Recipes

Tonight, I'm taking the time to write down some recipes to take with me. I don't know how easy it will be for me to access the internet while in France, and I'll have time restrictions if I need to phone the recipe-bank (aka Mum) for advice. I decided on a few dessert recipes like Puffed Wheat Squares and Nanaimo Bars, the latter of which I will do my best to talk up to my French friends-- see, Canada does have some sort of national food! There are also the unimpeachable Lentil Chili and Channa Masala, my go-to comfort dishes, as well as Butter Chicken, Lasagna, and my friend Steph's pancake recipe. As for ingredients, I'm seriously considering bringing maple syrup with me, and I'm definitely bringing peanut butter, which is hard to find in France.

A friend of mine was recently in Argentina for several months and whenever people asked her to make her some kind of Canadian food, she made pancakes. They were a big hit, but I would like to have a little more to show for myself when I get asked the big question. It's true that Canadian food is a little bit of a paradox- we're a country of immigrants, so most of the food we eat here is eaten somewhere else. However, it's all mixed together and influenced by local ingredients- for example, ginger beef, which is sold as "Chinese food", but was invented in Calgary sometime in the 70s. There's some Québécois cuisine that I don't know a lot about (tourtière, smoked meat, Montréal bagels, etc), but I will try to make sucre à la crème one day (it's a sugary fudge that tastes like rainbows and sparkles).
All in all, I just hope that it will be relatively easy for me to cook for myself and that I won't be stuck eating cafeteria food, which is a distinct possibility. Though French cafeteria food isn't in the same realm as Canadian caf food, not by a long shot, I feel that I will enjoy discovering French food a lot more if I can make some of it by myself.
What are some foods that you feel are distinctly Canadian? What are your comfort foods that you can't do without?