When we write about a delicacy in a faraway land and wish there was some way it could magically appear before us, we don't really think it'll happen. But then it does.
Fried maple leaves, known as momiji tempura in Japan, have appeared on a menu in Toronto and we're hoping it just keeps spreading across Canada.
Canoe, consistently rated as one of the city's best restaurants, is currently offering fried maple leaves as part of its Taste Ontario menu, according to the Toronto Star.
The leaves were, until now, a treat found in the Osaka region, and while the Japanese method tends to involve putting the leaves in a salt barrel for a year before placing them in a deep fryer, Canoe's chef John Horne instead decided to pickle the foliage with a variety of spices, then fry them before pairing them with a dish consisting of beets, amaranth and a mulled wine vinaigrette.
So they're not caked in batter the way they appear to be in Japan, but we think it's still making pretty great use of the season's bounty, so to speak.
Would you try out the dish?
ALSO ON HUFFPOST: