Italian Canadians are amongst the earliest Europeans to have visited and settled in Canada. In the early 19th century, a sizable number of Italians, many in the hotel trade, resided in Montréal. Throughout the century, Italian craftsmen, artists, musicians and teachers, primarily from northern Italy, immigrated to Canada.
Over 75 percent of Italian immigrants to Canada have come from Italy’s rural south, especially from the regions of Calabria, Abruzzi, Molise and Sicily, each with over 10 percent of the total.
As of 2016, 59 percent of Italian Canadians live in Ontario, 21 percent in Quebec and 10 percent in British Columbia. The majority of Italian Canadians live in towns and cities, with Toronto having the most significant concentration.
Italian Canadians have helped shape the Canadian society’s tastes in fashion, architecture, recreation and most importantly, food, thereby helping to bring a new cosmopolitanism to Canadian life.
As a country of immigrants, families migrate to Canada with a taste of home. Over the years, these traditional recipes merged with Canadian customs and ingredients to create cuisines that can now be found in all manner of homes and restaurants in Canada.
Italian cuisine is not just spaghetti and meatballs. It is a cuisine based on the seasons, local products, and recipes passed down through generations. Comfort food at its finest, Italian cuisine can be rustic or gourmet, and that’s what makes it so popular. It is fresh, simple and regional.
It is this simplicity that allows chefs, cooks, and cooking schools to successfully adapt Italian cuisine to culinary courses as well as full-service restaurants, thereby attracting customers from all demographics.
As a foreign cuisine, Italian dishes have mixed with the traditional recipes of wherever they found themselves to be unique in their rights.
This blog provides information about foreign cuisine in Canada, mainly Italian traditional food, recipes and dishes. It provides details about baking, desserts, homemade products, as well as culinary skills and courses.