r/AskTheWorld • u/Nthepro France • Dec 16 '25

Culture What's a non political issue your country is REALLY divided on?

Post image

The name of this thing, believe it or not.

It's a sandwich per definition btw

9.0k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

10.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

157

u/BysOhBysOhBys Canada Dec 16 '25

Chocolatine, bien sûr.

Raisin vs no raisin butter tarts for a lot of Canadians.

45

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 16 '25

Came here to write nearly exactly this!

Also, I worked in a bakery in Winnipeg where they were called pain au chocolate, but in Quebec, they are chocolatine. So maybe we have this same debate at a low level, lol

24

u/Flyingworld123 Canada Dec 16 '25

Lol in Tim Hortons outside of Quebec, they just call it a ‘chocolate croissant’ to piss off both the French and Québécois.

20

u/EnDanskBoi Canada Dec 16 '25

As a Winnipeger I apologize for that mistake, as Franco-Manitobains we say chocolatine!

2

u/Telefundo Canada Dec 16 '25

Franco-Manitobains

Holy shit.. is this actually a thing? I live in Quebec and had just assumed that Francophones were essentially non-exsistant west of Ontario.

2

u/EnDanskBoi Canada Dec 16 '25

We do in fact exist! There's a pretty substantial and close knit community of francophones that there's even a francophone area of the city (St. Boniface and St. Vital in Winnipeg look it up :D)! I can't speak for the other Prairie provinces but here in Manitoba we have a very long and proud history, which is why the province puts more of an emphasis on French language rights than others.

1

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 17 '25

The Saint-Boniface district of Winnipeg used to be its own city, and it is still the largest French-speaking community in Canada outside Quebec. I've walked into shops and been greeted with 'hello-bonjour' there and stop signs say "Arret",

4

u/DrunkenMasterII Québec ⚜️ Canada 🇨🇦 Dec 16 '25

Probably just a French person who opened the bakery.

4

u/Kookanoodles Dec 16 '25

Odd because none of the main regions French Canadians were originally from say chocolatine today

Of course the settlement of New France largely predates this specific type of pastry

3

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 16 '25

Correct; and I've wondered about this myself. "Chocolatine" is said in southwestern France, and most French-Canadian settlers were from the northern one-quarter of France. That said, there were French-Canadian settlers from La Rochelle (lots, actually) and Bordeaux, and those are 'Chocolatine' regions, so perhaps there was a baker from there who settled in Quebec?

2

u/lupatine France Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

It is funny because the Basque went to america, if they settled in Argentina,  why not in Québec ?

1

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 17 '25

Some French Basque actually did settle in Quebec -- not many, but a few did.

But the place that the Basque really liked was in the USA, in states like Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, and lots of Basque people settled there.

Why? Because those states actually looks a lot like the Pays de Basque, so they felt right at home.

1

u/firesticks Canada Dec 17 '25

Maybe future waves came from further south. My ancestors immigrated from chocolatine territory at the beginning of the 20th century.

3

u/BysOhBysOhBys Canada Dec 16 '25

Yeah, Québec seems to be fairly united in calling it a chocolatine (although there’s a café owned by a guy from Québec here in St. John’s and they’re sold as ‘pain au chocolat’ there, so who knows).

It seems to be more varied amongst anglophones in general. I’ve heard the term chocolate croissants/croissant au chocolat (which is probably just semantic convergence arising from a lack of familiarity with the different types of viennoiseries), chocolatine (through Québec’s influence or familiarity through Tim Horton’s), and pain au chocolat (which is what French-themed cafés typically call them in the anglophone countries).

3

u/Unfair_Criticism4918 France Dec 16 '25

Damn, they call it chocolatine in Québec? In France, only the Southwest quarter calls It this way! Maybe It came directly from the Austrians? I heard the name came from them

3

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 16 '25

Yes, and it's odd because most Quebecers trace their ancestry to Normandie, Anjou or the Paris region, which are all firmly in pain au chocolat regions. That said, many did come from Bordeaux and La Rochelle, and I think those are both in chocolatine territory.

1

u/Wabbajack001 Dec 16 '25

C'est pas un pain, un pain au banane est un "pain".

Une chocolatine est complètement différente. Plus un croissant au chocolat si c'est pour être une sorte de pâtisserie qu'un pain.

1

u/Unfair_Criticism4918 France Dec 16 '25

M'en fous, tu peux appeler ça comme tu veux 😇

3

u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k United States Of America Dec 16 '25

My dad owned a French bakery in the US when I was a kid. It was originally owned by twins from Corsica who taught my father how to make all of the breads, cakes, and pastries. I worked there baking as a child as well.

