canadian cuisine

something i didn't really touch upon in my post about our trip to canada was the food.

it's amazing and i want to discuss two new dishes i got to experience. 

poutine and donair.

 (aka pure joy)

poutine is pretty basic and surprisingly (maybe not so surprisingly) delicious. 

(poutine on the left. amazing lobster roll on right)

french fries, coverrreedddd in gravy, and sprinkled with just the right amount of cheese curds. i was weary of cheese curds before i tried them since i wasn't sure what they were, but they are just blobs of a really mild cheese (don't wiki it, the description doesn't do them justice).  when you decide this is something you'd like to try, you order a batch at any restaurant or food truck.  It arrives steaming hot, you stir it all up, and gobble it down. the whole concoction is an ooey, gooey mess of salty goodness.  you can order it regular which is how i described above, but lots of people order it with pulled pork or bacon piled high on top.  it's, no question, a heart attack on a plate, but at least you would have died eating a really great meal.

donair is the best sandwich i've ever eaten. 

that's a pretty heavy statement for me to make since i love all sandwiches. mr. o has tried to explain this sandwich to me many times and it never sounded like anything special. you've probably heard of it as "donar" which is a middle eastern sandwich, very similar to the donair, with sliced lamb and a cucumber yogurt sauce with various veggies in a pita. 

as wiki explains the history of the donair: "a variation of the doner kebab known as "donair" was introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the early 1970s. Peter Gamoulakos immigrated to Canada in 1959^.  when he failed in his attempt to sell traditional döner, Gamoulakos adapted the dish to local tastes.  he substituted beef for lamb and created a sweet sauce."

spicy seasoned thinly sliced beef, diced tomato, and a sweet sauce all wrapped up in a pita.  i took one bite out of this messy sandwich (it exploded all over my hands, face, lap, and seat of the rental car) and couldn't believe i had lived 27 years without having had one before. 

will someone please open a shop that sells these things in boston? cool. thanks.