Ontario Regional Foods: Butter Tarts and Peameal

Ontario regional foods are the dishes that make a visitor from elsewhere ask what exactly they are eating: butter tarts, peameal bacon sandwiches, Lake Erie perch and maple syrup. The common thread across Ontario is accessibility. Judge a butter tart by the pastry, bite over a plate and keep a record.

Plan around the setting, and combine the dishes in a long weekend: a peameal sandwich in the city, perch by the lake and a butter tart at a bakery along the way.

Regional foods taste best when you ask the person serving them. Ask how a tart is made, where the fish came from or how the bacon is cured, and you will learn more than any menu says. Write down the answer next to your rating so you remember it.

What are the Ontario regional foods worth knowing?

Ask an Ontarian for a list, and you will hear butter tarts, peameal bacon, perch and maple syrup. Others will add Nanaimo bars, tourtiere, apple pie, sweet corn, Niagara peaches and the shawarma and roti of the big cities. The province's food is a mix of rural comfort dishes and the cuisines of newcomers.

The common thread is accessibility. Most of these dishes can be tasted at a bakery counter, a market stall or a roadside stand without a reservation.

What are Ontario butter tarts?

Ontario butter tarts are small pastry shells filled with a mixture of butter, sugar, syrup and egg that bakes into a gooey centre. Early recipes in community cookbooks suggest the tart has been an Ontario favourite for well over a century, and it may have French-Canadian sugar pie in its family.

The great debate is runny versus firm, and raisins versus none. Taste several styles before you decide.

Is there a butter tart festival?

Yes. Midland holds a butter tart festival and contest, Muskoka Lakes has another, and butter tart trails and tours run in Wellington North and the Kawarthas Northumberland region.

If you cannot attend a festival, make your own. Buy a tart at three or four bakeries, and compare the pastry, the filling and the sweetness side by side.

What is a peameal bacon sandwich?

A peameal bacon sandwich is a slice of back bacon rolled in cornmeal, grilled and served on a soft bun. It is a Toronto classic, and the stalls at St. Lawrence Market are the place to try one.

The bacon is mild and juicy, and the bun is simple. Add mustard if you like. Ask what payment a stall takes before you order.

What about Lake Erie perch?

Lake Erie perch is a fried fish served at lakeside restaurants in southwestern Ontario. Yellow perch is a small, sweet-fleshed fish, and it is usually fried in a light coating and served with fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce. It is often on menus at lakeside towns in summer, though supply varies, so ask what is available.

Ask a local restaurant whether the fish is from the lake or imported, since supplies vary. Seasonal limits on commercial fishing can affect availability, so check what is on the menu.

How do you taste these dishes on a trip?

Plan around the setting. Eat a butter tart at a bakery counter with a cup of coffee. Eat a peameal sandwich at a market, standing up, with napkins. Eat perch at a lakeside table with a view.

Combine them in a long weekend. A day in Toronto can include a peameal sandwich, a drive east or north can include tarts and a drive southwest can end with perch.

How can you keep a butter tart ranking?

A tart ranking only works if you write it down. In the Mosey app, rate each tart by the dish, tag the stop Bakery and note runny or set in a line. A list called Ontario butter tarts, shared by invite link, lets friends add their own contenders, and over a few weekends you will have a ranking that is truly yours.

How do you judge a butter tart?

Judge the pastry first. It should be flaky or tender, depending on the baker, and hold its shape without becoming tough. Then judge the filling. It should be sweet but not cloying, with a buttery flavour and a texture that you can describe, whether runny, set or somewhere between. Raisins, pecans and walnuts are optional extras that divide opinion.

Bite into the tart over a plate, because the filling may escape. Notice the edge, where the sugar caramelizes. A good tart has a slightly crisp rim and a soft centre.

Keep a record. Write down the bakery, the style and your mark, and you will soon have your own ranking. It is a small, sweet project, and it makes every bakery visit more interesting.

What else should you eat around Ontario?

For farm stands and trails, read the Ontario food worth a drive guide, and for the harvest, the Ontario fall food guide. The Queen East Toronto restaurants guide covers a neighbourhood walk. The Canada guides page lists more cities.

Eating your way across Ontario? The Food in Ontario page links every town we cover.

Regional classics deserve a proper record. Download the Mosey app, rate each tart, sandwich and plate of perch by its flavour and its tradition, and build an Ontario list that records your favourites.