Tasty dollops of gooey dough dropped into hot oil, deep fried to golden deliciousness, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and served to you warm? That is the Beaver tail! It is said that every nationality has its own version of fried dough. New Orleans has beignets, Spain has churros, Italy has zeppole, Canada has, well, BeaverTails (Queues de Castor in French). A true Canadian culinary treat, they are batches of dough that are stretched by hand to resemble the tail of a beaver. Then these deliciously addictive, traditional whole-wheat pastries are deep-fried in canola oil and served piping hot, drizzled with butter and your choice of toppings.

Fun facts about beaver tails:

• The Barenaked Ladies change the lyrics of their song If I Had A Million Dollars to If I Had A Million BeaverTails during a music festival.
• A question about BeaverTails makes it into the Canadian version of Trivial Pursuit.
• “What is a BeaverTail?” is the answer to a Jeopardy question, the U.S.-television show hosted by Canadian-born Alex Trebek.
• During an interview with The Globe and Mail, Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams states that his most Canadian trait is his ability to differentiate a BeaverTail from a Tim Hortons Timbit. Now, that’s Canadian.
• BeaverTails uses 21.1 tons of chocolate hazelnut spread per year. That’s the equivalent weight of five elephants and 12 beavers.
• Since BeaverTails’ debut in 1978, enough BeaverTails have been sold to make a straight line of tails, end-to-end, from the BeaverTails store in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, to the store in Whistler, British Columbia.
• Since 1981 more than 8,000 young Canadians have worked at the BeaverTails operations in the Ottawa stores alone.
• Along with the 80 franchised operations spread across Canada, there are now two stores in Saudi Arabia and two stores in Colorado’s ski country, spreading Canadian pride around the world.