Persian

A Persian is an oval-shaped, cinnamon-bun-like sweet roll with a sweet, pink icing made of either raspberries or strawberries. More recently other color icings have been used as well, however the vast majority still use the pink icing. It is credited to have originated at Bennett's Bakery and remains particular to the former city of Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada. The city is now known as Thunder Bay after its amalgamation with Fort William in 1970. It is sometimes confused with a Pershing or a Persian bun which are regional items in parts of the United States but are a completely different baked good made with doughnut batter as opposed to being a sweet roll.

Hot Fried with butter is an alternate, sweeter way to enjoy the Persian. This is prepared by splitting the Persian (similar to how one would cut a bagel). Butter is generously applied and set in a frying pan. The icing is shared to cover the top of both pieces being fried and is allowed to melt and crystallize while the buttered side is fried to golden brown. It is served hot.