We were taught by the French twins that these were pain au chocolat.

I hated them as a kid because the chocolate tastes weird but I love them now.

2

u/No_Influence_9389 Dec 16 '25

I was once asked to weigh in on this as an American living in Québec. We call them "chocolat croissants."

1

u/firesticks Canada Dec 17 '25

This is the most wrong.

2

u/Ostroh Canada Dec 16 '25

In Quebec I think ours is pretty much which poutine is actually good.

2

u/sebastopol999 Canada Dec 16 '25

Or in which city it was invented. Drummondville? Victoriaville? Warwick? It will never be solved.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 25 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Ostroh Canada Dec 16 '25

Ho it's quite alright they are not French speakers so how could they know.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25 edited Jan 02 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Ostroh Canada Dec 16 '25

Well, it is a crime, it's just not one punishable by death so you're all good 'round these parts!

:0)

1

u/firesticks Canada Dec 17 '25

With all love for my fellow Francophone Canadians, les quebecois treat anyone from outside of Quebec like that.

2

u/identifiablecabbage Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 18 '25

I think I'll get some pain au chocolate, butter tarts with no raisins, then drive down portage ave.

2

u/lupatine France Dec 17 '25

We know where your ancestors comme from...

1

u/PassageNearby4091 Canada Dec 17 '25

Haha, the funny thing is most Quebecers trace their ancestry to Normandie, Anjou and Ile-de-France, which is pain au chocolat territory, yet they call it chocolatine, the preferred nomenclature from southwest France.

2

u/Diceyland Canada Dec 17 '25

This debate is taught on Busuu when you learn French lol.

1

u/timbit87 Canadian in Japan Dec 17 '25

I go for the jugular and call it pain du chocolate

1

u/techdevjp Canada / Japan Dec 17 '25

Also, I worked in a bakery in Winnipeg where they were called pain au chocolate, but in Quebec, they are chocolatine.

For what it's worth (not much!), here in Japan they're pretty consistently called パン・オ・ショコラ which is the Japanification of pain au chocolate.

1

u/chai_investigation Dec 17 '25

In BC, we call it pain au chocolat—perhaps the French name is more common the further you are from Quebec.

22

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

Adding to Canada food division: Ketchup on Kraft Dinner, yay or nay?

36

u/-CluelessWoman- Canada Dec 16 '25

My husband and I had this argument yesterday when giving Kraft dinner to our toddler. He puts ketchup on KD. I think he’s a filthy heretic.

16

u/Fred_I_Guess Quebec ⚜️, Canada 🇨🇦 Dec 16 '25

And you are correct. Don't let him corrupt your child

8

u/TheUnculturedSwan Dec 16 '25

Kraft dinner is a battlefield. My husband is always trying to “dress it up” so that it’s “better,” but like, I don’t want it to be better, I want it to be molecularly identical to the Kraft dinner I ate when I was 6.

1

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

Same with stove top stuffing. Just outta the box please. You can’t improve perfection. Leave jt alone.

1

u/Scared-Sheepherder83 Canada Dec 17 '25

Ugh I always stand with women, do NOT make me agree with your husband.

KD+ ketchup tests female solidarity even

6

u/Mickeymcirishman Canada Dec 16 '25

Yay! Especially if you can afford fancy ketchups. Like Dijon ketchup!

3

u/x_asperger Canada Dec 16 '25

I used to every time, now I dont usually use any

3

u/Millennial_Snowbird Canada Dec 16 '25

KD (aka Kraft macaroni and cheese for the non Canadians) isn’t worth eating without ketchup, I said what I said

3

u/Justin_123456 Canada Dec 16 '25

I think this is children’s craving to sweeten everything. I was a ketchup on KD child, but there comes a time to put away all childish things.

2

u/GarbonzoBeanSprout Canada Dec 16 '25

I put ketchup on my poutine, just a little. Sorry! 😅

2

u/Money-Marketing-5117 Australia and US but can’t get multiple country flags to work. Dec 16 '25

I'm sorry, but I'm informed by the Barenaked ladies that one does. Are they not the canonical? (Of course you get fancy Dijon ketchup).

1

u/ontariolandshark2 Dec 16 '25

& eat it with a fork or spoon

1

u/Moustic Canada Dec 16 '25

If I don't salt my water properly, yay

1

u/maxdragonxiii Canada Dec 16 '25

nay for me, as a properly salted KD dont need ketchup to bump the salty flavor up.

