Najpopularniejszą potrawę kanadyjską już poznaliśmy, a co jeśli chodzi o najpopularniejszego drinka w Kanadzie? Niewątpliwie smak jego daje sobie wiele do życzenia. “Caesar” -bo taka jego nazwa - to połączenie sosu Worchestershire , wódki, ostrego sosu (może być tabasco), limonki, soku z małży no i selera do ozdoby. Połączenie dość dziwne…..a jak to smakuje? Sprawdźcie sami.

When you are visiting a different country something you typically don’t consider is the drinking culture until you are in the middle of it. My trip to Japan was alcohol soaked. Because Japanese culture is alcohol soaked. The Japanese always seem so proper and strict in their behaviour, and to an extent this is true - during business hours. But after the blazers come off the alcohol comes out. And they go hard. I went to an international party in Tokyo and I will never forget being asked what Canada’s favourite cocktail was. The Caesar is the cocktail of choice. He asked what it was. So I told him. His response was “that sounds awful.” And truthfully the Caesar does sound terrible. And to many it is an abominiation. 

The Caesar is one of the most popular cocktails in Canada. It is a spicy, tangy, and salty drink. There is nothing mild about this cocktail. Like all cocktails there is really no way to do it wrong, but there is a difference between a good caesar and a bad one. To start rim a large glass with caesar rimmer or celery salt in a pinch. Fill your glass with ice. Next use one or two ounces of vodka. And fill the rest of your glass with clam juice. You can use tomato juice, but then it is the American Bloody Mary. If you want a Dirty Caesar (the best kind!) add a few dashes (to your taste) of hot sauce (tobasco usually) and worchestershire sauce. Some people take it even further and add an ounce of lemon juice or pickle juice and few shakes of steak spice. But a Dirty Caesar isn’t done yet. You need a garnish. Usually this is a stalk of celery, pickles, pickled beans or even crispy bacon. It is a savoury masterpiece.  

​In YouTube videos “Irish People Try Canadian Alcohol” and “Eugene Ranks Popular Cocktails Around The World,” features both Irish and an American alcohol enthusiasts trying this popular cocktail. The responses are not good. One says, “I feel like I’m on fucking fear factor,” and another says, “this is our worst nightmare.” I say don’t knock it till you try it.

Najbardziej charakterystyczna potrawa w Kanadzie? To nic innego jak- Poutine!Zawiera frytki, twaróg i gorący sos z pieprzem, który roztapia twaróg…Brzmi bardzo pysznie…Potrawa ta ma wiele różnych form. Można do niej dodać słodkie zmieniaki,warzywa, bekon, czy nawet stworzyć wersje z Cheesburgerem! Opcji jest wiele. To my decydujemy jak zjemy poutine- tylko warto pamiętać, że to tłusta bomba kaloryczna- nie ma co przesadzać z ilością. W Kanadzie często poutine określa się  jako jedzenie “na kaca” .

          The most distinct Canadian food is poutine. It was invented in Quebec around the 1950’s and features french fries and cheese curds with hot peppercorn gravy poured on top. And if you have the perfect poutine the hot gravy will melt all the cheese curds. One of the best things about poutine is the things you can do with it. This basic poutine recipe can be spruced up in anyway you could possibly desire. Want to use sweet potatoes? Absolutely. Vegetables? You got it. Meat? Bring it on. Spicy curried gravy? Why not. The ways poutine has been adapted are countless and can easily be made to suit any taste. There are restaurants and food trucks devoted to serving you the best possible poutine. 

         One of the most well known ways to get your poutine fix in Canada is from the fast food chain, New York Fries. Despite the name, this is a Canadian company. Their poutine menu is pretty impressive: butter chicken poutine, pulled pork poutine, chili poutine, bacon double cheeseburger poutine, and the veggie works amongst a few more. It is far from the most extensive poutine menu but it is the classic location. Poutine may be a strange and even funny dish, but the greatest part is that the dish which is best described as hangover food or a guilty pleasure is the closest thing Canada has to a national dish.

Kanadyjczycy, a Amerykanie, jaka jest różnica między nimi? Madison powiedziałaby, że ogromna, dla nas jest to bez wątpienia trudne do orzeczenia. Zarówno akcent jak i wygląd - dla nas -podobny. Co więc sprawia, że występuje kontrast? Odpowiedź to: kultura, obyczaje, sposób świętowania…a w szczególności Święta Dziękczynienia. Kanadyjskie obchody tego dnia to przede wszystkim czas spędzony z rodziną, kameralnie: wspólna kolacja, indyk, ciasto dyniowe. A jak u Amerykanów? 
W zasadzie wszystko w jednym: ogromne parady, czarny piątek, NFL- największa liga futbolu amerykańskiego. Oczywiście menu kolacyjne to indyk, ale z dodatkiem zapiekanki ze słodkich ziemniaków i pianek  Prócz tego występuje również rozbieżność w datach - Kanadyjczycy świętują w drugi poniedziałek października, a Amerykanie w czwarty czwartek listopada.

