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• General & History
• United States
• Canada

General & History

How and when North America was first inhabited by humans is still rather mysterious. Evidence gathered is still scant, difficult to date, and controversial as to ancestry of origin. While it was originally thought the continent was populated by a single wave entering over a land bridge between Asia and Alaska, it is now thought to have been several waves by various means, and a credible scenario has been proposed that one of the early waves came from Europe, with Iberia as the ultimate point of origin.

However and whenever the original populations arrived, the continent is now dominated by persons of European and African descent, with an increasing number from Asia. This can be seen in the Demographic maps of the United States and Canada. Canada is more purely English and French, with an Aboriginal population of less than 5%. These later migrations are all well within the historic domain and well documented.

This has resulted in a base cuisine that is mostly of European with only minor influence from the Aboriginal peoples (American Indians, except Aleut and Inuit in the Arctic regions), but utilizing a great many foods of North, Central and South American origin. This is now being modified by culinary influx from South, East and Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Central and South America, predominantly through California, but some South Asian (India) enters through Canada.

United States

Maps:   States,   Topographic: Lower 48,   Alaska,   Satellite,   Demographic

The original European population of the United States was predominantly English and German, with relatively sparse Spanish populations in Florida and the Southwest. Soon after Independence, it was proposed that the United States have two official languages, English and German. This was not adopted, but our currency, the Dollar, is named for the German Thaler.

Like any large geographic region, cuisines of the United States are distinctly regional. The great diversity of the country can be seen (imperfectly) in the United States - Demographic Map).

Culinary Regions

• Arctic - Alaska above 60° North - mostly salmon and sea mammals (mammals are restricted to Natives). Inland, game meats, roots, berries and fry bread. Similar to Native region of Canada.

• North South Divide:   Everything between latitude 48° North (the Canadian border) and latitude 37° North (a line drawn from just above Fresno, California through to the Atlantic, is north Everything below 37° North is South. Exceptions: Oklahoma is below the line but culturally north of it, while Kentucky and Virginia are above the line but culturally below it.

• Northeast:   The cuisine in the Northeast is largely of British extraction with strong influences from Irish and Italian. New York is the homeland of the Eastern Gourmets (the Western Gourmets are in San Francisco). Pennsylvania has a fairly strong German influence from the Amish, and New Jersey has strong influences from Greece and Italy (including the Mafia). In the far north of New York and New England there is significant spill-over from French Canada.

• Midwest - Great Lakes   In this region Polish, German, and Scandinavian influences are very strong. There are a large number of excellent sausage makers and pork butchers in this region. This is also a major frog eating region, eating far more of the delicious amphibians than the French do.

• The Great Empty:   I'm not sure they have cuisine in the region between Minnesota and the Pacific states. I'll have to look into this.

• The Northwest:   This region tries to be more like the Northeast, but with salmon replacing cod. San Francisco, California is homeland of the Western Gourmets, with minor colonies in Seattle, Washington. The most prestigious California wine regions lie just north (Napa) and just south (Central Coast) of San Francisco, though the Central Coast region extends south almost to Los Angeles. These wine regions have heavy Italian influence. and some French.

  There has long been a significant Chinese influence in the San Francisco region. Most immigration was in the mid 19th century to the early 20th, but a new wave began in the 1960s, including Chinese from Vietnam, expelled in the Vietnamese "racial purity" drive after the Vietnam war.

• The Deep South: (briefly the Confederate States). This region lies below 37° North and east of Texas, but includes Kentucky and Virginia which are above the line but culturally south of it. Oklahoma is excluded, and much of Louisiana - see Cajun and Creole.

  This was an early "fusion cuisine". The whites were predominantly English and Scottish, but brought in very large numbers of black African slaves to work on the plantations. This greatly colored the cuisine of the region, because many wealthy households employed Africans as household servants, including cooks. Not only did they employ native ingredients in an African way, but additional foods were brought by them from Africa. There was also Influence (rice and spices) from India through Charleston harbor in South Carolina.

