Let’s start with the food shall we! An international student view

I need to bring something to the attention of Canada without offending anyone so here goes.  Your food sucks.  

I’m English so our food is not exactly world renowned either  but I have spent the last 12 years living in Italy so I have the perspective of two quite different cultures.  For example, my favourite Italian dish, marinated wild boar farfalle pasta is so wonderful that the flavours just burst across your tongue.  When it comes to English food, well, apparently all we have to offer is fish and chips. Which consists of fish………and, hang on let me just check the recipe… chips.  When you put it in your mouth, hot fat bursts down the front of your shirt. 

Canadian food veers closer to English cuisine than anything else.  Let’s face it, you will often hear people say “let’s go out for Italian meal tonight or a Chinese” but you never hear anyone say “let’s go for a Canadian”.  As a student, with the exception of the wonderful Fresh 21 at NSCC Akerley Campus, I can only afford to eat at one of your chain restaurants where the menus are identical and the food looks, smells and tastes the same.   I also suspect they all have the same grumpy waitress.  

It can’t be just us International students that notice this and is that why we have to spend so much on health care and Pepto Bismol? I once asked what would be a typical Canadian delicacy and was presented with Poutine.  This is basically pencil erasers covered in gravy on chips, chuffing disgusting, what are you thinking Canada?  I even tried ‘British Style’ fish and chips for a taste of home, it was all wrong.  British style fish and chips means getting a bag of deep fried stuff wrapped in paper smothered in salt and vinegar at about the time the pubs shut.  Therefore, you can enjoy your meal standing at the side of the road while your fellow diners pee in doorways, fight amongst themselves and drop most of it on the floor. Did we teach you Canadians nothing about class?

Anyway, must go, my poutine has almost solidified, may just be edible now.

David Jarvis

Boulanger Program        

Akerley Campus