Out of Helen's kitchen - Early settlers

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Published on Tuesday, December 12, 2017

By Helen Drysdale

Neepawa Banner & Press

We have covered a lot of territory in 45 weeks of recipes and history. This has been fun for me and I hope you have enjoyed it as well. From the First Nations people who helped the settlers by showing them how to use the indigenous foods and medicines, the Metis who adapted their foods to both cultures, to the settlers who came bringing their own heritage recipes with them. The first settlers were a hardy bunch who often had to make do with what little they had thus adapting their recipes to create something new.  Everyone had enough for one more person should someone drop in unannounced whether they had a little or a lot.  Prairie people were just that way, very hospitable. 

I have wondered, is there a truly Canadian food/recipe as we have a large country filled with a whole lot of diversity. Doing research I found there are foods/recipes that are labelled, only in Canada. Here are a few truly Canadian foods/recipes.

Tourtière: This traditional Québécois double-crusted pork pie may be traditionally served at Christmas, but in our home we had it year round.

Saskatoon pie:  I remember going to our secret patch and filling milk pails of these sweet berries for my mom to make delicious golden pies and canned fruit. Saskatoons do grow in different parts of Canada but this Canadian berry is more plentiful on the prairie.

Butter tarts: It’s true! Butter tarts are Canadian through and through. The first recipe for butter tarts appeared in a Canadian cookbook in 1915 and butter tarts have satisfied our sweet tooth since. 

Nanaimo bars:  This sweet treat have been said to originate from Nanaimo, BC. in the middle 1950s. Nanaimo bars have become staples at every bake sale, teas and Christmas celebration across Canada.

Beavertails: Since 1980 an Ottawa company came up with the idea of hand stretching dough shaped like beaver tails, then frying it and topping it with sweet confections like sugar and cinnamon. The lineup was long for Beavertails at Clear Lake this summer but the wait was worth it.

Bloody Caesar: This drink came from head bartender Walter Chell in 1969 when asked to come up with a new drink for an opening of a restaurant. Because mashing clams for every drink took time, Clamato juice was developed and now over 350 million Caesars are consumed annually in Canada but the drink remains virtually unknown elsewhere.

Poutine: A Quebec tradition since the 1950’s. Crisp French fries and gravy smothered with cheese curds. This dish was a favorite of my husband. Now there are many versions of poutine on menus, ranging the original to the special-spiced “Cajun” to “Oktoberfest” featuring German sausage to “Pulled Pork”.

Matrimonial cake: This wonderful square is uniquely a prairie treat. Believed to have gotten its name from the shivarees that took place after a couple were married. All the neighbors would gather at midnight and shoot guns, bang pots and generally make a lot of noise as to wake the couple. After, coffee and lunch was served; date squares being one of the offerings thus matrimonial cake. I am going to share a recipe from Mary Anne who operated Prairie Orchard Teahouse for many years. It combines two Canadian specialties; matrimonial cake and saskatoons.

Saskatoon matrimonial cake

4 cups fresh or frozen saskatoons

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

Base and topping:

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

Put the saskatoons into a pot. Add the water and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer. Mix the cornstarch with the lemon juice and add to the saskatoons, stirring all the while. It will thicken fairly quickly. Add the almond flavoring and set aside. In a bowl combine the oatmeal, flour, salt and brown sugar. With a pastry blender or your hands work the butter in until the mixture is crumbly. Press half of the base into a 9x9”pan. Place the Saskatoon mixture over, then sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top. Lightly press the topping down. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Eat warm as a dessert or cold as squares. Very good.