Canada has many of its ownpizza chains, both national and regional, and many distinctive regional variations and types of pizza resulting from influences of localCanadian cuisine.
Atlantic Canada has several unique varieties, which have spread to other parts of the country as people migrate for work.Donair pizza is inspired by theHalifax fast food of the same name, and is topped with mozzarella cheese, donair meat, tomatoes, onions, and a sweetened condensed milk-based donair sauce.[1]
Garlic fingers is anAtlantic Canadian pizza garnished with melted butter, garlic, cheese, and sometimes bacon, with the round sliced into fingers and served with donair sauce.[2]
Pictou County pizza is a variant of pizza unique toPictou County in Nova Scotia; this pizza has a "brown sauce" made from vegetables and spices instead of red tomato sauce.[3][4]
The predominantly francophone Canadian province ofQuebec has its specialties. One is theMontreal "all dressed": tomato sauce (a little spicy), pepperoni, green pepper slices, and mushrooms.[5] TheItalian immigrant community in Montreal is known for their Rossa Romana Pizza (sometimes referred to as Pizza Rustica). This is a variety ofItalian tomato pie and consists of a thick crust that is covered in a thick plain sweet tomato sauce, and often cut in square pieces and served cold. InStoney Creek, Ontario, a similar type of cheeseless tomato pie produced by Roma Bakery is popular.[6][7][8]
Ottawa-style pizza (also known as Lebanese-style)[9] is influenced by the city'sLebanese immigrant population. It is known for being greasy, having sweeter sauce, crispy, thick cheese, thick crust, and toppings under the cheese.[10]Pizzerias known for their Ottawa-style pies includethe Colonnade and Louis'.[11][12][13]
This style of pizza was created by Greek immigrant Jim Kolitsas in the city ofRegina, Saskatchewan, during the 1970s.[14] The pizza is made with deli meat that is piled high and green peppers as a tribute to the colours of theSaskatchewan Roughriders. Regina-Style is made in a round pizza pan, but cut into square pieces.[15]
This type of pizza is available in certain restaurants in the Toronto area. It consists of thin-crust pizza brushed with garlic oil. Many of the restaurants that offer this type of pizza have a brush on the counter to allow customers to brush the garlic oil on their slice of pizzas themselves. This style of pizza was invented by Vietnamese immigrants who learned pizza-making from the former Italian owners that they worked for in Toronto. These immigrants were originally from the city ofHue in Vietnam, a city renowned for its culinary heritage.[16]
Pizza in the southwestern Ontario city ofWindsor is identified by its use of shredded pepperoni and mozzarella cheese from the local Galati Cheese Company. Although fresh mushrooms are the norm for most pizza makers in the city, the style was originally known for using canned mushrooms. The distinct qualities of Windsor-area pizza are believed to have originated with the now-closedVolcano Pizza in Windsor's downtown core. As employees of Volcano eventually left and founded their own pizzerias, they took the recipe with them.[17]
TheHawaiian-style (tomato sauce, ham and pineapple) is a Canadian invention, originating at the Satellite Restaurant inChatham, Ontario.[18][19][20][21][22] Owner Sam Panopoulos first concocted the Hawaiian pizza in 1962. By that time Satellite had already started servingCanadian Chinese food and Panopoulos thought people would like a similar dish with sweet and savoury flavours together, so he took a can of pineapple and tossed the fruit onto a pizza.[23]
Another variety of the dish in parts of the country is Indian-style pizza (also known as Punjabi-style pizza or Desi-style pizza)[24] which has gradually gained popularity since originating inGreater Vancouver during the mid-1980s.[25][26] Indian-style pizza has since expanded across urban centres inwestern andcentral Canada with largeSouth Asian populations, including Greater Vancouver,[27][28]Calgary,[29]Edmonton,[30]Regina,[31]Winnipeg,[24]Ottawa,[32] andGreater Toronto,[33][34] later expanding to other regions.[35] This type of pizza typically includes sauce with mixed spices and toppings such ascilantro,ginger,spinach,cauliflower,tandoori chicken,butter chicken, orpaneer.[24]
Pizza cake is a Canadian multiple-layer pizza baked in a pot orcake pan. First invented byBoston Pizza,[36] a Canadian multinational restaurant chain,[37] recipes were posted online as early as April 2014, though they did not becomeviral until thePillsbury Company posted an example in September 2014. Reviews have been mixed, with praise aimed at its taste and criticism leveled at its complexity and unhealthiness.
Pizza-ghetti is acombination meal commonly found infast food orfamily restaurants throughout the province ofQuebec[38][39] and other parts ofCanada.[40] While a regular pizza slice accompanied with a portion ofspaghetti with tomato-based sauce is common, also found is a slightly more elaborate presentation consisting in a miniature pizza, sliced in half with the pasta in the middle. A common variation is the pizza-caesar, where the spaghetti is replaced withcaesar salad. Other variants found mostly in Montréal and its suburbs include spaghetti as a pizza topping placed under the mozzarella cheese.[41]
Poutine pizza is one variety that can be found sporadically across the country, and adaptations of this item have even been featured in upscale restaurants.[42]
Sushi pizza is a pizza imitation withsushi ingredients. It consists of a fried rice patty topped with a sauce, often sriracha, and vegetables and fish or other seafood. This mimics the style of pizza – crust, sauce and toppings – with completely different ingredients.[43][44]
Pizzerias owned by Indian Canadians are an important fixture in many towns and cities in B.C. One of Vancouver's most popular is Supreme Pizza, which was — like the Filippones' The Penthouse or the Kerasiotises' Olympia — opened by a group of brothers. Tarlok, Karnail, Amrik and Iqbal Bindra, originally from Punjab, opened Supreme on Victoria Drive in 1985. While many Indian pizzerias include toppings like tandoori and butter chicken, Supreme sticks with more standard fare: pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms. But regulars often ask for their pizza "Indian-style" — which means adding ginger, cilantro and spices — and "in the old oven," the shop's decades-old deck oven, as opposed to the more modern conveyor belt-style oven. The Indian-style blend makes the pie medium-spicy and the old oven makes it extra crispy.
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