Alberta Beef: Premium beef from Alberta cattle raised on prairie grasses. Known for exceptional marbling and flavor. AAA and Prime grades are highest quality.

Arctic Char: Cold-water fish related to salmon and trout, found in northern Canadian waters. Pink-orange flesh with delicate flavor.

Bannock: Indigenous fried bread, traditionally cooked over open fire. Simple dough of flour, water, fat, and leavening. Served plain or with jam, honey, or savory toppings.

BeaverTails: Fried dough pastry shaped like beaver tail, topped with cinnamon sugar, Nutella, or maple butter. Ottawa specialty invented 1978.

Butter Tarts: Ontario dessert of butter, sugar, syrup, and eggs in pastry shell. Debate over raisins/pecans inclusion is fierce.

Cabane à Sucre: Quebec sugar shack where maple sap is boiled to syrup. Seasonal restaurants serve traditional meals during sugaring season.

Cretons: Quebec pork spread similar to pâté. Spiced ground pork served cold on toast for breakfast.

Donair: Halifax specialty featuring spiced meat (beef, lamb), sweet sauce, tomatoes, onions in pita. Created by Greek immigrants 1970s.

Dulse: Edible seaweed from Atlantic coast. Dried and eaten as snack or added to dishes. High in minerals, distinctive salty flavor.

Fiddleheads: Young ostrich fern fronds, springtime delicacy in New Brunswick. Must be cooked properly to remove toxins. Taste similar to asparagus.

Fricot: Acadian chicken stew with dumplings. Traditional Maritime comfort food.

Ice Wine: Sweet dessert wine from grapes frozen on vine. Canada produces 80% of world supply from Ontario and BC.

Jiggs Dinner: Newfoundland Sunday meal of salt beef, cabbage, potatoes, turnip, carrots, and pease pudding. Boiled together in one pot.

Maple Syrup: Sap from sugar maple trees boiled to concentrate. Quebec produces 71% of world supply. Graded by color and flavor.

Montreal Bagel: Wood-fired, honey-sweetened, smaller and denser than New York style. Boiled before baking.

Montreal Smoked Meat: Beef brisket cured with spices, smoked, steamed. Similar to pastrami but distinctly Canadian.

Nanaimo Bars: No-bake three-layer dessert: chocolate coconut base, custard center, chocolate top. Named after Nanaimo, BC.

Peameal Bacon: Back bacon rolled in cornmeal (originally ground peas). Toronto specialty served on Kaiser rolls.

Perogies: Ukrainian dumplings filled with potato, cheese, meat, or fruit. Boiled, then fried with onions. Prairie staple.

Poutine: Quebec dish of fries, cheese curds, gravy. Born in rural Quebec 1950s, now national icon with countless variations.

Rappie Pie: Acadian dish of grated potatoes with moisture removed, layered with meat or seafood. Nova Scotia specialty.

Saskatoon Berries: Purple berries native to prairies, sweet and nutty flavor. Used in pies, jams, and desserts.

Screech: Newfoundland rum, part of "screech-in" ceremony welcoming visitors.

Sugar Pie (Tarte au Sucre): Quebec dessert of brown sugar, cream, butter in pastry shell. Intensely sweet.

Tire sur la Neige: "Taffy on snow"—hot maple syrup poured on snow, rolled on stick when it hardens. Sugar shack tradition.

Tourtière: Quebec meat pie traditionally served at Christmas. Recipes vary by region—ground meat or cubed, various spices.

Toutons: Newfoundland fried bread dough served with molasses for breakfast.

Wild Rice: Aquatic grass seed, not true rice. Indigenous grain harvested from northern lakes. High protein, nutty flavor.