Montreal, bagels. Halifax, donair. Chicago, deep dish pizza. Toronto…?? For the first three cities, I don’t need to state the question. You instinctively understand that I am pairing each city with its signature dish. When it comes to Toronto, there is no immediate correct answer — but there is one that is obviously wrong: the peameal bacon sandwich.
It’s the response we might half-heartedly throw out because Mayor John Tory once made that claim or something. You know, that cornmeal-crusted bacon sandwich on a Kaiser roll that you essentially only get at St. Lawrence Market. If more than half the city has never tried a dish, let alone consume it on a regular basis, that is grounds for automatic disqualification. Nobody says Hogtown anymore, and clearly the non-proliferation of the sandwich signals its lack of mass appeal. Leave this one for the tourists.
However, that does not mean there are no contenders. There seems to be this notion that we are “too diverse to have a signature food”, which comes from an implicit belief that the dish must be immutable and that its purveyors must obey strict rules to be deemed local institutions. Instead, why can’t Toronto’s signature dish be like a page in a colouring book, line art that communities and individuals fill in their own way? I believe that there are already three worthy contenders.
Fusion poutine
Poutine is distinctly Quebecois, where fresh-cut fries, squeaky cheese curds and a deep brown gravy are mandatory. Conversely, Toronto treats poutine with irreverence, often substituting poutine for shredded cheese and gravy for any number of sauces. Without a doubt, there is no other city with as much fusion poutine, and perhaps no one has gone to the same lengths of delicious debauchery as Chris Jerk. Owner Chris Taylor once cooked at Middle Eastern joint Me Va Me, before later opening this strip plaza corner spot, previously a shawarma store. The sign outside proclaims “Original Jerk Chicken Shawarma” and upon entering, a glorious vertical spit is on full display. Smoky jerk-spiced shawarma and shredded cheese are topped on fries, russet or sweet potato, and doused with house gravy and optional hot sauce. Chris Jerk is just one of many, with options ranging from national variations (Vietnamese style phoutine, mutton curry poutine and more) to a dizzying number of breakfast/brunch poutines.
Stuffed roti
Due to the British colonial empire’s need for indentured labour, Indians were forcibly sent to the Caribbean. Over time this diaspora invented wrapped roti, where Indo-Caribbean curries would be nestled in thin rotis and eaten on the go. What happens when an Indian immigrant in Toronto tries this for the first time? They realize the ingenuity of stuffed roti, and instead fill it with the dishes they love — butter chicken, palak paneer and more. That is the story of the now closed icon Gandhi Roti, but I’ll let you in on a secret. Two former chefs at Gandhi, Prodip and Gigi, bought the same space and now operate Roti Mahal, with the same original recipes so many Torontonians love. This dish has yet to be widely adopted by other communities in the city, but I hope to see that change over the next few years. Just imagine roti stuffed with Mexican mole, or Ethiopian shiro wat.
Sushi pizza
Many restaurants’ famous dishes start with humble origins, as staff meals are made from leftovers and designed to be eaten quickly during breaks. This is the story of sushi pizza. A dish claimed to have been invented by downtown Japanese restaurant Nami in the 1980s. A base of crispy, fried sushi rice is topped with marinated salmon sashimi, spicy sauce, tobiko, scallions and white onion. The circular creation is then cut into slices, like a mini pizza, and eaten with chopsticks. Sushi pizza is a dish you now see on menus at sushi joints across the city, often more indulgent than Nami with creamy sauces and a choice of toppings. I would love to see crispy rice topped with the ingredients of Peruvian ceviche. Or perhaps a pickled herring preparation found across Europe.
Fusion poutine, stuffed roti, sushi pizza. It doesn’t feel right to pick between the three at the moment, and perhaps in 2022, that’s not what’s most important. Let’s start with a sense of collective pride about having signature dishes that, unlike other cities, evolve alongside its people.