"Ottawa's hand-stretched fried dough, shaped like a beaver's tail, topped with cinnamon sugar or Nutella, became internationally famous when Obama queued for one in 2009."
About BeaverTails
Canada's iconic fried dough: whole-wheat dough stretched by hand into the shape of a beaver's tail, deep-fried and topped with cinnamon sugar, Nutella, or maple butter; invented on the Rideau Canal in 1978; the Obama visit to the Ottawa stall in 2009 made it internationally famous.
BeaverTails, a staple of Canada's cuisine
The Dough
BeaverTails are Ottawa's most recognisable treat: whole-wheat dough hand-stretched into the long, flat oval of a beaver's tail, deep-fried to a blistered gold and a chewy interior, then topped while hot with cinnamon sugar, Nutella, apple cinnamon or maple butter. The brand began in 1978 and built its name on the Rideau Canal. The shape is the whole gimmick, and it works.
The Obama Effect
When President Obama visited Ottawa in 2009 and stopped at the canal-side BeaverTails stand, the queues that followed stretched for days. The flavour he chose, cinnamon sugar, remains the most popular order. The moment cemented the snack's place as a national symbol rather than just a local one.
Fried to Order
The pleasure is in the contrast: a thin, crisp, blistered surface against a soft, bready inside, all of it warm and dusted or smeared with something sweet. The dough is stretched and fried fresh, which is why a tail from a busy stand beats one that has sat under a lamp. Cinnamon sugar is the classic, the simplest topping and the one that lets the fried dough speak.
A Winter Ritual
BeaverTails are tied to the Ottawa winter as few foods are to a season and a place. The Rideau Canal freezes into one of the world's largest skating rinks, and eating a hot tail mid-skate, in full snow gear, is both faintly ridiculous and entirely right. It is festival and Winterlude food, best in the cold it was made for.
What to Expect
The BeaverTail arrives hot from the Rideau Canal stand in winter, when the frozen canal becomes a long skating rink, the cinnamon sugar still crackling on the surface. The fried dough is crisp at the edges and chewy within, warm against the cold air. Eaten on skates with bare fingers, it is messy, sweet and exactly suited to the setting.
Why Try It
BeaverTails are specific to the Ottawa winter experience in a way that few foods are specific to a time and place. Eating one on a frozen canal in February, in full snow gear, is both ridiculous and exactly right.
✦ Photo Gallery
Insider Tips
The Rideau Canal in winter is the correct context, skating and eating is the intended experience.
Cinnamon sugar is the best topping. Nutella is fine but less interesting.
The dough should be fresh-fried. Avoid stands where they're sitting under a heat lamp.
