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Pizza in Canada

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Nova Scotian garlic fingers

Canada has many of its own pizza chains, both national and regional, and many distinctive regional variations and types of pizza resulting from influences of local Canadian cuisine.

Regional variations

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Atlantic Canada

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Main articles: Garlic fingers and Pictou County pizza

Atlantic Canada has several unique varieties, which have spread to other parts of the country as people migrate for work. Donair pizza is inspired by the Halifax fast food of the same name, and is topped with mozzarella cheese, donair meat, tomatoes, onions, and a sweetened condensed milk-based donair sauce.[1]

Garlic fingers is an Atlantic Canadian pizza garnished with melted butter, garlic, cheese, and sometimes bacon, with the round sliced into fingers and served with donair sauce.[2]

Pictou County pizza is a variant of pizza unique to Pictou County in Nova Scotia; this pizza has a "brown sauce" made from vegetables and spices instead of red tomato sauce.[3][4]

Montreal-style pizza

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The predominantly francophone Canadian province of Quebec has its specialties. One is the Montreal "all dressed": tomato sauce (a little spicy), pepperoni, green pepper slices, and mushrooms.[5] The Italian immigrant community in Montreal is known for their Rossa Romana Pizza (sometimes referred to as Pizza Rustica). This is a variety of Italian tomato pie and consists of a thick crust that is covered in a thick plain sweet tomato sauce, and often cut in square pieces and served cold. In Stoney Creek, Ontario, a similar type of cheeseless tomato pie produced by Roma Bakery is popular.[6][7][8]

Regina-style pizza

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This style of pizza was created by Greek immigrant Jim Kolitsas in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, during the 1970s.[9] The pizza is made with deli meat that is piled high and green peppers as a tribute to the colours of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Regina-Style is made in a round pizza pan, but cut into square pieces.[10]

Toronto-style pizza

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This type of pizza is available in certain restaurants in the Toronto area. It consists of thin-crust pizza brushed with garlic oil. Many of the restaurants that offer this type of pizza have a brush on the counter to allow customers to brush the garlic oil on their slice of pizzas themselves. This style of pizza was invented by Vietnamese immigrants who learned pizza-making from the former Italian owners that they worked for in Toronto. These immigrants were originally from the city of Hue in Vietnam, a city renown for its culinary heritage.[11]

Windsor-style pizza

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Pizza in the southwestern Ontario city of Windsor is identified by its use of shredded pepperoni and mozzarella cheese from the local Galati Cheese Company. Although fresh mushrooms are the norm for most pizza makers in the city, the style was originally known for using canned mushrooms. The distinct qualities of Windsor-area pizza are believed to have originated with the now-closed Volcano Pizza in Windsor's downtown core. As employees of Volcano eventually left and founded their own pizzerias, they took the recipe with them.[12]

Other variations

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Hawaiian pizza

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Main article: Hawaiian pizza
A slice of Hawaiian pizza using pineapple slices

The Hawaiian-style (tomato sauce, ham and pineapple) is a Canadian invention, originating at the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario.[13][14][15][16][17] Owner Sam Panopoulos first concocted the Hawaiian pizza in 1962. By that time Satellite had already started serving Canadian Chinese food and Panopoulos thought people would like a similar dish with sweet and savoury flavours together, so he took a can of pineapple and tossed the fruit onto a pizza.[18]

Indian-style pizza

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Another variety of the dish in parts of the country is Indian-style pizza (also known as Punjabi-style pizza or Desi-style pizza)[19] which has gradually gained popularity since originating in Greater Vancouver during the mid-1980s.[20][21] Indian-style pizza has since expanded across urban centres in western and central Canada with large South Asian populations, including Greater Vancouver,[22][23] Calgary,[24] Edmonton,[25] Regina,[26] Winnipeg,[19] Ottawa,[27] and Greater Toronto,[28][29] later expanding to other regions.[30] This type of pizza typically includes sauce with mixed spices and toppings such as cilantro, ginger, spinach, cauliflower, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, or paneer.[19]

Pizza cake

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Main article: Pizza cake

Pizza cake is a Canadian multiple-layer pizza baked in a pot or cake pan. First invented by Boston Pizza,[31] a Canadian multinational restaurant chain,[32] recipes were posted online as early as April 2014, though they did not become viral until the Pillsbury Company posted an example in September 2014. Reviews have been mixed, with praise aimed at its taste and criticism leveled at its complexity and unhealthiness.

Pizza-ghetti

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The pizza-ghetti, a combination dish from Quebec

Pizza-ghetti is a combination meal commonly found in fast food or family restaurants throughout the province of Quebec[33][34] and other parts of Canada.[35] While a regular pizza slice accompanied with a portion of spaghetti with tomato-based sauce is common, also found is a slightly more elaborate presentation consisting in a miniature pizza, sliced in half with the pasta in the middle. A common variation is the pizza-caesar, where the spaghetti is replaced with caesar salad. Other variants found mostly in Montréal and its suburbs include spaghetti as a pizza topping placed under the mozzarella cheese.[36]

Poutine pizza

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Poutine pizza is one variety that can be found sporadically across the country, and adaptations of this item have even been featured in upscale restaurants.[37]

