Canadian Retail Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by niwell

The worst for me was when my parents made basic homemade stuff like burgers or pork chops. I'm sure there was a big fear of food poisoning around then as everything was cooked to the consistency of a hockey puck.

I think this was a generational thing, because that was my experience and my wife's was the same. When I was a kid, I generally expected any meats (chicken, turkey, beef roast, pork chops) to be dry and chewy. It blew me away when I got older and started going to nice restaurants where the meat would be tender and juicy.

Originally Posted by jonny24

I used to hate different foods touching, which ruled out pizza!

Yeah, same here... I didn't like pizza when I was a kid, that's how picky I was. I didn't start eating it until I was a teenager. Same with Subway sandwiches

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

I think this was a generational thing, because that was my experience and my wife's was the same. When I was a kid, I generally expected any meats (chicken, turkey, beef roast, pork chops) to be dry and chewy. It blew me away when I got older and started going to nice restaurants where the meat would be tender and juicy.

:

I know it's not entirely true, but in Quebec having meats really really cooked is stereotyped as an anglo thing.

And to wit, have any of you guys ever been to hamburger joint (even a nice one) where they ask you how you'd like your patty cooked?

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I know it's not entirely true, but in Quebec having meats really really cooked is stereotyped as an anglo thing.

And to wit, have any of you guys ever been to hamburger joint (even a nice one) where they ask you how you'd like your patty cooked?

I always assumed it was either a British holdover or an American thing - not surprised that it didn't apply to Quebec. Although my anglo-Quebecker (west Island) stepdad with Scottish parents also badly overcooked meat...

Nowadays I find that decent restaurants in Toronto serving pub style (thick) hamburgers will generally ask you how you want them done. And many that don't will serve them medium rare by default. This is for newish style restaurants though - old school burger joints won't ask. It really comes down to whether or not they grind the meat in-house though. if they do, it's medium-rare for me.

[WhipperSnapper]

I have been asked how I want my patty cooked in most restaurants across Ontario. It usually ends up well done/ medium well no matter what you say. The very pink fat burger patties typical in the United States is still jarring.

Overcooking meats is more likely attributed to growing up in world war 2 and extending into a smashed post war era Europe. My parents loved Spam and other canned meats.

[Acajack]

Anglo-American culture also seems to have more issues with tartares, and also escargots.

I mean, Toronto, New York and London are diverse cities with millions of people, so of course you can find great tartares and escargots there and lots of people eating them.

But it's just less part of the cultural mainstream.

[casper]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I have been asked how I want my patty cooked in most restaurants across Ontario. It usually ends up well done/ medium well no matter what you say. The very pink fat burger patties typical in the United States is still jarring.

Overcooking meats is more likely attributed to growing up in world war 2 and extending into a smashed post war era Europe. My parents loved Spam and other canned meats.

Only place in Victoria where I would find a burger with some pink acceptable is this place:
https://bigwheelburger.com/

The critical thing with these guys is the meet is ground each morning. Not ground beef from a mass production facility that has spent days in transit.

Like all local business they are also big on environmental responsibility.

[niwell]

Don’t think I’ve seen escargot anywhere besides an actual French restaurant, but steak tartare seems pretty common at any “contemporary” restaurant. My wife and I get it fairly often going out as it’s one of our faves. Of course this could be more of a reflection of places we go (not chains)!

[esquire]

Originally Posted by niwell

Don’t think I’ve seen escargot anywhere besides an actual French restaurant, but steak tartare seems pretty common at any “contemporary” restaurant. My wife and I get it fairly often going out as it’s one of our faves. Of course this could be more of a reflection of places we go (not chains)!

In Winnipeg, I tend to associate escargot with French restaurants and steakhouses. Or at least those are the places where I've eaten them around here.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I know it's not entirely true, but in Quebec having meats really really cooked is stereotyped as an anglo thing.

And to wit, have any of you guys ever been to hamburger joint (even a nice one) where they ask you how you'd like your patty cooked?

More accurately a British, rather than "anglo" thing, I think, except for pork which used to be well-done without exception. The Mediterranean cultures all seem to prefer their lamb well-done.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Though I note that picky eaters don't always "get over it". My wife and I have several members of our families in their 40s and 50s who are still extremely picky. It's honestly almost embarrassing to go to a nice restaurant with them sometimes.

