The calendar and the rotation of the sun and moon might deem the Summer Solstice as the official beginning of summer, but if you ask most Canadians, I think they’d tell you that summer begins on the May (Victoria Day) long weekend… at least the idea of it does.

This week, I want to talk about what the season tastes like. In a time when we are banding together as loyal Canadians and supporting each other, maybe we’ll share some more favourite regional foods? Local specialties might be hard or expensive to duplicate, but let’s see what we discover.

Our traditional cuisines across the country have been influenced by the original Indigenous population, as well as the largest groups of immigrants, namely the English, Scottish and French. In certain parts of the country, other influences were added as people travelled further west, and our country grew.

Over time, new influences have been added of course, and innovations have combined flavours from unique cultures to create exciting fusion dishes. I like to highlight the traditions to give us some connection with our past and to recognize the efforts of the pioneering forces that created our wonderfully diverse country.

I hope you’ll indulge me for a slightly longer missive this week so I can include something from each region.

The North is a place many of us don’t know much about. It is rich with game and seafood that differs slightly from further south. Arctic char and cod, even caribou and moose we might have tasted but have you had foraged flavours,........

© Castanet