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CANADIAN FOOD ICONS (p. 3 of 4)

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EAST MEATS WEST

There once was a time before ginger beef ruled the world of Chinese takeout in the West. It was 1974 and two sisters – Louise Tsang and Lily Wong – wanted to open a Peking-style restaurant in Calgary. Realizing that their northern Chinese dishes would be unfamiliar to most Calgarians, they searched for a tasty beef dish that would make the locals happy.

Lily’s chef-husband, George, dug out a recipe he’d prepared while working at a restaurant in England. He modified the dish, slicing the beef into strips, lightly battering and frying them and serving them with a sweet and spicy ginger-chili sauce. The crunchy and saucy strips proved irresistible, and ginger beef quickly became a signature dish of Peking-style cuisine all over Western Canada. It’s still the top selling menu item at the Silver Inn. Now when tourists come to Cowtown looking for Alberta beef, locals know where to point them.

Text: JOHN GILCHRIST

THE SLUSH LIFE

Oh, there have been many pretenders over the years – the Froster, the Slush Cat, Mister Misty, even Quebec’s Sloche – but no frozen beverage is as beloved by Canadians as the Slurpee, introduced here 35 years ago. We suck up 37 million of them annually, with nearly 60 percent consumed outside the summer months. In fact, for five years in a row, chilly Winnipeg has held the bronzed Slurpee cup trophy as the Slurpee Capital of the World, with Calgary (home to Canada’s first 7-Eleven) coming in at number two. Regina and Edmonton have also placed in the top five, almost freezing out the competition. The reason for our obsession? Canadian Slurpees are heavier and wetter than their airier American cousins, making them eminently more… slurpable. It’s enough to give you what’s officially called a BrainFreeze, more commonly known up here as a “Slurpee headache.”

Text: CHARLENE ROOKE

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