Beaver tails
 

What are they? Is their origins from around the Ottawa area?

They're a sort of pastry thing, similar to a cinnamon Danish, I guess would be the best way to describe them. Not anything to go out of your way for. I don't know where they originated but I've seen them in Toronto; there was a shop in the Beaches area that used to sell them but I think it might have closed down. You see them at outdoor fairs and fast food areas in malls, mostly.

Ive had them at the Baysward market in Ottawa. Basically a slab of flaky fried dough covered with cinnamon, sugar, and lemon syrup. Not exactly health food, but fun.

They're a deep fried pastry. Here is a website on them:

http://tinyurl.com/4j786d

In Ottawa, I've always seen them in their "common" state with cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice, but in Halifax, I ran into the company above and tried their "triple trip". It's a bit over the top and much better if you can share one.

Toed - how was your holiday in the Maritimes?

The "common" version of the Beavertail (cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice) is actually called the "Killaloe Sunrise" after the small town up the Ottawa Valley where Grant Hooker first started selling these delights. Of course he didn't invent the concept of a deep fried dough pastry nor even the name, but did trademark the name for his product. Bill Casseleman shed some light on the origins of the word and the pastry here:

http://www.billcasselman.com/canadia...s/cfw_five.htm

The stand in the Byward Market is still going strong, but the best place to eat a Beavertail is on the Canal after skating several kilometers.

BTW, I really don't think it is at all like a cinnamon Danish. The Beavertail is really sui generis.

They are called '<i>Whale's Tails</i>' here in BC-not quite as common as back east.

They also have stands in Tobermory, in Blue Mountain Village and I recently saw them at the Toronto Zoo (and I'm sure they're lots of other places I haven't visited). There are different topping choices, I like the caramel (butterscotch?) and nuts (pecans?). To me they're kinda like a freshly fried flat donut with toppings - so hot and fresh and obviously loaded with calories - fat and flour and sugar. But they're tasty and I have indulged on rare occasions.

When I first heard about them, I was told they were basically an &quot;Indian flat bread&quot; with cinnamon, sugar and lemon juice.

According to Wikipedia, they are also known as Elephant Ears. Apparently, any big flat animal body part is an appropriate name... :-d

Sally - it was great. I should have a trip report in the next few weeks.

Looking forward to it, Toes.

Thanks all! Coming fr Australia, I thought they were somethg like ox tails! ha ha!

Laverendrye, I stand corrected. It's been a while since I've eaten a beaver tail OR a cinnamon Danish. I guess I sort of clumped them into a kind of anonymous pastry category!

They taste exactly like Mexican churros, except they're flat, not breadstick-shaped. ;)

They don't have that &quot;crunchy&quot; texture when you first bite into them, but I'd say a churro is the closest to their taste also.

I've had a beaver tail in Vancouver BC and it was pretty much the same thing that I had in Portland, OR only here it's called an elephant ear. It's a sort of round or oval yeast dough that's fried and covered with sugar and cinnamon.