Hello, everyone. How was your vacation? In Canada, where I’m from, my friends started researching various kinds of cooking and baking at home, thus unlocking many cooking skills and improving their cooking skills. At the same time, I also have more interaction with my family, and I have the opportunity to learn from my elders how to cook authentic Canadian food. Now let me share with you how to cook traditional Canadian food
Maple syrup
Speaking of the land of Maple leaves, what immediately comes to mind? Of course it’s maple syrup! It was originally made and used by the native peoples of North America before its production methods were gradually perfected by European settlers. In the 1970s, production technology further improved the processing of syrup. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer of maple syrup, accounting for 70 percent of world output. Here’s a look at how maple syrup is made.
1) First find a maple tree. There are many different types of maple trees, and again I won’t go into them all, but the sugar maple is the best of them all, it has the highest sugar content. The leaves and seeds of a maple tree are depicted in the picture above. Choose trees that are at least 12 inches in diameter.
2) Some large producers use hoses and vacuum lines to pull SAP from trees into tanks. The first step is to drill a few inches (usually 5/16 inches) deep into the tree. Drill at the height of your chest and slightly up to help the SAP drip down before using a small hammer or mallet to push the hose into the hole you drilled.
3) The dripping juice is clear and tastes watery with a slight sweetness. Store the juice until you can collect a few gallons. It is recommended to check the bucket at least once a day before pouring it into a food container before storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. It takes a lot of juice to make a lot of syrup.
4) It takes about 40 gallons of syrup to make one gallon (depending on how much sugar is in the juice). Set up a stove and pot outside. Be aware that if cooked on an indoor stove, a lot of steam will be generated, which will make every surface of the house sticky. If your pot isn’t big enough, keep in mind that you can continue to pour in more juice while it’s boiling. Once it starts to thicken, you can bring the maple leaf concentrate back indoors to cook as needed. As it boils, the sugar concentrates and begins to caramelize, forming a dark brown color. As the water boils, the boiling point of the liquid increases. Boil it until it thickens.
5) Pour maple syrup into a container and you’re done.
Gravy cheese fries
Poutine
Poutine is French fries, a delicious mixture of gravy and cheese curd. It’s one of Canada’s most classic traditional dishes! If you already know a lot about the dish or know about it, you can skip to the recipe section.
What kind of cheese?
When it comes to poutine, it’s actually cheese curd. Real cheese curds make poutine “authentic.” Cheese curds are just solid chunks of curds that can be eaten on their own as a snack or added to fries and gravy to make poutine if in Canada. Cheese curds come in white or yellow, but poutine uses white cheese curds.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Servings: 3
Ingredients:
(1)Poutine Gravy
9 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons water
18 tablespoons unsalted butter
0.75 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
60 oz beef broth
Chicken Soup 30oz
Pepper to taste
(2) French Fries:
6 lb Russet Potatoes (3-4 Medium potatoes)
Peanuts or other frying oil
(3) Topping:
3 — 4.5 cups white cheddar curd (or shredded mozzarella will be the closest substitute)
Practice:
(1) Prepare the gravy: In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water and set aside;
(2) In a large pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring regularly, for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is golden brown.
(3) Add beef and chicken broth, bring to a boil and stir. Stir in about half of the cornstarch mixture and cook for about one minute. If you want to thicken the gravy, add more cornstarch mixture as needed to thicken it. Season with pepper, taste, and add other salt to taste if necessary. Prepare in advance and reheat or keep warm until the French fries are ready;
(4) French fries: Prepare potatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch thick sticks. Place in a large bowl and cover completely with cold water. Let it sit for at least an hour or several. When ready to cook, heat the oil to 300°F in a deep fryer or large, wide heavy-duty cooking pot;
(5) Remove the potato from the water and put it on a paper towel to absorb as much water as possible;
(6) Add the fries to the oil at 300°F and fry for 5-8 minutes, until the potatoes are just beginning to cook but not yet browned. Remove potatoes from oil and sprinkle on wire rack. Raise the oil temperature to 375°F. Heat the oil to this temperature. Return the potatoes to the fryer and cook until they are golden brown. Transfer to a bowl covered with paper towels.
(7) Place the fried or baked fries in a large clean bowl and season lightly with salt while still hot. Add a spoonful of the hot gravy to a bowl, then use tongs to stir the gravy into the fries. Add more gravy as needed until the fries are mostly coated;
(8) Add cheese curds and hot French fries and gravy, with freshly ground pepper;
(9) A bowl of hot spray poutine is ready!
Cream tower
A cream tart is a small pastry that enjoys a high reputation in Canadian cuisine and is considered one of the classic traditional dishes in Canada. Sweet tarts consist of a filling of butter, sugar, syrup and eggs, and are baked in pastry shells until the filling is semi-solid and the top is crisp.
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total time: 80 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
(1) Tapie:
1 1/3 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 TBSP (15 g) white granulated sugar
1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted cold butter, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces
3-4 tablespoons of cold water
(2) Cream tower filling:
1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
2 large (100g) room temperature eggs
1 TSP (4 g) pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup (60 ml/g) light cream
55 g (1/2 cup) chopped walnuts and/or raisins
Practice:
(1) Crust: Whisk together flour, cream, salt and sugar in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse flour. Add about 3 tablespoons of water and process until it forms a dough. Add more water if necessary.
Shape the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour or until firm. This cools the butter inside and relaxes the gluten in the flour.
Once the dough has cooled sufficiently, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. To prevent the pastry from sticking to the cutting board and to ensure even thickness, continue to lift and rotate the pastry a quarter turn (rolling outward from the center of the pastry) as you roll. Then, use a 4 inch (10 cm) round pie cutter to cut out 12 rounds. Place the buns gently into a 12-cup muffin pan. While the oven is preheating and filling, cover and place in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C), then place the rack in the center of the oven.
(2) Cream tower filling: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the butter with a paddle attachment attached (or a handheld mixer) until smooth. Add the sugar and salt, then beat until creamy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat the eggs, then add the vanilla extract. Whisk in the cream. Place about 1 1/2 teaspoons of walnuts and/or raisins at the bottom of each crust. Then fill evenly with the filling. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry is completely browned, then the filling puffs and sets. Remove from oven and cool, serving at room temperature or refrigerated.
Grandma temple strip
What is Grandma Temple? It’s a popular dessert in Canada. It’s just a cookie, and to me, it tastes very much like a rich chocolate fudge. They were named after Nanaimo, a city on the west coast of British Columbia. It has 3 layers, cookie crumbs and chocolate base, creme egg flavored icing, and then chocolate coating.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Servings: 16
Utensils: 1 8×8-inch saucepan
Materials:
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup white sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg. Beat the egg
1¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut flakes
½ cup chopped almonds
½ cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 TBSP custard powder
2 cups of candy candy
4 (1 oz) squares semisweet Baked chocolate
2 teaspoons butter
Practice:
(1) In the top of the pan, combine 1/2 cup butter, sugar, and cocoa powder, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Beat in the beaten eggs until thick, for 2 to 3 minutes, remove from heat, and mix in graham cracker crumbs, coconut and almonds (if preferred). Press into unoiled 8×8-inch pan.
(2) For the middle layer, beat 1/2 cup butter, heavy cream, and custard together until light and fluffy. Then mix the sugar into the icing sugar until smooth and scatter it in the bottom of the pan to cool.
(3) While the second layer is cooling, melt the semisweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons of butter together, place in the microwave or over low heat, spread over the cooled cake and let the chocolate set before cutting into squares.
