting potatoes.

In honour of the day, I decide to pop out to the coffee shop to pick up a butter tart for lunch. Unfortunately, with its cakey crust and meagre filling, my Canadian tart doesn't compare to your American-made rendition.

Back home, the preparations continue. I brown the chicken, and prepare a fragrant sauce of tomatoes, red bell peppers, wine, curry, onions, garlic and currants, with a dollop of mango chutney, for the Country Captain. Heeding Waldorf salad creator Oscar Tschirky's instructions to dress the salad with a "good mayonnaise", I whip up a batch. No problems so far: the mayonnaise stays together and there's no smoking oven at my end. The sweet potato pie comes out perfectly, and all appears to be going smoothly when you call to report on the unfolding Canadian feast.

But as the clock ticks toward 6, I begin to worry. The table isn't quite ready and I've forgotten that the Boston brown bread needs to steam for a full two full hours. Where has the time gone? I blame it on my last-minute late afternoon trip to the wine store for a final attempt to find a bottle of wine from the eastern U.S. While I'm rewarded for my efforts with a bottle of Finger Lakes Riesling from New York, it's cut into my prep time. I have to laugh, though, at the thought of running late for a meal that's been nearly two months in preparation. A quick call to my guests delays their arrival for a half hour.

As I'm putting the final touches to my red, white and blue table, my dining companions arrive promptly at 6:30 - so promptly I suspect they've been waiting outside since 6. Fitting for our tour of American east coast specialties, most of my guests have roots in Canada's Atlantic provinces. They come bearing bottles of California wine to add a west coast touch to the meal. We enjoy a glass of the New York Riesling, then move on to begin sampling the dishes.

New England Clam Chowder served with Boston Brown Bread is our first course. Overnight, the chowder has thickened and the flavours combined, while the clams and potatoes have remained tender. I serve it sprinkled with chives and salty pork cracklings. There's approval all-round, and most of the table dips into the pot for a second helping. The bread, fresh from steaming, is warm and moist. My guests also think it tastes similar to a bran muffin, and one picks up the taste and texture of the cornmeal, suggesting that it is like a molasses-spiked cornbread.

Next is the Country Captain, served with rice. Almonds and coconut provide a crunchy topping for the sweet and savoury dish, perfumed with curry spices and chutney. No wonder those "country captains" - and Cecily Brownstone - liked this dish so much.

The Waldorf salad is a pretty green and red, from a combination of Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples. Together with the celery, they produce a sweet-tart, crunchy and refreshing dish. Several Waldorf salad-savvy guests inquire about the absence of walnuts, but I've chosen to go with the original walnut-free recipe.

The Sweet Potato Pie is the hit of the evening. It's reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but lighter and fresher-tasting. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves complement the sweetness of the maple syrup and the potatoes. No marshmallows for this pie, just a little vanilla-scented whipped cream to add to the decadence. It may replace pumpkin pie on my next Thanksgiving menu.

With that, our culinary tour of the eastern United States is complete. We've sampled dishes with links to the soup cauldrons of France, the Puritans of early New England, the heyday of an elegant New York City hotel, colonial India, and the traditions of African cuisine. I say goodnight to my guests and savour a final bite of sweet potato pie before heading off to sleep...behind schedule, of course!

The American-Canadian Cooking Project comes to a close, but not without a final tête-à-tête to compare notes on what we learned. Keep watching.

©2007 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved