Give it a whirl and see how you do, eh!
Canada Day is the perfect time to present another edition of my Canadian food quiz. Give it a whirl and see how you do, eh!You’ll find the answers to the quiz here.
1. In diners and other eateries in Quebec, you’ll see poutine served, french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. In casual eating spots in Newfoundland, though, you’re more likely to see those fries offered this way:
a) Topped with cheese sauce and cod tongues
b) Topped with gravy and dressing, a seasoned bread crumb mixture
c) Topped with Screech rum-spiked gravy
d) Topped with gravy and Newfoundland-style salt beef
2. If you’re commercial fisher in Canada and fishing for elvers, what are you trying to catch?
a) Young eels
b) A type of black cod
c) Arctic sea shrimp
d) Capelin, a small oily fish
3. This is Canada’s only native cereal:
a) Wheat
b) Rye
c) Barley
d) Wild rice
4. Mary Brown’s describes itself as the largest Canadian quick serve chicken restaurant franchise. When and where did this business begin operating?
a) In Calgary, Alberta, in 1980
b) In St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1969
c) In Hamilton, Ontario, in 1975
d) In Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1955
5. This maker of products, such as Viva Puffs, Bear Paws cookies, and Melba Toast, says it has been a proudly Canadian, family-owned company since 1889:
a) Dad’s Cookies
b) Breton
c) Dare
d) Dempster’s
6. Beginning operations in 1973, this company’s website says it has grown to become Canada’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer:
a) Chapman’s
b) Island Farms
c) Breyers
d) Parachute Ice Cream
7. In 1903, his high society father sent his son, retired British soldier, Thomas Ashburnham, to Fredericton, New Brunswick. Soon after, Thomas meet and married Maria Anderson, a telephone operator. After her new husband’s father died, her titled change, though, as he became an earl, and she became Lady Ashburnham. Despite the more glamorous title, she became most famous for a tasty preserve she made that’s still made and enjoyed in the Maritimes today. What is it?
a) Canned Cherries Jubilee
b) Wild Blueberry Jam
c) Lady Ashburnham pickles
d) Royal Crabapple Jelly
8. On the tourism website (tourismoxford.ca) for Oxford County, Ontario, they call their part of that province the Dairy Capital of Canada. Why?
a) Because their citizenry drink the most milk per capita of anywhere in Canada
b) Because their county produces roughly one billion glasses of milk every year
c) The first dairy farms in Canada were located here
d) 90 per cent of the population works in the dairy industry
9. Belleville, Ontario, is home to this snack food business that’s been operating in that city since 1956:
a) Hawkins Cheezies
b) Hardbite Chips
c) Old Dutch Foods
d) Pringles
10. According to the Girl Guides of Canada website, girlguides.ca, in 1927, a Girl Guide leader in Regina did this:
a) Invented s’mores, chocolate and toasted marshmallows sandwiched between graham crackers, on a camping trip with Guides
b) Taught Guides how to grind Saskatchewan wheat into flour and make cookies with it
c) Baked and packaged cookies for her girls to sell as a simple way to raise money for their uniforms and camping equipment. Little did she know that she was starting one of Canada’s best-loved traditions – Girl Guide cookies!
d) Took her Guides duck hunting
11. Certified organic Avalon Dairy began humbly in 1906 when founder Jeremiah Crowley bought a small farm that included six cows on land that is now part of Vancouver. Why did he choose that company name?
a) To honour his wife, Avalon Crowley
b) To mark his interest in Britain’s legendary King Arthur and Avalon, the island to which he was conveyed for the healing of his wounds after his final battle
c) As a nod to his roots. Before he moved west and settled in B.C., Crowley lived on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula
d) He felt Avalon had a mystically sound to it that would appeal to customers
12. Fiddleheads are the young, curled, edible fronds of certain ferns harvested in places such as Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario. However, the Canadian Encyclopedia says the most commercial harvesting of fiddleheads occurs in this province:
a) British Columbia
b) Manitoba
c) Prince Edward Island
d) New Brunswick
13. The Inuvialuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. On the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation website (irc.inuvialuit.com) they have section on traditional foods. One treat listed is putuligaat. What is it?
a) Wild blueberry cookies
b) Meat that is frozen raw and then eaten
c) Deep fried donuts with six to eight holes, also called Inuvialuit donut or Eskimo donuts
d) A type of ice cream whose two main ingredients are fat and caribou meat
14. This past January, Export Development Canada’s agri-food lead, Ashley Kanary, shared his insights on food trends to watch for in 2025. What was his number one pick?
a) Vegan desserts
b) Back to basics, more natural way of cooking and eating, where people are getting back into the kitchen in a meaningful way, seeking both health and convenience
c) Global tastes in food, with consumers seeking more adventurous culinary experiences, particularly Indian and Asian cuisines.
d) Consumers making do with less and seeking budget-friendly options
15. According Bill Casselman’s classic book, Canadian Food Words, Cape Breton Pork Pies do not contain this:
a) sugar
b) dates
c) butter
d) pork meat
16. Moosomin is a Saskatchewan town located near the Manitoba border. What is the name Moosomin derived from?
a) The Cree word for the edible high bush cranberry, also known as mooseberry and squashberry
b) Mo Osomin, a Scottish settler and barley farmer who founded the town
c) The name of a type of wheat that grows well in this part of Saskatchewan
d) The Cree word for moose
17. St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, located in the Township of Woolwich, Ontario, near Waterloo, claims to be this:
a) The only farm market operating on a working farm
b) The oldest farm market in Canada, first opened in 1912
c) The only farm market open seven days a week
d) The largest year-round indoor/outdoor farmers’ market in Canada, welcoming more than one million visitors each year
18. The community of Cawston, located just east of Keremeos in B.C.’s south Similkameen Valley, is known as:
a) The best place to grow apples in Canada
b) The Organic Farming Capital of Canada, with nearly 100 certified organic farms in the area, the highest concentration of them in our country
c) The Bed and Breakfast Capital in Canada, with 32 of them being located in this small community
d) Home of the B.C.’s first White Spot restaurant, which opened in 1955
19. Standing Room Only, located in Guelph, Ontario, claims to be:
a) The only bar in Canada serving only non-alcoholic drinks
b) The oldest bar in Canada, first opened 1867
c) Canada’s smallest bar, 143.8 square feet in size, with a capacity of nine
d) The only bar in Canada serving strictly Canadian products
20. The owners of Heartbeat Hot Sauce, founded in 2015, say a hobby of making hot sauce for themselves quickly ignited into a full fledged business after word of mouth spread about how amazing their products were. Heartbeat Hot Sauce is now sold across Canada and internationally. In what city did they start making, and still make, their addictive hot sauces?
a) Langford, B.C.
b) Hull, Quebec
c) Summerside, P.E.I.
d) Thunder Bay, Ontario
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Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.