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New York Times taken to task for Instagram about Nanaimo bars.

Anna N

By Anna N
in Food Media & Arts

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

An  instagram posting has raised the ire of some Canadians — particularly those on the West Coast — for depicting the Nanaimo bar incorrectly.
 

Here.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

adey73

adey73

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Anna N said:

An  instagram posting has raised the ire of some Canadians ........

 

never heard of a Nanaimo bar are they traditional or new ? 

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
1 minute ago, adey73 said:

 

never heard of a Nanaimo bar are they traditional or new ? 

So, so traditional!  

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

adey73

adey73

Posted
Posted

Will attempt this weekend, they look like a luminous Millionaires shortcake. 

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
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Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, adey73 said:

Will attempt this weekend, they look like a luminous Millionaires shortcake. 

The ones I have tried are incredibly sweet. I am not a fan. However, they are one of the few cuisine-related things we Canadians can claim as our own. Or at least we think we can! No doubt someone will point out that they originated elsewhere. 

Edited by Anna N
We Canadians can claim many things for our own including the Canadarm space thingy no I just wanted to be clear. (log)
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Anna N said:

The ones I have tried are incredibly sweet. I am not a fan. However, they are one of the few things we Canadians can claim as our own. Or at least we think we can! No doubt someone will point out that they originated elsewhere. 

 

Nanaimo bars and butter tarts!

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Nanaimo bars and butter tarts!

Absolutely. How could I forget butter tarts.  Even sweeter than Nanaimo bars but I can eat those.

Edited by Anna N (log)
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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Just now, gfweb said:

Toutons are Canadian, eh?

No. East Coast things. 😂😂

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted (edited)
26 minutes ago, Anna N said:

No. East Coast things. 😂😂

 

But East coast of Canada, no?

 

When I google touton it goes to NB immediately.

 

I'm giving the Newfies credit

 

 

Edited by gfweb (log)
Beebs

Beebs

Posted
Posted

Here's the "official" Nanaimo bar recipe from the City of Nanaimo: https://www.nanaimo.ca/about-nanaimo/nanaimo-bars

 

Yum!

 

Growing up, my family spent a lot of time at our vacation home near Nanaimo. The NYT Instagram of their not-Nanaimo bar hurts my heart.

 

Oddly, the NYT recipe looks close to the original, except for not enough butter in the custard layer. The dessert pictured is all sorts of wrong, though.

 

 

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
18 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

But East coast of Canada, no?

 

When I google touton it goes to NB immediately.

 

I'm giving the Newfies credit

 

 

And I’m trying to push @chromedome’s buttons. 😂

  • Haha 5

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And I’m trying to push @chromedome’s buttons. 😂

LOL Everyone knows Canada is made up of two parts, Newfoundland and the Mainland. Toutons are a Newfoundland thing; Nanaimo bars and butter tarts are a Mainland thing. :)

Personally I consider the correct ratio of layers in a Nanaimo bar to be "none for me, thanks," but whatever floats your boat. If served one in a situation where politeness dictates accepting it, I'll nibble a corner and then pick desultorily at the chocolate on top.

(...and as a Halifax native, I'll wave the flag for the Halifax-style "donair" as well. Yes, I know it's just another of the infinite variations on doner kebab...but dammit, it's *our* variation!)

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, adey73 said:

Will attempt this weekend, they look like a luminous Millionaires shortcake. 

Millionaires shortcake/shortbread, at least as I've seen it, = shortbread layer, dulce de leche layer, chocolate layer

Nanaimo bar = crumb crust layer; American/simple buttercream flavored with instant custard powder, chocolate layer

 

In practice ("official" recipe notwithstanding) the "cultured European-style unsalted butter" is regular salted butter (or margarine, depending on the household), and the chocolate layer is generally melted chocolate chips. I've been served renditions where the butter or margarine was replaced with butter-flavored Crisco, as well.

 

In short, they are to millionaire shortbread as Herman's Hermits were to the Beatles.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Poutine and Montreal smoked meat (admittedly just another name for pastrami) are canadian too

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adey73

adey73

Posted
Posted (edited)
58 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 Halifax-style "donair" as well. Yes, I know it's just another of the infinite variations on doner kebab...but dammit, it's *our* variation!)

 

what the funk, is that?!!

 

am hoping its some kind of Frank Zappa to something else's Rick Astley! 

Edited by adey73 (log)
chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted (edited)
24 minutes ago, adey73 said:

 

what the funk, is that?!!

 

am hoping its some kind of Frank Zappa to something else's Rick Astley! 

Standard doner kebab/gyro format, with meat sliced from the vertical rotisserie and browned briefly on the flat-top. The usual additions are chopped tomatoes and onion, and - this is hte distinctive part - a sweet, milky sauce. It sounds bizarre, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/the-delicious-history-of-the-halifax-donair/

Edited by chromedome (log)

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

adey73

adey73

Posted
Posted

the, err, "money shot" of that sauce in the photo does not look appetising!

 

but if you say so fella, I am planning a trip there one day! 

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

Kind of a cool place for a small city, if I do say so. There's a fair-to-middling Russian expat community there, too, should that matter. :)

  • Like 1

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted (edited)
19 minutes ago, adey73 said:

the, err, "money shot" of that sauce in the photo does not look appetising!

 

but if you say so fella, I am planning a trip there one day! 

 

@chromedomeThat sauce looks purulent (at best).

Edited by gfweb (log)
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adey73

adey73

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Kind of a cool place for a small city, if I do say so. There's a fair-to-middling Russian expat community there, too, should that matter. :)

,, thanks  it's defo on the list. will hit the lobsters first, though!

 

and I am afraid I'm not that exotic fella, especially for your parts. 

My lot are old Scotia, I just happen to be in the Motherland at the moment. 

 

 

chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

Gotcha. Well, there are plenty of traces of "the old country" to amuse yourself with in Nova Scotia, beginning with the kilted pipers at every tourist attraction. For bonus points, you can always spend a day or two circling the province and taking pictures of yourself near the signs for New Glasgow, Inverness and suchlike, to send to friends and acquaintances in their old-world equivalents.

 

Spoiler...there's not a lot of similarity between New Glasgow and the original. :P

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
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Posted

I had completely forgotten that we had our own Nanaimogate! Here

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I had completely forgotten that we had our own Nanaimogate! Here

 

I'd forgotten about that stamp! 😀 I was kind of amazed that we would get a Canadian item so wrong on a Canadian stamp. Sigh.

 

And the NYT photo is definitely off! Even though I like a slightly thicker bottom layer than some folks, that is the WRONG ratio! 

 

I do like Nanaimo bars, but a little bit goes a long way. I made them two or three times a year when we were living in the US, though. It was a fun thing to bring to dinners and gatherings and I was surprised how many people raved about them and asked for the recipe. I'd joke and say, nope it's a national secret, before I would share. I know, I'm pretty lame! 😄

Edited by FauxPas
my spelling spreeeeeee was annoying, ha (log)
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