To this day I refuse to eat eggs. Eggs have a very nasty taste and smell to me that others don't detect.

Originally Posted by Acajack

And to wit, have any of you guys ever been to hamburger joint (even a nice one) where they ask you how you'd like your patty cooked?

I've never been asked that in Canada, however I have been asked this in Washington State. Just a week ago I went to Seattle and had a burger while I was there, and I ordered it rare since I know I can't get that here. It was incredibly juicy and tasty.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I used to love Red River cereal as a kid. Now it's made at the Arva Flour Mill north of London, where mom would buy flour in the 1970s-80s. I suppose buckwheat groats would be a gluten free alternative breakfast. (Kasha is very good with baked salmon.)

On topic, I was at Cambridge Centre mall for the first time yesterday and noticed many stores are closing. It has a Nanaimo vibe about it - working class and very dead. (Come to think of it, Cambridge really reminds me of Nanaimo lol.)

I got a bag of Red River cereal when I was in Arva over Christmas, even though we never ate it as kids. They tell me it will eventually be available more widely in Ontario, as their production capacity increases.

By the way, the Arva Flour Mill is a cool little stop for anyone finding themselves in the north end/Masonville area of London. It has been in continuous operation for over 200 years and they have a nifty shop and a little cafe/bakery with pretty good stuff.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

More accurately a British, rather than "anglo" thing, .

And anglo culture originated where?

Never mind... just kidding!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by niwell

Don’t think I’ve seen escargot anywhere besides an actual French restaurant, but steak tartare seems pretty common at any “contemporary” restaurant. My wife and I get it fairly often going out as it’s one of our faves. Of course this could be more of a reflection of places we go (not chains)!

Are you familiar, besides steak, with salmon, tuna, prosciutto, lobster, shrimp, etc. tartares?

Not sure if it means anything by the last time I had escargots it was in a Japanese restaurant.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Are you familiar, besides steak, with salmon, tuna, prosciutto, lobster, shrimp, etc. tartares?

Not sure if it means anything by the last time I had escargots it was in a Japanese restaurant.

Tartares, ceviches (I know, not really "raw") and carpaccios have all become pretty common on restaurant menus.

[urbandreamer]

^I had rare red meat and escargot growing up in the middle of nowhere Ontario, likely because of my mother's upper class English ancestry (educated in France going back centuries) and my father's exposure to continental cuisine as a US army brat. I obviously don't eat red meat anymore and haven't eaten snails in years.

I think Quebecois misconceptions of Anglo culture stems from observing lower class Scottish and Irish Canadians.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I think Quebecois misconceptions of Anglo culture stems from observing lower class Scottish and Irish Canadians.

Not saying it's definitive but my credentials are pretty good: I was born and raised in the ROC, went to school all the way to university there, all of my siblings are married to Anglo-ROCers and live there, and I live right on the border with Ottawa and Ontario.

As usual we are talking about generalities and there are of course exceptions which can be significant. But generalities are real.

[urbandreamer]

I find Ottawa is very Scottish/Scots-Irish. The upper class English culture I'm thinking of really only exists on Vancouver Island, parts of Vancouver and along the Yonge corridor of Toronto, possibly parts of London. The other thing most outsiders (French Canadians, lower class and newish Canadians) don't understand is upper class English/Scottish Canadians are very reserved. We're not bragging about our culture like you see Italians doing for example.

[WhipperSnapper]

You have an obsessive compulsion on such subject matter. You make up the vast majority of my experience on the subject and I lived in Hull for some time and traveled to Montreal every other weekend. Your opinions based on personal experiences can by no means be considered scientific.

English Canada is a historic melting pot for many European cultures. It should be less homogeneous comparably than the stronger, established French Canadian culture. However, urbandreamer is bang on the impression I get.

[urbandreamer]

I could stereotype the French Canadians I knew and saw around Montreal as: flashy, smokers, junk food and cheap beer/wine drinking, sexually liberal yet insular socially backward people (hatred of English, Protestant, "square" ROC.) When really they're describing 1950s lower class Scots-Irish culture! (Today mostly found in rural Ontario and Western Canada.)

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

The upper class English culture I'm thinking of really only exists on Vancouver Island, parts of Vancouver and along the Yonge corridor of Toronto, possibly parts of London. .

I'd also say it still exists to some degree in certain parts of western Montreal. One could argue that's actually where the species first originated.