Gold Rush, Sourdough, and a Whole Lotta Butter: Culinary Time Travel in Yukon

#30CanadianFoods: An old-school sourdough gives rise to golden flapjacks & bread

© Parks Canada

Welcome to Yukon, where history has a frosty edge and the food has a serious legacy.

We’re kicking off the culinary time travel leg of the #30CanadianFoods series, where we’re pairing historical sites with heritage recipes to taste our way across the country. If you’ve been following along, we’ve already zigzagged from Newfoundland to Nunavut.

Now we’re heading back—this time into the past.

👉 Check out the full #30CanadianFoods series here.

Yukon’s history is steeped in grit, gold, and gumption. This is the land of the Klondike Gold Rush, of daring adventurers and dog sleds, of long winters and even longer tales. Lucky for us, many of those tales come with a side of sourdough.

A Bite of Yukon’s Past

Long before the gold-seekers arrived, Yukon was home to First Nations peoples whose cultures, languages, and foodways remain vital today. The territory’s modern identity is shaped by their deep-rooted presence and the frenzied arrival of tens of thousands of prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Towns sprang up almost overnight—some vanished just as fast—but places like Dawson City remain living relics of that boomtown past.

And in the heart of it all? Sourdough. A staple, a survival strategy, and now, a legacy.

Step into History: Klondike National Historic Sites

In Dawson City, the Klondike National Historic Sites preserve not just buildings, but a way of life. Here, the streets still tell stories—from the dance halls and saloons to the cabins and trading posts. Parks Canada maintains several sites in the area, offering a chance to step into the boots of a miner, a shopkeeper, or a performer in a gold rush town that once pulsed with 40,000 souls.

Expect wooden boardwalks, restored heritage buildings, and maybe even a guide in period costume ready to explain what exactly a "sourdough" meant back then (hint: it was both a leavening agent and a badge of honour).

Visitors rave about how immersive the experience is—many even call it the highlight of their Yukon trip. It's not a theme park—it’s the real deal.

Hit the Trail: Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site

Ever wanted to walk in the footsteps of desperate gold-seekers dragging 100 lbs of gear up a mountain in winter? Of course you haven’t. But you can hike the Chilkoot Trail—the gateway to the Klondike and one of the most storied routes in Canadian history.

This 53-km trail stretches from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett, BC, cutting through Yukon, and follows the exact route stampeders used in the late 1890s. The terrain is rugged, the scenery is breathtaking, and the ghosts of history walk with you every step of the way.

Today, the Chilkoot is a bucket-list trek for hikers and history nerds alike. Interpretive signs and historical remnants—think old boots, scales, and tin cups—dot the path, making it feel like a living museum.

Oh, and those sourdough starters? Some of them made this exact journey in battered flour sacks.

Something Weird, Wild, and Wonderfully Canadian

Did you know that in Yukon, “sourdough” isn’t just bread? It’s also a nickname for someone who’s overwintered in the territory—someone tough, seasoned, and full of stories (and probably flapjacks).

In fact, there are sourdough starters in Dawson today said to be descended from the original ones that crossed the Chilkoot Trail. That’s right—you could be baking bread with the same microbial culture that helped feed a miner in 1898.

Only in Canada, folks.

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The Recipes: Wild Yeast, Real Heat

© Parks Canada

Chilkoot Trail Sourdough Starter & Flapjacks

This Parks Canada recipe brings history to your kitchen. Start a batch of wild-inspired sourdough and whip up golden, delicate flapjacks that taste like they came straight off a prospector’s griddle.

Ingredients

Starter

• 1½ cups | 375 ml warm water

• 1 package active yeast

• 1½ cups | 375 ml all-purpose or whole wheat flour

Flapjacks

• 1 batch Chilkoot Trail sourdough starter

• 2 eggs, well beaten

• 2 tbsp | 30 ml oil or melted butter

• ¼ to ½ cup | 60 to 125 ml milk

• 1 tsp | 5 ml salt

• 1 tsp | 5 ml baking soda

• 2 tbsp | 30 ml sugar

Directions

Starter

• Put warm water into a bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top and stir in. Wait 5 minutes or until bubbling. Gradually mix in flour. Pour into a clean glass jar or crock and cover lightly. Set in a warm place for 24 hours. For a more developed flavour, allow to bubble energetically for 72 hours.

Flapjacks

• Lightly combine the starter, beaten eggs, oil and enough milk to make a batter as thin or as thick as you like. Sift together the salt, soda and sugar and fold gently into batter. Let rest for 15 minutes.

• Preheat a large, heavy skillet. Lightly grease the skillet with butter or oil. Drop the batter by spoonfuls, flipping when the batter begins to bubble.

© Parks Canada

Dawson City Sourdough Bread

This slow-rise bread from Parks Canada kitchen smells like heaven and tastes like history. It’s buttery, tangy, and well worth the day it takes to make. Bonus: you’ll feel like a culinary gold miner when your starter bubbles up.

Ingredients

Starter

• Flour

• Blood-warm water (water at about body temperature; like a bottle for a baby)

Bread

• 4 cups | 900 g flour

• ¼ cup sugar | 100 g

• 1 tsp | 5 g salt

• 2 cups | 500 ml Dawson City sourdough starter

• 1 egg (optional)

• 3-4 tsp | 15-20 ml oil or melted lard

• 2-2½ cups | 500-625 ml blood-warm water

• an additional 4 cups | 400 g flour

Directions

Starter

• Mix equal amounts flour and blood-warm water in a container larger enough for the mixture to double. The container should be glass or crockery. Do not screw the lid on tight; the gases will need to escape. (A plastic container could also be used, just don’t fit the lid on tight.)

• Place the container in a warm spot for 2 or 3 days, until it has started to bubble and become smooth. Yes, you’re basically waiting for it to go bad! A layer of alcohol - yes, alcohol - will develop on top; stir this down before using. The more potent your sourdough, the more alcohol you’ll get, so be proud: you are making yeast, and it will smell like it! If it grows green mould, you can scoop it out or stir it in, it won’t hurt you. However, if it turns orange, throw it away and start over.

• Replenish your starter each time you use it, or once a week. Remember: it is a living thing! You have to feed it regularly. If you don’t use it, take out one cupful and replace with ½ cup of flour and ½ cup of water.

• Keep the starter on a warm shelf. If you are not going to use it, store it in the fridge, but remove it a day before you want to use it so it will become active again. When you use your sourdough, replace what you took out with ½ cup of blood-warm water and ½ cup of flour.

Bread

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre, and add the sourdough starter, egg, oil and warm water. Stir together and add more water or flour as necessary to form a pancake batter-like consistency. Cover with greased waxed paper and a towel and set in a warm place to rise.

• When doubled and all bubbly, mix in enough flour (about 4 cups) to enable it to be kneaded into a smooth elastic ball. Let this rise again until doubled, about 4 hours, and then punch down and shape into loaves. Let this rise again until doubled and then bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 10 minutes and then turn the oven down to 300°F (150°C) and let bake 30-40 minutes longer until the loaves sound hollow when you knock on them. Brush the loaves with butter.

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Final Crumb

Yukon’s history isn’t frozen in time—it’s alive in the smells of sourdough, the creak of wooden floorboards, the chill in the mountain air. Whether you visit Dawson or hike the Chilkoot, you’re stepping into stories. And thanks to these heritage recipes, you can taste them too.

So go ahead—start a sourdough, fire up a skillet, and raise a flapjack to the folks who carved life out of the cold.

We’ve got more to come so follow on bsky to see where and when #30CanadianFoods ends up next. There's a good chance there will be more bread.

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