Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
LISTEN | Full interview with U.K. sandwich shop owner Joz Wootton:
As It Happens6:03What is a ‘Steak Canadian’ and does it have anything to do with Canada?
Whenever Joz Wootton posts a video of himself making a “Steak Canadian” sandwich, his comment section fills up with “bewildered Canadians” who have no earthly idea what it is.
“It is literally in the thousands,” Wootton, the owner of Corner Kitchen in Rotherham, England, told As It Happens guest host Nora Young.
“They really like to let me know that they have no clue what it is, and they do not claim this sandwich.”
Despite its name, the dish in question is a purely British phenomenon. But in his most recent video — titled “What Even IS a Steak Canadian?!” — Wootton decided to have a little fun trolling his Canadians viewers.
“Now a Steak Canadian [was] developed in the 1970s and ’80s in a place called Ontario in Canada,” he narrates while frying thin slabs of beef, mushrooms and onions on a grill. “My mate and ice hockey player Wayne has told me all about it.”
Cue the Canadian confusion and outrage.
“I’m Canadian. What in the ever loving hell is that,” writes one commenter. “I’ve eaten all over Canada and the world and have never seen such a ‘product.'”
“No such thing out here buddy,” wrote another.
What is Steak Canadian?
Steak Canadian is a breakfast sandwich containing three layers of thinly sliced meat — which Wootton describes as 80 per cent beef and 20 per cent anyone’s guess — with fried onions and mushrooms, topped with cheddar cheese.
For a condiment, Wootton likes to use ketchup, though he says maple syrup is also an excellent option.
“It’s as simple as that, and it is absolutely delicious,” he said.
Joz Wootton, the owner of Corner Kitchen Rotherham, holds up a package of the thin beef slices that are the cornerstone of Steak Canadian sandwiches. (Submitted by Joz Wootton)
He says the sandwich was hugely popular in the ’80s and ’90s in the north of England, and remains one of his shop’s bestsellers.
“The sandwich shop that I own, which obviously is where I create all the videos, my dad used to take me there as a child, 30-odd years ago,” he said. “Even then, I used to eat a Steak Canadian.”
Where did it come from?
He admits it has nothing to do with Ontario, or the legendary Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky.
“That’s me just having a little bit of fun with our Canadian followers,” he said. “I do purposely rage bait quite a lot of Canadian people.”
According to the U.K. distributor Ewood Foods, which markets the beef slices as “Steak Canadiann”— it was originally invented in the ’70s in Lancashire by the late butcher Derek Ingham.
Ingham died in 2019, and his obituary credits him as the “original inventor of Steak Canadian.”
Ewood Foods did not respond to a CBC request for comment.
Wootton chows down on this decidedly non-Canadian concoction. (Corner Kitchen Rotherham/YouTube)
It’s not clear why the food bears Canada’s name, despite having no obvious Canadian connection.
“Unfortunately, I can’t shed any light on this,” said David Ingham (no relation), owner of Ingham Butchers in Foulridge, U.K.
“I have often wondered where the name for these came from as they are quite popular in the shop.”
It’s certainly not unheard of for a food to be named for a faraway place.
Hawaiian pizza, for example, has nothing to do with Hawaii and was, in fact, invented in a place called Ontario.
‘I just love your country’
Wherever the name came from, this decidedly non-Canadian sandwich is working out well for Wootton.
His latest video has garnered more than 1.1 million views on YouTube, for which he credits Canadians. Because of that virality, he says business is booming and influencers are stopping by the shop.
“Things are going incredibly well, and I think a lot of that is down to the Canadian national dish of a Steak Canadian,” he said.
All jokes aside, Wootton says he’s a huge fan of the Great White North, citing an affinity for bands Simple Plan and Billy Talent, late comedian John Candy, and even Canadian premier soccer league team Pacific FC in Victoria, of which he owns a jersey.
“I love maple syrup. Avril Lavigne is a stunner. I just love your country,” he said. “One day, I’d genuinely love to visit Canada.”
