Great Canadian Soup and Stews

Smoked, candied salmon and rockfish star in this creamy, comforting soup that will warm your belly and your soul after a chilly walk along the beaches of Vancouver Island.

St. Boniface, a francophone area of Winnipeg, has one of the largest French communities in Canada west of the Great Lakes; it’s also where Métis leader Louis Riel was born. It’s known for its fabulous winter festival, the Festival du Voyager, which features a pea soup contest. No wonder there are fantastic pea soups on offer in St. Boniface restaurants: (clockwise from top left) Chaise Café & Lounge‘s hearty take on the French Canadian classic; Resto Gare‘s silky version garnished with olive oil; Le Garage Café‘s soup, complete with hunks of luscious ham that Noah was happy to dig into; and Promenade Café and Wine’s Nouvelle Soupe aux Pois, made with split peas, chorizo sausage, sweet potatoes and citrus crème fraîche.

Winnipeg deli and diner Bernstein’s is the place to be if you want delicious healthful soups to go. The cabbage borscht seen here being packed up is made with beef, onion, crushed tomato and lots of cabbage. Bernstein’s sells some 25 different soups in frozen to-go containers and also offers fresh to-go versions of the soups the restaurant has made in the previous two days.

Here’s Laurie Forseille from Jake’s on 21st, serving up Vegan Butternut Squash and Kale Soup[LINK TO recipe] at the PotashCorp WinterShines Warm the Heart Soup Cookoff at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.