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If you asked a Quebecois for something to eat that was traditional,
Poutine - pronounced poo-teen - is what they
would give you. Poutine consists of French fries, topped with
cheese curds and covered with thick, rich, meaty gravy. If
you can't stand your spoon up in this stuff, forget it.
Origins of Poutine
The origins of this coronary-inducing delight are of great
interest to Poutine lovers. Fernand Lachance, a Quebecois
restaurateur in Warwick, Quebec, made the culinary leap in
the 1950's. A patron asked for fries and cheese curds mixed
together at which Lachance exclaimed it would be a "Maudite
Poutine" - a damn mishmash. Despite his reservations,
Lachance decided to top the lot with gravy and sell it as
a new dish - poutine. In 1957 Lachance opened his new restaurant
"The Smiling Elf" and Poutine was top of the menu.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Debate still rages on as to the ingredients of authentic
poutine. Poutine connoisseurs will tell you that the cheese
curds must be of certain variety, the fries must be cooked
in a certain way, and the gravy is important too - preferably
from roast beef or duck. There are many variations on the
Poutine theme, including a spicy Italian version and galvuade
- Poutine with peas and chunks of chicken.
Recipe for Poutine
Poutine tastes best from a styrofoam box, eaten with a plastic
spoon, but if you insist on making it yourself, follow the
process below:
Ingredients:
French fries
Cheese Curds (Stilton, Mozzarella, and cheddar are all acceptable)
Gravy (the thicker the better)
Method:
Mix them all together and et voila!
Fat content:
Who cares?!
Where to get a bowl of the good stuff
Quebec is the Poutine motherland. If you are in Montreal,
look for a chain of fast-food restaurants called LaFleur.
Any Quebecois will tell you that the further you get from
Quebec the worse the Poutine gets but it's a staple food-stuff
all over Canada.
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