  Florida was once part of the South, but southern Florida is now Capital of the Caribbean, and much of the rest of the state is infested with folks fleeing the Midwestern winters. Fish, shellfish and Alligator are popular in Southern Florida.

• Cajun & Creole:   When the English wrested Acadia (Now Nova Scotia) from the French, the entire French population was exiled. Many migrated to the backwoods and bayous of the then French colony of Louisiana, establishing the famous Cajun cuisine there. Meanwhile, the original French settlers of the Louisiana Territory, in combination with other ethnicities, including black Africans, established the more diverse and sophisticated Creole cuisine of the region. Crayfish are very big in this region, since the lobsters refused to follow the Acadians south.

• Pacific: - This region includes Southern California and Hawaii, both noted for a strong and rapidly growing Asian influence in their cuisines. In Hawaii, Japanese is particularly strong, while in Southern California, now called "Capital of the Pacific Rim", Vietnamese, Thai, Philippine and Chinese predominate.

  Influences in Southern California go far beyond Asian. There are strong inputs from Mexico and Central and South America due to labor needs. Also strong are Armenia, the Near and Middle East, Eastern Europe, Germany, Italy, Spain and India. On the other hand, French influence is particularly weak (the gourmets are up in San Francisco). In Los Angeles county you could eat at a different ethnic restaurant every day of your life. Once you finished the county, you'd have to start over because of all the new ones. Add Orange county (formerly part of Los Angeles county) and it'd be hopeless. Afghanistan and Iraq coming soon.

• Southwest: - Below 37° north from the Pacific to the east border of Texas, but not including Oklahoma. This region has a very strong Mexican influence, but often interpreted in a non-Mexican way, Tex-Mex, for instance. Southern California still nominally belongs to this region, but is now strongly International.

Canada

Maps:   Provinces,   Topographic,   Satellite,   Demographic

Canada was first colonized by the French, but wrested from them by the English in a series of wars. The first region taken by the English was Acadia, which is now known as Nova Scotia. The entire French population was exiled, with many traveling to Louisiana, where they formed the Cajun population there. In the 19th and early 20th century Canada had an aggressive program to "integrate" the American Indian population, to make them "Canadian" and destroy the native culture entirely.

The Demographic map shows huge areas were American Indians and Inuit dominate, but these areas are very empty. The total of all Aboriginal peoples is only 4.3%, while English and French account for 69%. Irish, Scottish and German account for most of the rest. Today 57% speak English, 21% speak French and 16% speak both.

Canada has a number of cuisines. Unfortunately, my huge cookbook collection doesn't yet have a Canadian Regional cookbook - in fact, any Canadian cookbook at all - so this information is adapted mainly from Wikipedia and other on-line resources.

• India   While Indian Cuisine has taken an almost dominant position in England and Scotland, it is also gaining strength in Canada. Many Indians came to Canada as an easy stepping stone to entry into the United States, but some have stayed in Canada.

• Native Regions:   (Northern Regions).
  • Inuit:   Cuisine here is based largely on sea mammals (blubber), often buried and fermented for months, and salmon. This diet is relieved by roots, berries mushrooms and fry bread (bannock).
  • American Indian:   This cuisine is based more on land animals, particularly caribou, but also deer, moose, elk, bear and beaver. Pemmican (dried meat and fat with berries) is much in evidence. The diet is relieved with roots, berries mushrooms and fry bread (bannock). Poutine is also eaten in areas near a town.

