I spent all of my middle school and high school years up in Canada, and although we lived very close to the American border, there were still so many differences. Much of these revolved around food: the taste, the products and local favorites. There are a ton of uniquely Canadian treats out there, but here, I’ll go through five favorites.
1. Maple Syrup
Unless you are from Vermont, most likely some of the best maple syrup you can get is from Canada. The duty free shops are full of it, and if you prefer real syrup over supermarket corn syrup, looking for a Canadian label is your best bet.
Photo by Justin Schuble
2. Poutine
A discussion on Canadian food would be incomplete without mentioning poutine. The dish consists of fries topped with cheese curds and covered in gravy. Many restaurants have it on the menu, but there are also fast food joints that specialize solely in poutine, along with numerous creative variations (such as poutine with Montreal smoked meat or with a mushroom studded gravy).
Photo courtesy of Peter Dutton
3. Beaver Tails
Before you make a face of disgust, let me tell you beaver tails have absolutely no meat, let alone beaver, in them. They’re made of pillowy, warm, deep-fried batter that is merely in the shape (read: oval) of a beaver’s tail. The batter is similar to funnel cake, but since it’s one large, flat piece, it’s more customizable. The classic beaver tail has butter and cinnamon sugar, but my favorite has Nutella and Reese’s Pieces.
Photo courtesy of Norio NAKAYAMA
4. Coffee Crisp
Coffee Crisp is one of the chocolate bars that you cannot get in the United States (along with Caramilk and CrispyCrunch). It’s essentially a chunky KitKat bar with a strong coffee flavor along with the wafers and chocolate. They’re ridiculously good, and since they contain coffee, it’s totally valid to eat one with breakfast.
Photo by Justin Schuble
5. Tim Horton’s anything
Anyone who visits Canada cannot miss the multitude of Tim Horton’s (aka Timmy’s) that are everywhere. This large chain specializes in coffee and donuts, much like our US version, Dunkin Donuts. It is fast, cheap and convenient – but most importantly, everything on the menu tastes great. For those of you who want to try some Northern flavor but can’t make the trip, they’ve expanded to New York!
Photo by Justin Schuble
Now who’s up for a Timmy’s run, eh?