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Skeezix said:
It's a Quebec dish full stop (I believe it actually originated outside Montreal, although it might first have gained prominence in that city). Toronto doesn't do anything with it that hasn't been done elsewhere. To the extent people from the U.S. come to Toronto wanting to try it, it's because they associate it with Canada.
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It seems like with many things, not just food, from the point of view of outsiders (even Americans), there's not a lot that's readily perceived as specifically "Torontonian" as opposed to Canadian as a whole.
 
wild goose chase said:
It seems like with many things, not just food, from the point of view of outsiders (even Americans), there's not a lot that's readily perceived as specifically "Torontonian" as opposed to Canadian as a whole.
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But a lot of cities in the US could be said to lack a distinctly local dish, at least from an outsider's perspective.

Poutine is definitely the product of a small-town diner somewhere in Quebec, although no one can agree on where. Montreal is where it became more widely known and where the more unusual variations began to emerge, leading to the arrival of chains such as Poutineville elsewhere. Even now, however, I've noticed that a lot of places in Quebec don't actually offer anything besides the traditional version, except maybe the ones with ground beef or chicken & peas.

Maybe if we finally got our act together regarding street food, a new iconic Toronto dish would emerge.
 
Somebody needs to make a high-end version of the peameal bacon sandwich... something to make it famous. Right now, it's not famous and all we can say is it's unique to Toronto. Otherwise, we'll have to wait for someone to come up something new altogether.

Either way, it'll take time for whatever it is to become a symbol of Toronto. Doubt it'll happen in my lifetime. In the meantime, just appreciate what Toronto has to offer.
 
The Mcintosh Apple was invented in nearby Dundas, ON. Canada Dry gingerale was first made in Toronto. My vote is for Pablum, invented by the Hospital for Sick Children in 1930.

So, here's Toronto's homegrown food... Attack of the babies....

tumblr_lwbfa3nUsR1qemxfbo1_500.jpg
 
Ha ha. But seriously, the question is not what was invented here - peameal bacon was developed in Toronto by William Davies, but as discussed above is not a signature dish of Toronto - but rather the question is whether there is a food that people outside Toronto associate with this city.
 
Given Toronto is one of many dozens of cities embracing mass global trend culture, is it even possible to develop a "signature" food anymore?

Is it possible anywhere?

What will we pull out of our collective asses that isn't 'shock food' like cronut bacon jam burgers, which weren't really original to here either? Ccuisine innovation in this city is very conservative and sticks with 'what was popular in famous city XYZ 10 years ago'.
 
Toronto chefs and restaurants should be celebrating the peameal (aka 'Canadian bacon') sammy. Elevate it. Riff on it. Traditional or otherwise. Toronto was known as hogtown for a reason.
 
Is that the path to signature food item though? I am almost certain that any deliberate attempt to create such and having tied the concept with food items that is previously identified as "quasi-Toronto" will be doomed to fail.

AoD
 
Depends. If the attempt has some authentic grassroots basis, then yeah I think it could get the message out there that peameal bacon on a bun is to Toronto as deep dish is to Chicago and cheesesteak is to Philadelphia. I think that's why Tewder was talking about local chefs and restaurants helping to elevate it - something coming out of the food community. Now, if the attempt is something dreamed up in, say, the Mayor's office, and is largely pushed by the City's communications flaks, then I would share your doubts. Basically, the modern day version of Lastman's moose.
 
Skeezix said:
It's a Quebec dish full stop (I believe it actually originated outside Montreal, although it might first have gained prominence in that city). Toronto doesn't do anything with it that hasn't been done elsewhere. To the extent people from the U.S. come to Toronto wanting to try it, it's because they associate it with Canada.
Click to expand...
Quebec can take all the " credit " for poutine as far as I'm concerned.
 
it is embarrassing even to suggest a type of sandwich is Toronto's "signature food". It is still just a sandwich at the end of the day.
 
ksun said:
it is embarrassing even to suggest a type of sandwich is Toronto's "signature food". It is still just a sandwich at the end of the day.
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I don't find it embarrassing - at issue is whether it is natural/authentic to consider it as such, not what it is.

AoD
 
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