IF YOU ARE NOT CANADIAN, YOU ARE MISSING OUT

These are the best foods from Canada that other countries don't seem to have. You are seriously missing out because they are fantastic

                          

• Montreal smoked meat- Our northern neighbors' answer to pastrami, Montreal-style smoked meat differs from Katz's signature meat in a number of ways. It's all brisket, gets marinated for much longer, has way more peppercorn and way less sugar, and is significantly thinner than its beefy counterpart. Those who eat it all the time are just as fat as us, though.

• BeaverTails- Lots of Canucks whip up their own homemade versions, but the BeaverTail is the eponymous dessert from BeaverTails Pastry, a Canadian institution since 1978. The fried dough is stretched to look like the bucktoothed rodent's tail and then topped with magical fixings like Nutella, caramel, bananas, M&M's, crushed Oreos, and more.

• Bloody Caesars- This warped cousin of the Bloody Mary ditches tomato juice for a crucial ingredient: Clamato, a blend of tomato and clam juices produced by Mott's. Legend has it that when the cocktail's inventor, Walter Chell, first served the drink as a "Caesar", his British customer exclaimed, "That's a bloody good Caesar!", as British people are wont to do. The name stuck.

• Nanaimo Bars- Taking their name from the city in British Columbia, these no-bake bars are probably what Bryan Adams was writing all those tender love ballads about. They consist of three layers: a crunchy base that might feature graham cracker crumbs and chopped nuts, a custardy middle part, and a chocolate top. Some people even get crazy with the icing in the middle, adding mint, mocha, or maple mousse peanut butter flavors.

• Butter tarts- Once you've ruined half your teeth on Nanaimo bars and BeaverTails, launch an attack on your pancreas with another signature Canadian dessert, the butter tart. This pastry has a flaky exterior and a sugary filling that can skew either gooey or semi-solid, depending on the chef's preference. Usually they have raisins, but walnuts or pecans are also fair game.

• Poutines- Sometimes bastardized as disco fries by us Yankees, poutine is the star attraction of Canadian cuisine. Even if you can't pronounce "Wayne Gretzky", you know and love these gravy-and-cheese-curd-topped fries.

• Ketchup chips- By far the most puzzling pick of the bunch, ketchup chips enjoy a remarkable popularity in the Great White North. A ton of brands mass produce 'em, and whenever overly ambitious American chip barons try and fail to launch them stateside, the Canadians welcome the haul with open arms.

• Timbits- In Canada, Munchkins are just members of the Lollipop Guild, not the bite-sized donut holes from Dunkin' Donuts. They have Timbits instead, and they are of course made by Tim Hortons. Notable differences: more varied Timbit flavors like apple fritter and blueberry, plus many wager the Timbits are slightly larger.