Canadian cuisine is largely the same as American cuisine. We are big fans of fast food, and eat just as many burgers and fries as our southern neighbors. Since Canada is a multi-ethnic country, there is also a fast array of other culinary options, such as Chinese, Greek, Mexican, Italian, etc.

Despite all this, there are still a few distinct Canadian treats that are not quite so well known outside of the country.

Real Nanaimo Bars are much slopier looking than this.

Nanaimo Bars are a very distinct Canadian treat. They're small, rectangular, cookie-like things with a layer of biscuit, covered by a layer of thick cream, covered by a layer of flat chocolate. They're really good, but very sweet, and very fatty.

Butter tarts are another sweet Canadian pastry. They're kinda hard to describe.... it's like, you have a tart shell, and it's filled with this sweet buttery goo, and a few raisins. They're then baked, and the butter mush becomes kinda brownish and crusty on the top, but gooey inside. They're very yummy, as well.

Pancakes are not a distinctly Canadian food, but they remain an important symbol of Canada. Well, maybe it's not so much the pancakes as the maple syrup we put on them. Canada has a lot of Maple trees, and hence, we also have a lot of maple syrup. Most of the world's maple syrup is exported from Canada, and a lot of stores sell it in fancy decorative bottles designed to appeal to tourists. Whenever my family meets a tourist, we always give them maple syrup as a gift. Maple flavored stuff is equally popular in Canada. There are maple-flavored cookies, chocolates, candies, and breads. All are downright maple-licious.

Beaver tails, as I explained earlier, are not actually made out of Beaver, but rather a chewy flat bread. It's based on an Indian dish called Bannock Bread, except we douse our version in a lot more sugar and cinnamon.

If you live on the West Coast, smoked salmon is a very popular local dish. Inspired by ancient Indian traditions, the salmon meat is smoked on a big wood-burning stove, and a bunch of herbs and spices are added. It is then left out to air dry, often for several days, until it is tough and chewy. It can be eaten in a variety of different ways, as part of a meal or on its own. Like all the other foods, it too has been souvenir-ized, and is often sold in decorative wooden boxes with Native artwork on the lid.

Poutine. Doesn't it look incredibly appetizing?

Poutine is a dish that I do not personally care for, but I understand is extremely popular in Quebec. Basically, you take some French fries and drench them in a sea of gravy and cheese curds. It tastes as good as it sounds. There was a time when it was a fairly obscure thing, but now they frequently sell it at McDonalds and A&W and all sorts of other fast food places.

If Poutine is not extreme enough for you, in Newfoundland they take the concept of "crap on fries" to the next level, with what we non-Newfies call Newfoundland Fries. Along with cheese and gravy, Newfoundland fries are also covered with turkey stuffing and peas.

A lot of Americans that I meet ask me about Canada's infamous Milk in a Bag program. Apparently, it is somewhat common stereotype about Canada. It works like this: If you want to use a pitcher to pour your milk, instead of pouring it straight from the jug, the Canadian Dairy sells these weird plastic bags that are full of milk. The idea is, when you get home, you can open the bag and pour it straight into the pitcher, thus saving a lot of needless garbage. I remember when I was young we used to buy bagged milk, but I don't see it for sale much anymore. I understand it is still going strong in Ontario, however.

Potato chips are popular in Canada, like everywhere else. A uniquely Canadian twist are the ever-popular ketchup-flavored chips, which are featured alongside the classics such as salt-and-vinegar, barbeque, pickle, and "all-dressed" (which despite the name is basically just a combination of salt-and-vinegar and barbeque).

Chocolate bars are also quite beloved, and there are a high number of famous Canada-only brands. Coffee Crisp seems to be the most popular, it's a flaky, coffee-flavored wafer coated in milk chocolate. Other hits include:

Cherry Blossom- chocolate with cherry goo, coconut, and peanuts inside
Aero- pure milk chocolate full of air bubbles, making it light and flaky
Big Turk- giant gummie bar coated in chocolate
Smarties- a rip-off of M&M's

I would say Moslon is the more popular brand, but that might just be because it's marketed towards my demographic.

Canadians enjoy their beer, and will often brag that Canadian beer is much stronger than American beer. This is true, but Canada and America measure alcohol products in different ways, so in the end, Canadian beer is only slightly "stronger" than the stuff found in the States. There are two main brands of beer in Canada- Molson and Labatt. Labatt projects an older, more sophisticated image, while Moslon is the hip, party beer. Labatt ads usually show people camping in Canada's rugged wilderness, while Moslon ads usually promote their slogan "I am Canadian" with wacky skits that make fun of Americans (more on this later). In recent years, Canadian beer companies have become increasingly nationalistic, and their commercials regularly lecture us on "what it means to be Canadian." They also host a lot of Canada Day celebrations, and pay for a lot of Canadian concerts. Along with these two big national corporations, many provinces are also home to quaint local breweries that brew special regional beers.

Most Tim Hortons are open 24/7

Canada has a lot of unique restaurant chains, but most are provincial, and thus not widely known across Canada. The notable exception to this is Tim Hortons. Named after a former Toronto Maple Leafs hockey star, Tim Hortons is an extremely popular chain of donut shops with branches all over Canada. They sell a wide variety of donuts and baked goods, as well as coffee, sandwiches and soups. They also sell Timbits, which are just donut holes with a fancy name. Like McDonalds, Tim Hortons often has gimmicky promotions where you can win lots of crap. Their most famous promotion is the Roll up the Rim to Win contests, in which you are encouraged to roll up the rim of your paper coffee cup to see if any hidden "you won" messages are concealed within. Tim Hortons used to be a proud Canadian institution, but a few years ago it was bought by the Wendy's hamburger chain. This hasn't really changed anything, but is nevertheless a bit of a sore spot with some Canadians.