What is in a Canadian samosa?

In India, a samosa is a savory, fried pastry. Typically, Indian samosas are filled with seasoned potatoes and peas, wrapped in a pyramid of dough and fried. There are many varieties of samosas, packed with ground lamb, veggies, tofu, whatever you like. I used to think that samosas were unique to Indian food, until the day I had an empanada and realized that it was the Spanish version of a samosa. And then it hit me, every culture has their own samosa.

In America, I would consider McDonald’s Apple Pie (“CAUTION: filling may be hot”) to be our iconic samosa. I haven’t had a McDonald’s Apple Pie in ages, but sometime during my roadtrip to Vancouver we will have to stop at a McDonald’s and order an apple pie. But once I am in Canada, will I discover the Canadian version of a samosa? Where will I find it, and what will it taste like? Will it be savory or sweet? Too spicy or just right? Will it be triangular like the Indian samosa, or will it be a rectangle like McDonald’s?

I guess that is the beauty of a samosa, you never know what is inside until you take a bite.

What is Canada?

I am about to pack up my life and move to another country.

I am an American and a homebody, so this upcoming move is a big change for me. Hopefully, the relocation won’t be too much of a culture shock, because I am moving to Vancouver, Canada. I won’t be grappling with language barriers or geographical isolation from my homeland. However, it is another country and surely there will be differences. I am excited and eager to explore life outside the United States and this blog is an opportunity to write about Canada, Canadians and the life of one American living away from her home.

But first, a few words about me. I am a scientist, raised in the Midwest and educated in public schools from grade school all the way through to a Master’s Degree. I have been married for almost six years. My husband, Dan, is the reason I am moving to Vancouver, BC. He recently won an NSF Fellowship to do post-doctoral research at the University of British Columbia. We will pack up our lives in Berkeley, CA and hit the road in late August for our new home. We will be living in Vancouver for the next two years.

As a scientist, I take pleasure in approaching some things in life with the calm, unattached logic of the scientific method. Scientists design experiments to answer questions, and in this case my question is “What is Canada?” I thought for my first post I would do a quick a priori (before experience) examination of Canada. Here, I will make some guesses as to ‘what is Canada?’ and after two years of empirical observation I will write an a posteriori (after experience) blog that should be a more informed answer to that question. If I come even close to having an idea of what Canada is I think that would be a successful experiment!

So, some a priori “hunches” I have about Canada:
1.Canada is cold
2.Canada is huge
3.Canadians are nice
4.Canadian socialized health care is better that what we have in the US, but everyone has bad teeth
5.Hockey is the national obsession (analogous to celebrity gossip in the US)

6.Drinking beer is the national pastime (analogous to shopping in the US)
7.Everything is metric (Celsius, Liters, Meters, etc.)
8.The Maple syrup is tasty
9.The taxes are outrageous
10.Canadian federal law is more permissive to the rights of Canadians to have guns, smoke dope etc.
11.Canadians are still connected with the British Monarchy
12.Wayne Gretzky is the King of Canada

Perhaps my little experiment will prove all the above statements false, or maybe the overwhelming body of evidence will support my claims, or maybe two years of life in Canada will not provide sufficient data to make a conclusion. Either way, I leave for Vancouver in about five weeks. Wish me luck!