The Paris restaurant that sold 'Canadian' cuisine
And not just pea soup, either
The names of the foods on the menu at Paris's La Pergola might have been familiar to Canadians.
But the dishes put together by French chefs were a little more unexpected.
"You may know what cooks in Canada," said the CBC's Joe Schlesinger in December 1974. "But you don't know what happens when the French get their hands on another man's dish."
The cultural collision was a feature of a restaurant on the Champs-Elysées called La Pergola.
'Something very strange has happened'
Schlesinger suggested something had been lost in translation.
"Somewhere between the shores of Canada and the boulevards of Paris, something very strange has happened," he said.
Sure, La Pergola served the breakfast-house standard of pancakes with maple syrup. But finding syrup alone "too insipid for French tastes," the chef had added whisky.
Canadian whisky, in fact, proved more popular than the food.
Scallops and a chicken sauté were both served with sauces incorporating the spirit.
Other mains used Canadian salmon, halibut, lobster and cheddar cheese.
'Un-Canadian' presentation
"It's what happens to them in the kitchen that's — well, un-Canadian," clarified the reporter.
The salmon was not presented in its filleted form, but incorporated into croquettes.
Fans of Montreal's famous deli special would have blanched at how the smoked meat came out: in roast beef-like slices next to a bed of lentils.
Lamb was served in a sweet-and-sour sauce, said Schlesinger.
But the Parisian diners seemed to like the place, calling the food "delicious."
As with all French meals, the Canadian food was mostly washed down with red wine — or a vegetable juice that a customer found "much healthier."
"If the food here is not exactly what a Canadian would recognize as being Canadian," said Schlesinger, "It's no further from the real stuff than what passes as French cuisine at some restaurants in Canada."
