20 foods Canadians love: bacon over sex?

Canadians are a fun, quirky lot who have no problem laughing at themselves. So it would make sense that food reflects this national characteristic. It’s true, they do love their bacon and maple syrup–sometimes, together, but there’s much more to Canadian taste buds than that.

With that in mind, here are 20 Canadian foods worth a trip to the great white north.

20. Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads have antioxidant activity, are a source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and are high in iron and fiber. Tide Head, New Brunswick, is the “Fiddlehead Capital of the World.”

19. Kraft Dinner

Introduced to the world by James Lewis Kraft of Fort Erie, Ontario. In the words of The Barenaked Ladies: “If I had a million dollars, we wouldn’t have to eat Kraft Dinner, but we would eat Kraft Dinner – of course we would – we’d just eat more.” [Yes, we are talking about Kraft Mac & Cheese from a box.]

18. Poutine

French fries with cheese curds and a generous drenching of brown gravy. Originated in Quebec in the 1950s.

17. Lays Dill Pickle Chips

Chips and pickles — why not?

16. Butter Tarts

Sugar, butter, syrup, eggs, in a buttery pastry shell. What’s not to love about this?

15. Saskatchewan Lentils

Saskatchewan is the world’s largest exporter of green lentils. Huh!

14. Rappie Pie

A traditional Acadian dish made with shredded potatoes and dating back to the 1700s.

13. Blueberry Grunt

A blueberry dessert from Nova Scotia. Nothing to grunt about though. This is delicious.

12. Cod Cheeks and Tongues

From Newfoundland and it’s exactly what it sounds like.

11. Nanaimo Bars

From Nanaimo, British Columbia, comes a delicious sweet treat made with chocolate, vanilla custard, graham cracker crumbs, and coconut. No baking required.

10. Prairie Oysters

From the Prairies come nuggets of castrated bull, calve, or buffalo testicles. It’s an adventure in food.

9. Beavertails

Deep fried crispy dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. [Not what you thought, eh?]

8. Saskatoon Berries

Found in the Canadian Prairies, British Columbia, and Northern Canada. They are similar to blueberries, and considered one of the world’s “superfruits.”

7. Coffee Crisp

Crunchy wafers, milk chocolate, and a hint of coffee. As their slogan goes, it makes “a nice light snack.”

6. Mustard

Canada is the largest exporter and the second largest producer of mustard seed in the world. But who’s counting?

5. Tourtiere

A French Canadian traditional meat pie from Quebec, typically made around Christmas time, but can be enjoyed year round.

4. Bacon

43% of respondents in a Canadian study conducted by Maple Leaf Foods, admitted that they would chose bacon over sex.

3. Sugar Pie

Tarte au sucre, in French, is a sweet, sugary dessert found in Quebec made with a flour pie crust and filled with butter, flour, cream and, wait for it… maple syrup.

2. The Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie

It doesn’t hurt that handsome pitchman, Galen Weston, wants to have “edible conversations” with Canadian women across the country.

1. Timbits

Tim Horton doughnut holes turned into a one-biter.