Search
Brazil
Antarctica
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
BermudaCanada
the United States
Greenland
Mexico
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
the Dominican RepublicTurkey
South Africa
Egypt
Australia
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New GuineaFlavors · Territórios do Noroeste
Fish caught that same morning and prepared on the lake or riverbank over an open fire by the fishing guide. In the Northwest Territories, it’s known as the territory’s unofficial meal.
Traditional dish from Territórios do Noroeste
Also known as: shorelunch, shore-lunch
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Shore lunch — Territórios do Noroeste, Canada
Shore lunch is the meal of people who go fishing on the lakes and rivers of the Northwest Territories. Fish caught in the morning are cleaned and prepared right there on the shore over a campfire, and eaten around the fire. The Northwest Territories’ official tourism calls the shore lunch the territory’s unofficial meal, and it’s part of many guided fishing trips and stays at the territory’s fishing lodges.
The species served depends on where you fish. It can be northern pike, walleye (called pickerel in northern Canada), lake trout, Arctic grayling, whitefish, burbot (lota) or inconnu. On large lakes like Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, lake trout is commonly on the table.
There’s no single recipe. The simplest method is to fry fillets in a pan over the fire. Some guides roast whole fish skewered on a stick by the fire, wrap it in aluminum foil with herbs, lemon and butter, or stuff a lake trout with wild rice and vegetables. Side dishes also vary, such as pan‑sautéed vegetables or potato salad.
Yellowknife has hosted the World Shore Lunch Championships, a competition of recipes using fresh Great Slave Lake fish, where chefs, guides and amateurs competed for the best shore lunch.
The tradition isn’t exclusive to the Northwest Territories: shore lunch is also part of fishing in other northern Canadian regions, such as northern Ontario.
Fresh-caught fish of the day (northern pike, walleye, lake trout, Arctic grayling, whitefish, among others), fat or butter, salt and seasonings; vegetables or potato salad as a side, depending on the guide.
Hot, immediately after cooking, around the campfire on the shore where the fish was caught.
On guided fishing trips and at fishing lodges during the season when lakes and rivers are free of ice; confirm the season with the operator before you go.
Your questions
It’s the lunch prepared on the lake or riverbank over an open fire using fish caught that same morning. In the Northwest Territories, it’s usually prepared by the fishing guide.
It depends on where you fish: northern pike, walleye (pickerel), lake trout, Arctic grayling, whitefish, burbot (lota) or inconnu.
On a guided fishing trip or staying at a fishing lodge. Confirm in advance whether the trip includes the lunch.
Flavors of Canada
Vodka cocktail with tomato and clam juices, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, served in a tall glass with a celery salt rim, a celery stalk and lemon. It was created in Calgary in 1969 and is considered Canada’s national cocktail.
Strips of breaded beef fried until crispy, tossed in a sweet-and-spicy sauce with ginger, garlic and chili, served with sautéed vegetables and rice. Created in Calgary in the 1970s at a Chinese-Canadian restaurant, it spread across the Prairies and the country.
Beef seasoned and roasted on a vertical spit, thinly sliced and served in a pita with tomato, onion and a sweet sauce of condensed milk, vinegar and garlic. Created in Halifax in the 1970s, it is the city’s official food.
Soft bread filled with pieces of cooked lobster mixed with mayonnaise, celery, and a little lemon, served cold. It’s a traditional way to eat Prince Edward Island lobster.
Smaller, more compact and slightly sweet, hand-rolled, dipped in boiling water with honey and baked in a wood-fired oven. It arrived in Montreal with Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century and became one of the city’s signatures.
Beef brisket cured with salt and spices, smoked and cooked, served in thick slices on rye bread with mustard. Brought to Montreal by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is one of the dishes most associated with the city.
Sweet in three layers that doesn’t go in the oven: cookie base with cocoa, coconut and almonds, a yellow vanilla cream in the middle, and chocolate on top. It’s named for the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, which selected an official recipe in the 1980s.
Dessert wine made from grapes that freeze naturally on the vine and are harvested and pressed frozen, which concentrates sugar and acidity. In Niagara-on-the-Lake, on the Niagara Peninsula, wineries produce it and the town hosts a winter festival dedicated to it.
Blueberries cooked with sugar in a covered pan, with steamed dough dumplings on top. It’s a traditional dessert from Nova Scotia, linked to the blueberry harvest in August and September.
Large dumpling made from grated raw potato and mashed cooked potato, filled with salted pork and boiled in water. It is an Acadian dish from southeastern New Brunswick.
Individual tart made with pie crust filled with butter, sugar, syrup and egg; creamy inside and firmer on top. The earliest known printed recipe dates from 1900 in Barrie, and the tart features on bakery and festival trails in Ontario.
Sweet cider distilled only from Quebec apples, whose sugar is concentrated by the natural cold of winter. Protected as a geographical indication, it has aromas of fresh and baked apple, honey and dried fruit.
French fries topped with fresh cheese curds that squeak between your teeth, and a hot gravy. It originated in roadside eateries in rural Quebec in the late 1950s and became one of the province’s culinary symbols.
Buttery shortcrust pastry pie filled with saskatoon berries, small purple prairie fruits similar to blueberries with an almond-like flavor. It’s a traditional pie from Saskatchewan.
Salted beef cooked with cabbage, potato, carrot and rutabaga, served with pea pudding and gravy. It is the traditional Sunday dinner in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Pieces of bread dough fried in pork lard until golden, served hot with molasses. They are the traditional breakfast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sweet roll of fried dough, similar to a flattened cinnamon bun, covered with a pink red-fruit glaze. It’s the sweet most associated with Thunder Bay, in northern Ontario.
Sandwich of cured, unsmoked pork loin, coated in cornmeal, grilled and served hot on a soft roll, usually with mustard. Linked to Toronto’s pork history, it was declared the city’s signature dish in 2016.
Beef hamburger topped with a chili-style meat sauce, long-sliced dill pickles, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and mustard. It’s the drive-in sandwich of Winnipeg.
Tall angel food-style sponge cake made with egg whites and pecan halves, filled and covered with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. It’s a celebratory dessert associated with Winnipeg.
Pancakes made with sourdough starter, the prospectors’ recipe from the Klondike Gold Rush. In the Yukon they are a breakfast tied to the territory’s history and to Whitehorse’s winter festival.
