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While driving from Alberta to Quebec, Everything Lifestyle reporter Alessia Proietti made sure to try traditional dishes deeply rooted in the identity of whatever city she found herself in along the way.
DAY 3 – FINNISH PANCAKES (Thunder Bay, ONT)
The longest stretch of our trip was about to begin: Ontario. After eight hours of surprisingly mountainous views between Manitoba and Ontario, we ended up in Thunder Bay. The city is home to the largest concentration of Finnish people outside Finland so naturally, I had to try the Finnish pancakes.
Known as ‘lettu’ in its native language, they are best described as slightly thicker than a crepe (using more flour), but much thinner than a pancake as there are no rising agents used. Cooked on a flat top griddle, they are larger than the size of a plate, and while a blank canvas in flavour, can be served with fruit, butter, and maple syrup.
I’ve made crepes my whole life with my mom, so this was very intriguing. Arriving in the evening, there was only one place that served pancakes all day: Sweet G’s.
Gord Moir, owner of the award-winning family restaurant, told me these pancakes are so popular that he goes through five one-gallon pails of batter every Saturday in the small city of only 110,000 people.
“The Finnish people like it with crispy edges,” he said. “Some of them like it actually burnt so that they can almost eat it like a piece of toffee.”
Many Finnish immigrants came to the area in the early 1900s to work in the paper mills and forested areas. Not only were the dish’s ingredients easily accessible, a common theme, but they were cheap and filled many of the hungry workers.
The Finlandia Cooperative of Thunder Bay told me that the dish may have actually begun in Finland’s neighbouring country of Russia as they are very similar to their “blini” pancakes. They say they were first made in the early 1800s using a specific flat cast-iron griddle pan outdoors.
Bread is also a massive part of Finnish food culture due to the cold climate allowing grains like rye to grow in abundance. Many types of bread were made and dried, some flattened thin, to lengthen their preservation. Popular Finnish breads include flatbread and crispbread.
In Thunder Bay, the Hoito Restaurant, located under the Finnish Labour Temple, was the first place to cook the dish. A historical building, it was also the hub for the Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary and socialist labour union who fought for workers rights.
While the restaurant had to close its doors due to a fire, Moir said he was lucky to have learnt the pancake recipe and is happy to continue serving the tradition.
And after saving my ‘lettujas’ for breakfast the next morning, I can say with certainty, that I was happy too.
Literally the 'Goldilocks' of crepes and pancakes, their consistency allows any topping, including syrup, to remain on the surface, rather than disappearing through absorption. It felt unusual when, even though the pancakes were so large the edges hung off the plate like curtains, I was still able to get all three layers to fit easily on one fork. But the real mind-blow was when I ate that first bite and experienced a taste contradictory to my sight; it was surprisingly light and soft.
After my experience, my new description for lettujas is this: more elegant than an American pancake and less bougie than a Parisian crepe; a breakfast for the working man with style.
DAY 4 – ITALIAN PIZZA (Sault Ste. Marie, ONT)
By this day I was getting pretty exhausted of driving, not to mention we extended our drive by two hours to see the Great Lakes, so we decided to stop early in Sault Ste. Marie.
Seeing a bridge covered in blue, red, and white lights, I didn’t know until I almost accidentally crossed the American border without a passport that there is a Sault Ste. Marie sister-city in Michigan right across Lake Huron and Lake Superior.
While the Michigan city has some classic cuisines, I couldn’t seem to find any for the Canadian side. However, every person I asked said one type of cuisine the city did well was Italian - in particular, pizza.
Now, as an Italian who lived with her grandmother, I was immediately skeptical of this response.
But I trusted the locals.
The city actually has the largest concentration of Italian Canadians in Northern Ontario, 20 per cent of its population, as many immigrated during the second World War to work in manufacturing, construction, and particularly at Algoma Steel, a historical employer for the area.
To weed out the posers, a few key things I look for in an Italian restaurant are family ownership, the thinness and cooking process of pizza crust, and if staff are welcoming.
Giovanni’s Restaurant checked those boxes.
The business, cooking southern Italian dishes, started 40 years ago by brothers Jon and Gino Cavaliere and is now run by the latter’s sons, Nick and Sergio. The initial brothers later opened up Fratelli’s restaurant, right next door, and Burger Don, and started their own Italian Festival in the city. As noted by local media, this independent ownership by residents rather than restaurant chains, is what makes Italian cuisine so authentic here.
My road trip companion and I were feeling kinda fancy while we ordered some escargot to start, which were salty, cheesy, and perfectly cooked. But when our ‘Funghi Biano’ (white mushroom) pizza came out, it was devoured before I could express my love for it on camera. You know the food is good when no one’s talking or taking photos!
The crust was thin and crispy yet strong enough to hold the perfect amount of toppings of caramelized onions, rosemary, buffalo mozzarella and the slightest dash of white truffle oil for an aromatic but not overwhelming sense of luxury.
And the best part was the staff. Seeing the pure delight I was experiencing as a dined, they graciously offered me a piece of chocolate orange cheesecake, handmade by Lina, Gino’s wife. Do yourself a favour and grab a slice of this rich and decadent yet not too heavy, treat with a cookie crumble crust and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. It was my favorite.
I later discovered that Italian panzerotti, a type of fried pizza like a calzone, are also a hit food in the city, so I plan to try that on my way home.
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Stay tuned for Part 3 of the trip: Toronto, Ont. and Montreal, QC