Sushi pizza

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Main article: Sushi pizza

Sushi pizza is a pizza imitation with sushi ingredients. It consists of a fried rice patty topped with a sauce, often sriracha, and vegetables and fish or other seafood. This mimics the style of pizza – crust, sauce and toppings – with completely different ingredients.[38][39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lisa Jackson (31 October 2016). "The Delicious History of the Halifax Donair". Food Network Canada. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  2. ^ Allison Saunders (20 February 2014). "Heart of garlic". The Coast. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  3. ^ Aaron, Beswick (10 April 2013). "Pictou County pizza gets around". The Chronicle-Herald. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Pictou County's 'brown sauce' pizza shipped to Fort McMurray". CBC News. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. ^ "All-dressed Pizza". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. ^ Kelly Bennett (October 1, 2016). "The cult-like following of Roma Pizza and other made-in-Hamilton stories". CBC.
  7. ^ "This 'Slab Pizza' Has Been Building a Devout Following for 50 Years". Vice.
  8. ^ "From Hamilton, with love and (cheeseless) pizza". The Hamilton Spectator. 31 March 2021 – via www.thespec.com.
  9. ^ Pulga, Allan (23 May 2020). "All hail the Greeks: Regina pizza is in a (world) class of its own". CBC.
  10. ^ Robertson, Shaun. "What Is Regina Style Pizza? In Short, More Curious Canadian Cuisine". Retrieved October 11, 2023.
  11. ^ Rotsztain, Daniel (15 May 2018). "Meet Toronto's new masters of the pizza". The Globe and Mail.
  12. ^ What makes Windsor pizza Windsor pizza? The Windsor Star [1] retrieved 16 March 2018
  13. ^ Sarah DiGregorio, Do Hawaiians Eat Hawaiian Pizza? Plus, a Little History, The Village Voice [2] Retrieved 9 October 2016
  14. ^ Drew Halfnight. "Canadian man invented Hawaiian pizza, according to Wikipedia (and him)". National Post. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  15. ^ Bob Boughner, Aloha! Hawaiian pizza born in Chatham?, The Chatham Daily News [3] Archived 22 July 2012 at archive.today Retrieved 14 July 2010
  16. ^ Geoff Turner, Canadian invented the Hawaiian pizza, Toronto Sun/Sun Media [4] Archived 2017-02-24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 July 2010
  17. ^ Geoff Turner, Londoner cited creator of the Hawaiian pizza ENTREPRENEUR: Wikipedia says Sam Panopolous invented the culinary delight 48 years ago, London Free Press/Sun Media [5] Archived 2017-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 July 2010
  18. ^ Nosowitz, Dan (4 June 2015). "Meet the 81-Year-Old Greek-Canadian Inventor of the Hawaiian Pizza – Gastro Obscura". Atlasobscura.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  19. ^ a b c Caruk, Holly (27 October 2021). "Indian-style pizzas heating up Winnipeg's food scene". CBC. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Jagjit Sanghera's slice of success with Pizza Factory". 2 January 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  21. ^ Fumano, Dan (7 January 2023). "Slices of the city: A brief history of Vancouver told through pizza. Pizza can help us understand the history of Vancouver's last century: a story of immigration, innovation, commerce and crime". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 August 2024. Pizzerias owned by Indian Canadians are an important fixture in many towns and cities in B.C. One of Vancouver's most popular is Supreme Pizza, which was — like the Filippones' The Penthouse or the Kerasiotises' Olympia — opened by a group of brothers. Tarlok, Karnail, Amrik and Iqbal Bindra, originally from Punjab, opened Supreme on Victoria Drive in 1985. While many Indian pizzerias include toppings like tandoori and butter chicken, Supreme sticks with more standard fare: pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms. But regulars often ask for their pizza "Indian-style" — which means adding ginger, cilantro and spices — and "in the old oven," the shop's decades-old deck oven, as opposed to the more modern conveyor belt-style oven. The Indian-style blend makes the pie medium-spicy and the old oven makes it extra crispy.
  22. ^ "Best Indian-style pizza in Vancouver". Daily Hive. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  23. ^ Singh, Manisha (26 October 2021). "Best Indian-style pizza in Surrey you need to try once". Daily Hive. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  24. ^ Agnihotri, Peeyush (3 December 2015). "Quadriplegic Kiran Dhaliwal mixes cultures up at her Calgary pizza shop". Canadian Immigrant. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  25. ^ McLean, Elle (28 April 2021). "All the restaurants participating in La Pizza Week Edmonton". Daily Hive. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Da Pizza "n" Curry Express leading Regina's fusion food scene". CBC. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  27. ^ Hum, Peter (18 January 2021). "Dining In: Where have you been all my life, French tacos, Indian pizza and Korean corn dogs?". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  28. ^ Doradea, Karen (4 November 2021). "Where to find the best Indian-style pizza in and around Toronto". Daily Hive. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  29. ^ Nanwa, Nav (28 March 2022). "Brampton pizza: Why ordering 'Indian-style' might become a bigger thing in Canada". CBC. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  30. ^ McLean, Elle (13 September 2023). "Bradford's Popular Pizza is back with a new owner, new flavours". Bradford Today. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  31. ^ Hunt, Kristin (April 18, 2014). "Pizza cakes will make every party a pizza party". Thrillist. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  32. ^ "Fast Food Doubles Down". The New Yorker. April 25, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  33. ^ "Pizza-Ghetti! What Is Pizza-Ghetti? How To Make A Wood Fired Pizza-Ghetti?". Il Fornino, New York. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  34. ^ Pizza-ghetti: a staple item on fast-food menus in Montreal
  35. ^ Pizza-ghetti in a family restaurant in Waterloo, Ontario Archived 22 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Waterloo Region Record, 13 December 2006. Retrieved on 11 February 2009
  36. ^ Harrison, Ian (19 March 2014). "Pizzaghetti is Quebec's Most Shameful Food". Eater Montreal. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  37. ^ "Bannock roast duck poutine pizza: The dish". Toronto Star. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  38. ^ "Sushi Pizza". tasteatlas. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  39. ^ "Sushi Pizza". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
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