• Atlantic:   The Maritime Provinces - Newfoundland, Labrador and Nova Scotia.
  • Newfie Steak:   A thick slab of bologna pan fried.
  • Cod Tongues with Scrunchions:   Scrunchions are deep fried pork fat.
  • Flipper Pie:   This is made from seal flipper - not PETA approved.
  • Lobster Roll   Lobster meat with mayonnaise in a toasted hot dog bun. The lobsters should sue.
  • Donair: - the traditional Gyro failed to attract Novies, so the proprietor replaced the stack of lamb with a ground beef meatloaf and served it with a sweet sauce made from condensed milk, sugar, vinegar and garlic. This is now served all over Canada.
  • Poutine Râpée   Potato dumplings stuffed with pork.
  • Rappie Pie   basically the same as Poutine Râpée but made as a casserole with various meats.
  • Fish & Brewis:   Salt cod and hardtack biscuit served with pork cracklings.
  • Toutons:   Nova Scotia fried bread - served with dark molasses or corn syrup.
  • Jiggs Dinner:   This is very similar to the traditional New England Boiled Dinner, or Corned Beef and Cabbage (an American dish, only recently adopted in Ireland for the tourist trade).

• Quebec:   This is French Canada, so French cuisine dominates - but it is a cuisine brought by trappers and fur traders - not real refined.
  • Poutine:   The feature dish of the region - French fries topped with cheese curds and a pour of thin chicken gravy. This dish is now very popular in every part of Canada, even the native regions, but outside of Quebec it's often made with a heavier beef gravy.
  • Tourtière:   A pie of pork and lard. This is also eaten in the Ontario, The Prairies and Mountain regions.
  • Viande Fumée:   (Montreal Smoked Meat) Beef salt cured and smoked. Usually served with rye bread and yellow mustard. Also eaten in Mountain, Ontario and Atlantic regions.
  • Bouilli:   Ham and vegetable pot roast.
  • Cretons:   A pork and onion spread, also eaten in Ontario.
  • Cipaille:   (Sea-Pie) a pie made of layered fish and meat, Adopted from British sailor's rations.
  • Yellow Pea Soup:   This is also eaten in Ontario and Atlantic regions.

• Ontario:   This is British Canada, so English, Scottish and Irish cuisines predominate - but they were also brought mainly by fur traders and merchants.
  • Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding: A traditional English Sunday Dinner - also eaten by persons of English descent all over Canada.
  • Poutine:   Very popular, but often made with a heavy beef gravy unacceptable in Quebec.
  • Bannock:   Fried bread. This is eaten in every Canadian region except Quebec.
  • Turkey Roast:   Pretty much as in the USA. Eaten throughout Canada except in the Native regions.
  • Baked Beans:   Made with maple syrup. The exact origin is unknown, but it is also eaten in all regions except Native and Pacific.
  • Back Bacon:   (Peameal bacon, Canadian Bacon (US)) This is popular in Ontario, Quebec and the Mountain regions.
  • Hot Chicken Sandwich:   Eaten also in Quebec and Mountain regions.

• The Prairies:   This region is heavily influenced by Germans and Eastern Europeans, particularly Ukrainians, who emigrated in the late 19th Century. No doubt foods from those countries are still eaten in the region, but also most of the dishes common in Ontario appear here.
  • Poutine:   Eaten here as it is in the rest of Canada

• Mountain:   Between the Prairies and the Pacific, this is a predominantly English region. Many of the foods popular in Ontario are eaten in this region.
  • Calgary Ginger Beef:   This is deep fried strips of beef served with a sweet ginger flavored sauce vaguely related to Chinese sauces. Vegetables may be included. This dish is also eaten in the Pacific and Prairie regions.
  • Poutine:   Eaten here as it is in the rest of Canada

• Pacific:   In the south this region is quite English, but the north coast is Native.
  • Chinese Buffet:   "Chinese" food is popular throughout Canada, but so modified for Canadian tastes it only vaguely resembles food in China. In the Pacific region, Scandinavian forest workers urged Chinese cooks to set out a steam table for them to partake of - a very non-Chinese serving format, but the food wasn't very Chinese anyway.
  • Poutine:   Eaten here as it is in the rest of Canada