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    Home » breakfast » pancakes and waffles » Introducing the Canadian Food Experience Project: Red Fife Waffles with Maple Syrup

    Introducing the Canadian Food Experience Project: Red Fife Waffles with Maple Syrup

    Jun 9, 2013 · 8 Comments

    What's Canadian food, exactly?

    It's a common enough question, especially when you're talking to someone who is new to Canada, when entertaining a first-time visitor from abroad, or when travelling abroad and talking to someone who's never been to Canada.

    Red Fife Waffles

    Sure, we've got regional specialties galore: cod tongues and scruncheons, rappie pie, Montreal smoked meat, poutine, butter tarts, Saskatoon berries, and Nanaimo bars... but is there any one dish that is symbolic of Canada as a whole?

    That's the goal of the Canadian Food Experience Project.  The brainchild of Valerie Lugonja (aka A Canadian Foodie), this project will bring together Canadian food bloggers in a search for our collective culinary identity while celebrating the unique regional differences that make Canada the unique and diverse place we're so proud to call home.

    Red Fife Waffles

    Our inaugural assignment is to discuss our earliest Canadian food memory.  Having grown up in Montreal for the first few years of my life, my childhood food memories involve croissants and almond-scented cakes from the patisserie down the street, and crisp autumn apples eaten while running barefoot in the backyard.  My earliest memory, though, is a trip to a cabane à sucre.

    These little cabins, which are scattered throughout the maple forests of Eastern Canada, are where maple sap is collected in the early spring and boiled down to make maple syrup - a product so desirable that Canada actually keeps a stockpile of the stuff. (Fort Knox, eat your heart out. Gold, shmold.)

    Red Fife Waffles

    My memories of that trip are vague at best, but I do specifically recall tire à la neige, a gooey sweet candy made by boiling down the maple syrup until it's thick and viscous, and then pouring it out onto piles of cold snow and swiftly scooping it up with wooden popsicle sticks before it can full harden. It's a messy affair, but that's half the fun.

    Despite popular belief, Canada is not buried under ten feet of snow year round, so it's not possible to make tire à la neige at this time of year.

    Red Fife Waffles

    So instead, I settled for the next best thing - waffles.  Not just any waffles, though. True-blue Canadian waffles, made from Red Fife flour (a whole-wheat flour milled from a heritage Canadian wheat with a pretty amazing backstory which I've previously shared here), lightly sweetened with maple syrup and spiced with just a hint of cinnamon and cardamom.

    And while they're not particularly gooey or all that messy, I'd say they still capture the essence of that first Canadian food experience quite nicely - especially when they're drizzled with lots of maple syrup and accompanied by a couple of slices of peameal bacon and the first of the locally-grown Ontario strawberries, as we did here.

    //

    About the Project:
    The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7th, 2013. Join me and the other participants as we share our collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences, in the hopes of bringing global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice.

    //

    5.0 from 1 reviews
    Red Fife Waffles
     
    Print
    Prep time
    20 mins
    Cook time
    15 mins
    Total time
    35 mins
     
    These lightly spiced waffles are designed to show off two quintessentially Canadian ingredients - maple syrup and Red Fife flour. For a properly patriotic start to your day, top off with more maple syrup and some fresh local berries.
    Author: Isabelle Boucher (Crumb)
    Recipe type: Breakfast
    Serves: 6
    Ingredients
    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup stone-ground Red Fife flour (or whole wheat flour)
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • ½ tsp baking soda
    • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
    • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 cups milk
    • ¼ cup maple syrup
    • ¼ cup melted butter
    Instructions
    1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose and Red Fife flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
    2. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, maple syrup and butter. Add to the dry ingredients, and whisk into a smooth batter. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
    3. Preheat your waffle iron as per the manufacturer's directions. Spoon in batter (the amount will vary, depending on your waffle maker's capacity), and use a spatula to spread our evenly. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes per batch, or until the waffles are crisp and golden-brown.
    4. Repeat with the remaining batter - you should have enough to make a dozen waffles. Serve immediately with maple syrup.
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    3.2.1230

     

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    Comments

    1. Thibeault's Table (Ann) says

      June 24, 2013 at 11:27 am

      Your waffles look perfect. I'm new to waffle making. I bought my first waffle maker back in April and have been testing different recipes. Will have to try yours next.

      ~Ann

      Reply
    2. Redawna says

      June 16, 2013 at 10:07 pm

      I seriously need to get a waffle maker!

      Yours look fantastic.

      Reply
    3. Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) says

      June 11, 2013 at 10:34 am

      Oh Montreal, how I love thee. I am jealous you got to grow up there! Do you speak French? I always test out my French skills in Montreal and end up pretty embarrassed with myself, haha...

      Reply
    4. shannon @ a periodic table says

      June 10, 2013 at 7:32 am

      i am ENTHRALLED by this project! You know how much i love canada, so i can't wait. there's just something about canada to me that is magical. I've heard of exactly two of those food specialities (poutine, nanaimo bars) so i'm looking forward to hearing about all of your food memories.

      and this whole maple syrup in the snow thing? I'm having the strongest memory of a childhood book where that exact thing took place, and now i can't remember what book. I always though that sounded amazing, but i didn't know it REALLY HAPPENED in real life. this is wonderful news.

      and you made me gorgeous waffles to begin, so i'm thrilled about that also.

      Reply
    5. bellini says

      June 10, 2013 at 5:15 am

      I remember my first trip to the sugar bush in elementary school. Maple syrup in the snow was a special treat. So much so that I started taking my own daughter every year without fail. Her first trip was probably to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. I have photographic evidence.

      Reply
    6. Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says

      June 9, 2013 at 5:41 pm

      Your waffles look perfect!

      Reply
    7. Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says

      June 9, 2013 at 4:08 pm

      oooooh I could totally get into Canadian waffles!!! These look fabulous!

      Reply

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    Hello! I'm Isabelle, and this is my blog. I'm a 40-something coffee-chugging, booty-shaking, bargain-shopping, trucker-swearing self-taught cook with a major addiction to vintage cookbooks. Come for the recipes, stay for the terrible puns! Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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