Three years ago, the night we came back from France, I offered Mark yogurt as a snack.

“Strawberry or vanilla?”

Mark paused for a second. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter. All yogurt tastes the same in Canada,” he replied with surprisingly insightful candour.

I laughed because he was right. Yogurt in Canada tastes acid, artificially flavoured, and it’s generally very slimy. You have to pay a premium for smooth and creamy “European-style yogurt” with, you know, real milk and bacteria.

I know it sounds like a cliché but food in Canada has been a constant source of frustration for me for a few years now.

Let’s face it, few immigrants praise the typical North American diet. From puzzling eating habits to meals that were seemingly created by a five-year-old left alone in the kitchen (sweet potatoes and marshmallow casserole, anyone?), it’s… ahem, a cultural shock and a steep learning curve.

I had many “wait, they eat what?!” moments over the years.

This is not to say that all North American foods are bad. Canada introduced me to sweet potatoes (no marshmallows for me…), bagels and lox, cream cheese, muffins, carrot and banana cake, crackers, pea soup, pancakes, oatmeal, maple syrup, American-style breakfast, real burgers (not the kind you get from a fast-food franchise!), and more.

Canada is also a great place to try traditional foods from all over the world because guess what, many immigrants still cook their favourite meals at home and spend a lot of time importing or sourcing exotic ingredients.

At home, we eventually hit a happy medium cooking Chinese- and French-inspired meals with imported and local ingredients.

But it’s getting harder and harder between ongoing supply chain issues and very high grocery prices. Mostly, food quality has gotten a lot worst. Produce is often half rotten—blame the supply chain, Canada imports most of it from the US. Manufacturers are apparently taking shortcuts as well with shrinkflation and “new, definitely-not-improved” recipes.

I almost cried when I ate my first zucchini in France this summer. It was fresh! Tomatoes taste awesome! I can find affordable meat and fish! My bread isn’t sugary sweet for absolutely no reason!

And this year, Mark is constantly praising every new or favourite food he eats in France. This is a kid whose diet in Canada revolves around ham, sliced cheese, pasta and pizza—don’t blame us as parents, we’re doing the best we can. In France, he eats vegetable, tries anything and he loves it.

We don’t even eat half of the amazing pastries pictured below. Just easy-to-make recipes but trust me, good ingredients make all the difference.