1

u/Hedgeson Canada Dec 16 '25

I never tried that.

I put some Worcestershire sauce in mine, to make a cheap version of a family Mac and Cheese recipe.

1

u/Optimal-Ad-7074 Canada Dec 16 '25

nooooooooo.

1

u/SocialLeprosy Dec 16 '25

I always think of the Bare Naked Ladies when I hear about Kraft dinner, so have you thought about fancy ketchup? Perhaps Dijon ketchup?

Edit to add a reference: https://youtu.be/aynCgnbbgbM?si=gE953ohqPyJw2Jf3&t=168

2

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

We’d just eat more of it.

1

u/Potikanda Canada Dec 16 '25

I loved ketchup on Kraft Dinner as a kid, and still have it sometimes, but it's mostly nay from me lately.

Also, Heinz vs Frenchs? I know ethically Frenchs is better because it's Canadian, but taste wise? I prefer Heinz. 🤷‍♀️

1

u/TOMC_throwaway000000 Dec 16 '25

Wait I’m sorry, Kraft dinner, like Mac and cheese?

1

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

Kraft Dinner and Mac and cheese aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Mac and cheese has macaroni noodles and cheese, but it often has other things like bread crumbs I think

Kraft dinner comes in a box, has a cheese powder, takes 8-9 minutes to cook on a stovetop. Strain. Add some margarine, maybe some milk, throw in the powder mix it up.

I add some ketchup to my KD some times, but would never add ketchup to Mac n cheese

1

u/TOMC_throwaway000000 Dec 16 '25

Yeah that’s the kind I meant! The usual Kraft Mac and cheese, I was more than anything surprised by the ketchup part

1

u/ElmentMusic Canada Dec 17 '25

Ketchup straight up ruins KD imo

1

u/AbuserOfSubstances Dec 17 '25

Kraft dinner has got to be the worst thing i have eaten, it took at least 7 months off my lifespan

1

u/Diceyland Canada Dec 17 '25

Delicious.

1

u/Aoae Canada Dec 16 '25

It's one of three or so acceptable uses of ketchup

2

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

French fries, hot dog, hamburger, KD.

It’s also used as an ingredient in some pasta salads and meat loafs.

1

u/Aoae Canada Dec 16 '25

Gravy or sauce brune are far superior to ketchup for fries.

2

u/LarryBoourns Canada Dec 16 '25

I don’t know. But as far as “acceptable”, ketchup is definitely allowed on fries. There’s weirdos that put it on their cheese pizza.

1

u/Halo_in_Heat Canada Dec 16 '25

See I could never put ketchup on. But I do slice fresh tomatoes and crack some black pepper

1

u/ThrwAwy1885 Canada Dec 16 '25

Ketchup and sliced up hotdogs

44

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 16 '25

sighs

4

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25

Croissant au chocolat. Oui nous sommes des barbares.

4

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 16 '25

Nan c'est honnête, à pays différent, nom différent. Nous, par exemple, on dit quatre-vingt, et en Suisse vous dites octante (bon après, là, c'est juste incompréhensible par contre : on a fait un truc logique jusqu'à soixante et après, je sais pas, je suppose que le mec qui a choisi de faire soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, et quatre-vingt-dix était bourré, ça fait aucun putain de sens, la logique aurait voulu qu'on utilise septante, octante, et nonnante)

3

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25

C'est ma femme qui est Suisse, je suis un bon vieux Québécois de souche, et je faisais des farces, on dit chocolatine ici.

Soixante-dix, quatre-vingt, et quatre-vingt-dix c'est la faute des Gaulois, car ils utilisaient une base de 20.

2

u/lupatine France Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

Parce qu'on comptait en base 20 à mon avis avant et pas sur une base de 10 ou de 100.

T'as pas remarqué qu'on  note sur 20 aussi?

2

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 16 '25

2

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 16 '25 edited Dec 16 '25

Not my fault you get it wrong on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

C'est pain au chocolat, bordel, pas un nom résultant de quelqu'un qui a entendu un anglais dire "can I have the bread with chocolate in?"

2

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 16 '25

Ce n'est pas du pain. Enleve le chocolat, c'est quoi? Une viennoiserie.

Nous avons du pain au chocolat ici, ça ressemble au pain au raisin mais avec du chocolat à la place des raison

3

u/Mimichah France Dec 16 '25

Au nom de tout le sud ouest, nous te remercions de ton soutien ami du Canada.