Over the past few weeks one question I have regularly been getting is “what is the difference between Canada and America?” My inner Canadian says “everything.” But, when you look at Canada and America from beyond these two countries it is understandable why the boundary can get a little fuzzy. Chances are if you meet someone from Canada or America, you really won’t be able to tell which country they are from. That is of course assuming they don’t have a strong regional accent or they don’t straight up tell you (and most will). Usually we end up assuming they are American. This is a great offence to the Canadian pride as there is nothing more irritating than having to say “no, I am not American.”  But we are just as guilty of making this assumption about the fellow foreigners we encounter. Beyond the things that make someone either a Canadian or an American, there are a few clear differences in culture. Thanksgiving is one of these differences.

The first difference is the date. Canadian’s celebrate Thanksgiving the second Monday of October and American’s on the fourth Thursday of November. But beyond the obvious, Thanksgiving in Canada is not the huge affair that it is in America. I did not even know the history of Canadian Thanksgiving prior to writing this blog. The history is simple: Martin Frobisher, the English explorer survived a voyage to Baffin Island (Nunavut) in the Arctic. They celebrated and gave their thanks in 1578. To most Canadians the history either completely irrelevant or totally unknown. Thanksgiving is a day to be mindful and thankful for everything and everyone you have in your life. It is an event best spent with family and friends. You usually eat turkey dinner with all the fixings. And you wash it down with pumpkin pie and your choice of beverage. But the menu isn’t a hard and fast rule, its open to interpretation and happily welcomes new traditions.  

While the theme of gratitude and family in both Canadian and American Thanksgiving is the same, the American Thanksgiving is a huge deal: a national holiday, massive parades, black friday and the NFL. The menu is similar, but they have this strange casserole with sweet potatoes and marshmallows. They are also very intense about the origin story: the feast of the Mayflower pilgrims and the Native Americans. However, as usual, America is not without its controversy. This popular American story and the holiday that came from it has become a subject of debate as it has been charged with being inaccurate and ignorant.

Syrop klonowy - jak wiemy , pochodzi z Kanady, ale na pewno nie zdajemy sobie sprawy jak duże znaczenie ma dla kanadyjczyków. Znaczenie większe niż sama produkcja ropy naftowej z czego również słynie Kanada…
W latach 2011-2012 nastąpił największy w historii "szwindel" w Kanadzie… i nie dotyczyło to ropy naftowej, a syropu klonowego. Podczas sprawdzania beczek, dokonano odkrycia, które wywołało ogromne oburzenie. Beczki były sfałszowane. Uprowadzono zawartość 9 561 beczek syropu, zostały tylko puste beczki lub beczki zalane wodą. Wartość skradzionego towaru oszacowano na 13 mln dolarów. W Netflix’owym serialu “Dirty Money”- 5 odcinek szczegółowo opisuje zaistniałą sytuację. 

On the world stage, Canada is known for having two resources: oil and maple syrup. At first glance, oil seems to be the more valuable. It is the resource everyone needs and everyone seems to always be talking about. But that assumption is incorrect. In June 2019, Daniel Ganninger from A Medium Corporation reported that a barrel of Canadian maple syrup was worth $1 327 USD while a barrel of crude oil was worth only $57.19 USD. Their report concluded that Canadian maple syrup is approximately 25 times more valuable than crude. Even though most people can agree that maple syrup is delicious, the real value of maple syrup is unexpected. And almost unbelievable. 

    From 2011 to  2012, the greatest heist in Canadian history took place: The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist. In July 2012, Officials from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers were checking their inventory at the maple syrup reserve in Laurierville, Quebec. In Vanity Fair’s dramatic telling of the discovery, Rich Cohen states that a barrel was knocked on it and it unexpectedly “tolled like a gong.” When the officials heard the barrel sing out this empty song, they opened the barrel and discovered it was empty. They continued checking barrels and it was ultimately discovered that around 9 561 barrels had been tampered with. They had been either emptied or had their contents replaced with water. The value of the maple syrup stolen was estimated to be over $18 million on the high end and $13 million on the low end.

 In the Netflix docuseries, Dirty Money, the fifth episode titled “The Maple Syrup Heist,” goes into detail of the circumstances of the crime. The selling of maple syrup is strictly controlled by the federation. Producers of syrup have compared the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers to a drug cartel. This has resulted in a long standing syrup war between the federation and rebel producers. 

Zakaz handlu w niedziele- jest to jedna z powszechnie znanych ustaw w Polsce, która weszła w życie całkiem niedawno. W Kanadzie taki zwyczaj nie należy do kultywowanych-wręcz przeciwnie, w niedziele ludzie zaczynają “prowadzić życie”.  Dla kanadyjczyków jest to dzień, w którym mogą  spędzić czas ze znajomymi: wspólnie wyjść do kina, restauracji bądź na zakupy. Nie bez przyczyny nazywają ten dzień “Sunday Funday”.