Eat your way across Canada

Manitoba
Whitefish caviar
Lake Whitefish is the most economically valuable fish of Manitoba and Northern Canada. Commercially caught whitefish are sold fresh and frozen year round, while their gorgeous yellow roe (called golden caviar) is increasingly in demand. At a fraction of the cost of beluga caviar, whitefish eggs, the yellow roe, have a light, delicate flavour that is lovely as sushi, atop a sour cream–drenched new potato or just eaten chilled with a little spoon.

Saskatchewan
Canadian wild rice is not really rice, but an aquatic grass harvested primarily in natural bodies of water (and not paddy-grown like the American product). Northern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba are its main producers, with Saskatchewan alone producing about 75 per cent of the Canadian yield. Though traditionally hand-beaten by harvesters in canoes, modern air-boat harvesters skim over waters to gently collect the ripened kernels, which are then cured and roasted.

Canola is Saskatchewan's second most important crop after wheat. Canada is the world's largest canola supplier -- a cross-country industry generating more than $2 billion in annual exports. Since canola is a very healthy, light-flavoured oil that has 62 per cent monounsaturated fat and 32 per cent polyunsaturated fat, it is a good all-purpose oil.

Try our Wild Rice Salad with Mustard Honey Dressing recipe.

Alberta
Honey is a lucrative offshoot industry of the fertile prairies as Albertan bees cavort among vast flowering fields of alfafa, canola and clover. Canada produces about 70 million pounds of honey annually, with Alberta's beekeepers accounting for one-third of our nation's supply (and 1 per cent of the world's). Alberta honey is highly prized for its pure, unique flavours, along with its by-products: beeswax, pollen and royal jelly.

Honey Goat Cheese
Enjoy a small disk of goat cheese with a drizzle of your favourite honey.
• In small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup (125 mL) each liquid honey and toasted walnuts. Spoon evenly over four 1 oz (30 g) rounds of goat cheese. Makes 4 servings.

British Columbia
Asian greens
With the abundance of Asian influence within Vancouver and the surrounding islands, people are becoming more familiar with the green leafy vegetables, such as gai lan, a Chinese broccoli that is found in most markets. Choose dark green, leafy stalks.

• Trim stalks of 1 lb (500 g) Chinese broccoli. Pour enough water into saucepan to come 1 inch (2.5 cm) up side; bring to boil. Place Chinese broccoli on rack or in steamer basket above water; cover tightly and steam until tender but firm, about 5 minutes. Transfer to warmed platter. Drizzle with 2 tbsp (25 mL) oyster sauce and 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Northern Canada
Cranberries are one of the most popular berries in the northern region. They work as a marinade, jelly or chutney to season and flavour the meat of the land. Bannock was a staple scone-type of bread made over open fires.

Try our Cranberry Bannock recipe.

Read more:
• Made in Canada
• Canada Day menu for 8
• Canada Day barbecue

Check out:
• CanadianLiving.com Food
• CanadianLiving.com Menus & Collections
• Elizabeth Baird's Four Seasons of Canadian Food

Page 2 of 2 -- On page 1 discover culinary delights from Eastern Canada.