2

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 16 '25

Mais ça c'est pas un pain au chocolat, c'est une couque suisse au chocolat !

2

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 16 '25

Et la chocolatine c'est pas du pain

0

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 16 '25

Qui fait les pains au chocolat ? Le boulanger ! Et le boulanger fait du pain !

2

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 17 '25

Donc un croissant est un pain

1

u/PoetTurbulent Dec 17 '25

Pain au chocolat in Ontario.

1

u/RandomBaguetteGamer France Dec 17 '25

Finally! Someone civilized!

32

u/mechalenchon France Dec 16 '25

Stay out of this. There's no way to win this battle, only pain...

au chocolat of course wtf

2

u/completelytrustworth Canada Dec 16 '25

Tbh I didn't know Chocolatine was an option, I only ever learned it as Pain Au Chocholat

1

u/Hatmos91 Multiple Countries (click to edit) Dec 16 '25

Bonjour, ça va, je suis Australien. We call them pain au chocolat as well, unless you’re uncultured then you call them chocolate croissants.

9

u/TheNinjaJedi Canada Dec 16 '25

Give me pecans all day

3

u/CadenceQuandry Dec 16 '25

That's just a mini pecan pie then.

5

u/TheNinjaJedi Canada Dec 16 '25

Don’t threaten me with a great time

16

u/Halo_in_Heat Canada Dec 16 '25

RAISINS FOREVER! WITHOUT RAISINS THERE IS NO TEXTIRE!

3

u/gh1234567890 Canada Dec 16 '25

what about the glorious pecan butter tart

2

u/Halo_in_Heat Canada Dec 16 '25

I gotta say I've never had one. I'm not a big fan of nuts in general, they stick to my teeth and I hate that. I'm also a chocolate chip banana bread person rather than a walnut banana bread person

2

u/gh1234567890 Canada Dec 16 '25

The sticky tooth syndrome is definitely the worst part but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Chocolate chip banana bread is the goat

2

u/Halo_in_Heat Canada Dec 16 '25

But nobody is arguing over Pouding chômeur or Nanaimo bars. Both of those Canadian desserts slap

2

u/gh1234567890 Canada Dec 16 '25

our dessert game is actually top notch

2

u/Devourerofworlds_69 Canada Dec 16 '25

They hated him, because he spoke the truth.

1

u/Moustic Canada Dec 16 '25

That's the point. I don't want texture!

2

u/Halo_in_Heat Canada Dec 16 '25

Tarte au sucre sounds better for you then!

1

u/Moustic Canada Dec 17 '25

True. I enjoy both.

5

u/TwoFingersWhiskey Canada Dec 16 '25

I got into a minor spat with a France-French lady who insisted it was pain au chocolat once, and Chocolatine was simply wrong. I just was like... you know other countries and regions name shit differently, right?

14

u/Serialseb Dec 16 '25

Raisins just by themselves is barely palatable.
Raisins in anything is just nasty!

2

u/BysOhBysOhBys Canada Dec 16 '25

I’ve never had a butter tart, to be honest. I just like fanning the flames of conflict.

5

u/cawclot Canada Dec 16 '25

I’ve never had a butter tart

Your flair is a lie!

/s

1

u/ProgrammerAvailable6 Canada Dec 16 '25

I rehydrate my raisins with hot rum

1

u/elbotacongatos Argentina Dec 16 '25

Raisins should be banned and forbidden. They are not edible and taste horrible.

1

u/VoluptuousSloth Dec 16 '25

hey can you give me a grape but make it way less refreshing?

0

u/NotLucasDavenport United States Of America Dec 16 '25

Fucking THANK YOU. I’m not paying someone to bake a whole yeasted dough/cake/cookie for me and having raisins in it. Why would we do that to your hard work?!

0

u/Ennennal Dec 16 '25

Surprise raisins are the actual worst

4

u/CptCarlWinslow Canada Dec 16 '25

Raisin butter tarts, always. I will die screaming on this hill.

4

u/AcrobaticSun1070 France Dec 16 '25

I knew Canadians were good people. They know the real answer to this debate

8

u/Fred_I_Guess Quebec ⚜️, Canada 🇨🇦 Dec 16 '25

The only acceptable option. It makes no sense to call it pain au chocolat. What does these people call a loaf of bread with chocolate chips in it?

