Nanaimo bars are superstars — who knew? / Decadent Canadian treats have a big following

In Nanaimo bars are superstars — who knew the San Francisco Chronicle presents dramatic evidence of the impact of globalization.

Some requests seem like a long shot but we give them a try anyway. That’s what we thought about a recent message seeking a recipe for Nanaimo Bars. We were wrong — very wrong. By e-mail and snail mail recipes and anecdotes started pouring in almost as soon as The Exchange ran two weeks ago. It seems that this cookie created in the pretty port city that is the gateway — by ferry or air — to Vancouver Island off the west coast of British Columbia has become a Canadian icon. We received about four dozen recipes. Not bad for a long shot. All the recipes from various sources are similar though some involve uncooked eggs which some cooks don’t like to use. So we are going with the recipe from a Canadian cookbook. The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook – Random House, which Judith Miller copied for The Exchange. Thanks to her and all the other contributors — including one who copied a recipe printed on a souvenir dish towel.

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