Researching this story -- really, these kids' questions -- gave me a newfound appreciation for the beaver. I've always just taken them for granted; there's a beaver dam just a few hundred yards from my house and I'd never thought about how amazing their work really is.
Ah BeaverTails, an Ottawa Valley tradition. But as far as I know, they are named that way for the shape. Only a couple of flavors have vanilla which could be based on Castoreum I suppose but the website certainly doesn't highlight that. https://beavertails.com/products/ My favorite is the Killaloe Sunrise (cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice). Worth freezing your fingers for if you don't want to get your mitts sticky after a morning ski or a long skate on the Canal.
I think you're right, Wally -- it doesn't look like those are flavored with the castoreum/vanilla. I think it was the "castor" in the name that threw me, but it actually means "beaver" and not the actual oil. I've never had one -- the flat tail-like cookies -- but they do look delicious!
True story! About 30 years ago my wife and I were up at the Oregon Zoo which is perched up in the West Hills above downtown PDX. At that time the zoo had a small colony of beavers with a glass wall where you could see them swimming in murky green water if your timing was right.. a big tourist attraction, the Zoo, with lots of out-of-towners wandering around the various enclosures.... Anyway I have an indelible memory of a young boy and his mother at the beaver pool and the lad exclaiming in a very strong Brooklyn accent, "Gee maw, look at duh bee-vuh!
True story. After reading this post and learning about 60 pound mega- beavers I felt like saying the same thing!
But I didn't. Maybe such restraint is why she still tolerates me!
What a fascinating species, real ecological engineers. I can't think of anything in New Zealand which does anything on this scale.
Researching this story -- really, these kids' questions -- gave me a newfound appreciation for the beaver. I've always just taken them for granted; there's a beaver dam just a few hundred yards from my house and I'd never thought about how amazing their work really is.
Ah BeaverTails, an Ottawa Valley tradition. But as far as I know, they are named that way for the shape. Only a couple of flavors have vanilla which could be based on Castoreum I suppose but the website certainly doesn't highlight that. https://beavertails.com/products/ My favorite is the Killaloe Sunrise (cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice). Worth freezing your fingers for if you don't want to get your mitts sticky after a morning ski or a long skate on the Canal.
I think you're right, Wally -- it doesn't look like those are flavored with the castoreum/vanilla. I think it was the "castor" in the name that threw me, but it actually means "beaver" and not the actual oil. I've never had one -- the flat tail-like cookies -- but they do look delicious!
True story! About 30 years ago my wife and I were up at the Oregon Zoo which is perched up in the West Hills above downtown PDX. At that time the zoo had a small colony of beavers with a glass wall where you could see them swimming in murky green water if your timing was right.. a big tourist attraction, the Zoo, with lots of out-of-towners wandering around the various enclosures.... Anyway I have an indelible memory of a young boy and his mother at the beaver pool and the lad exclaiming in a very strong Brooklyn accent, "Gee maw, look at duh bee-vuh!
True story. After reading this post and learning about 60 pound mega- beavers I felt like saying the same thing!
But I didn't. Maybe such restraint is why she still tolerates me!
"she" being my wife, not the beaver in question,!
Eeeew! I'm swearing off my vanilla milkshakes!