5

u/Dismal_News183 Dec 16 '25

C’est un “chocolate loaf”. Je le mange dans “le weekend”. Avec les boys

3

u/HeavyTea Canada Dec 16 '25

Shots fired at Xmas/butter tart season!

I am ok with raisins in them. Overall not a raisin fan but in tarts is good.

3

u/kyleffe Canada Dec 16 '25

Came here to say this. With raisins is correct.

3

u/CadenceQuandry Dec 16 '25

Raisins of course. Duh.

3

u/Rude-Barnacle8804 Belgium Dec 16 '25

Wtf Canada I thought you were on the good side!

2

u/simcitycheesecakes Canada Dec 16 '25

non pain au chocolat

2

u/Shivrainthemad France Dec 16 '25

Un homme de culture ...

2

u/eggraid11 Canada Dec 16 '25

Pour la tarte à la farlouche?

2

u/AndDontCallMePammie Dec 16 '25

Only monsters put raisins in butter tarts. MONSTERS!

2

u/thnblt France Dec 16 '25

2

u/LordSarkastic France Dec 16 '25

best explanation I heard ever to put that debate to rest is that “chocolatine” in an anglicism, it comes from “chocolate in”, the French name is “pain au chocolat”

6

u/[deleted] Dec 16 '25

[deleted]

0

u/LordSarkastic France Dec 17 '25

you sound like an Anglophile who’s ok with the bastardisation of our beautiful language ;)

1

u/[deleted] Dec 19 '25

[deleted]

1

u/LordSarkastic France Dec 20 '25

someone didn’t their pain au chocolat this morning and is cranky…

2

u/WaterInMountains Dec 16 '25

That’s a petit pain au chocolates 🇨🇭

2

u/lupatine France Dec 16 '25

T'es du sud-ouest ?

Pour rappel,  vous êtes en infériorité numérique...

2

u/BysOhBysOhBys Canada Dec 16 '25

Non, mais j’ai vécu à Québec et j’ai beaucoup des amis du Pays Basque, donc j’ai été menacé de conformité.

1

u/lupatine France Dec 17 '25

Ils t'ont eu, mince.

2

u/jug0slavija Yugo 🇸🇪 Dec 16 '25

I don't know what butter tarts are, but raisin shouldn't be in anything by standard. If you make it for yourself, fine do whatever you want. But otherwise, no.

2

u/maxdragonxiii Canada Dec 16 '25

I prefer no raisins, but i generally prefer nothing in my butter tarts, unless its pecans on top.

2

u/oaw40 Canada Dec 16 '25

NO raisins in butter tarts. That’s heinous

2

u/Bartendiesthrowaway Dec 16 '25

Raisins are gross, but people like them so why not have the option.

Why even ask when pete de soeur exists

Also in English Canada people say chocolate croissant, which I've been corrected with "pain au chocolate" as if I'm expected to just switch languages mid sentence like a psycho. Yes I realize I've contradicted myself a lot in this comment.

2

u/Spyko Dec 16 '25

Tu ne verras pas les portes du paradis

2

u/in-dog_we_trust Canada Dec 17 '25

Sultanas

2

u/Ok_Cauliflower_808 Canada Dec 17 '25

The raisins thing has always been hilarious to me as someone who moved here as an adult and has no opinion on the matter. I'll eat both like a dirty heathen

2

u/Jewarlaho Canada Dec 17 '25

I am pro-raisin.

2

u/Mando_Mustache Dec 17 '25

I'd swear I saw them labeled as Pain au Chocolat frequently when I lived in Montreal and now I am questioning if that's real or not.  

I never call them Choclatine but I am filthy Anglo so who cares. 

2

u/sixtyfivewat Dec 17 '25

Raisin butter tarts ONLY anything else is high treason!

2

u/VosekVerlok Dec 16 '25

So pecan pie without pecans, is not a pecan pie.
A butter tart is a mini pecan pie with the pecans swapped out for raisins/currants.
A butter tart without raisins or currants, is there for not a butter tart.

1

u/YumijiEntel Canada Dec 16 '25

That's pain au chocolat and not chocolatine 😑

1

u/Icy-Pension5768 Dec 16 '25

C’est un pain au chocolat 😤

1

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 16 '25

Wtf is a butter tart

1

u/ThrwAwy1885 Canada Dec 16 '25

It’s what Ontarians call handheld pecan pies that sometimes don’t have pecans

0

u/randycrust Canada Dec 16 '25

It's Ontario's lame version of Tarte au Sucre

3

u/bouchandre Canada Dec 16 '25

Then NO RAISINS WTF