My First Authentic Canadian Food Experience
When I first heard about The Canadian Food Experience Project I thought it was a really cool idea and I signed up to be a part of it. And then I immediately had regrets. It is really hard to identify Canadian foods, and it is even harder to find Canadian foods that I identify with. Beaver Tails may be a great example of Canadian food, but I’ve never had one. That’s one of the things that this project hopes to accomplish – a greater clarity of what Canadian food is.
The topic of the first challenge was our first Authentic Canadian Food Experience. I have definitely had some unquestionably Canadian foods – ginger beef, tourtiere, butter tarts, nanaimo bars, maple syrup. I also had quite a bit of game meat growing up, which is pretty Canadian too. But I was at a loss for what my first experience would have been.I didn’t grow up immersed in what I would call Authentic Canadian food. My Dad is from Denmark, so there was a definite Danish influence, and we also relied on a fair bit of simple meals and convenience food. My Mom had 3 kids under 3, one of which had special needs – she did not have time for daily gourmet meals.
I thought back to some of those simple meals I had growing up, and one of them stood out. It’s so simple it’s barely a recipe, and there wasn’t a time it wasn’t part of my food experience. My Mom called it Slumgullion and it was a recipe her Mom made when she was a kid too. Slumgullion basically means a cheap stew. The origins of the term are a little vague, but appear to originate in the United States. My mother’s family has a long history in Alberta, but my grandmother’s father was from Iowa so I thought maybe that’s where the term came from. When I asked her though, she said she thought the kids made it up. So who knows.
Like any dish that is basically cheap ingredients thrown together, (stews, hash, chilli) the recipe is going to vary regionally based on what’s readily available and economical. In Alberta, wheat, inexpensive cuts of beef and canned vegetables are a pretty good bet.
My mom made Slumgullion frequently when I was growing up, and now it is a comfort food for me. I make it when I am low on groceries, time or give a damn but want to serve something I can still feel good about. My mom used elbow macaroni, whole canned tomatoes and ground beef. My grandmother also used ground beef, but my mom remembers she used a lot less to keep the costs down. She also sautéed some onion along with it. Mine has evolved a bit to include whole wheat macaroni and diced tomatoes. I’ve experimented with other kinds of noodles, but nothing is as good as the macaroni, you need the hollow space in the macaroni for the tomato juice to slip into.
Prairie Slumgullion
- .5-1 lb ground beef
- 1 package whole wheat macaroni
- 1 large can diced tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- Cook macaroni according to package instructions.
- Meanwhile cook and drain the ground beef. (I usually have some that I have previously cooked and frozen so I can just throw it into this dish or pasta sauce.)
- Mix together the ground beef, macaroni, canned tomatoes (undrained) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Best served fresh at room temperature.
What a great capturing of a humble family food staple. Found some interesting information about the origin here: http://sandychatter.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/slumgullion-stew/ I think it originated in the UK. Never had it called that, but have definitely eaten it at home with the onions. We called it Macaroni with Tomatoes and Beef. Original, eh?
Enjoyed the story!
🙂
V
Oh that is a better link that any of the ones I found!
We never had this growing up but I have always made a version of this!
Instead of the beef I would use little cubes of ham.
Great post!
We’ve definitely made this in our house! I try ‘fancy it up’ by putting it in a casserole dish and sprinkling cheese on it LOL
Just getting around to checking out all of the Canadian Food Experience blogs now..
We had this often, growing up in Winnipeg. i thought it was just something my mother threw together, had NO idea it even had a name. Learn something new everyday!
I love “slumgullion”! I make something similar that was a recipe my Nana used to use. It’s got macaroni and canned tomatoes but with cubes of ham and some green pepper. It’s so simple but I love it (and it’s kid-friendly too).
oh I know I had this growing up! I remember it wasn’t half bad but haven’t had it in years!
3 ingredients and fast? My kind of recipe! I’ve never had it, but I’m definitely going to make it.
We grew up on “macaroni and tomatoes” too. I love the stuff, and it’s a total comfort food for me. I can’t get The Brit to eat it to save my life, he thinks it’s the worst thing you could put in a bowl lol.
My grandma tells me that one of the things my grandfather used to cook was some type of casserole/stew much like this. I never had it but now I’m curious to try it! Pinning of course 🙂
Great name for something I can remember eating growing up too. I signed up for this project too. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
You might like Ziti pasta. It really holds onto the flavors. I also use petite diced tomatoes and a big bottle of tomato juice. I, like your grandmother, put onions with the meat while it’s cooking, also green peppers when I have them. Then I mix everything together and put in UNcooked ziti and allow all the tomato juice and spices and meat to soak into the pasta and by the time the pasta is tender it’s a nice thick consistency. Let me know if you like it.