Monday, May 15, 2017

Glorious Poutine

First off, it's pronounced  without the terminal 'e', so it's pou-TIN. I must admit, however, that I tend to pronounce it with the 'e' as in 'teen' because that's the way that I learned to say it before I supposedly knew better.

Secondly ya silly, old people, we have Google, and Google knows and tells all, so why are you asking me as you did in the previous post? Huh? ๐Ÿ˜€

But for those of you who need this poor Canadian gaffer to lead you into the glorious but arcane and esoteric promised land of poutine, here is Wikipedia's initial description:
Poutine (/puหหˆtiหn/; Quebec French: is a Canadian dish, originating in the province of Quebec, made with French fries and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy. This fast-food dish is typically found across Canada and in some places in the northern United States. In Canada it is sold in small "greasy spoon" type diners and pubs , as well as by roadside chip wagons  ...
There's much more on Wikipedia and elsewhere.

A few images.




Whatever you think of the appearance, I can assure you that it is pretty darn yummy.

I once heard an interview on the radio from a guy who claimed he invented it by requesting the ingredients be made for him at a diner in Quebec. Who knows whether it was true, but someone invented it in relatively recent history.

From Quebec, it has spread into Ontario, and I presume all other parts of Canada. I have even seen photos of poutine stands at USA fairs. but from the questions from the previous post, it can't have reached far beyond border states.

One doesn't eat it very often for rather obvious reasons, and it can be a pretty filling meal when one does decide to indulge. I think I have had it maybe only once or twice in the past decade, which is probably a good thing for my system if not my taste buds. ๐Ÿ˜…

Although the basic dish is as stated above — fries, cheese curds, and gravy — you can pretty much add whatever your little heart desires. Make it with chicken, lobster, shrimp, eggs, meatballs, and so on and so forth. You can even put it on pizza if you're so inclined although I can't imagine that combination.

Personally, I would stick with the basic dish, but chacun ร  son goรปt as they might say in Quebec: to each his own.

It has become such a thing that the city of Ottawa has it's very own Poutine Fest. In fact it was held last weekend. I have not attended and most likely never will, but according to the images below, it appears to consist of many food trailers offering their version on the Sparks Street Pedestrian Mall.



As you can see from all of this, we Canadians take our poutine rather seriously. As well we should.

๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ˜›๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐Ÿ™Œ




9 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

We have tried this food group, John...isn't that the term usually applied to tasty items which are often to be avoided often or in large quantities? Our sampling wws done somewhere in the US, and while I can't recall where it maybhave been in New England.

Ginger said...

Love it! I shall always remember where and when I had my first poutine--in 2003 at a little outdoor stand in Lacombe, Alberta, eaten at a wooden picnic table in the sunshine. Mighty tasty; good thing we don't have it easily accessible in California!

Marie Smith said...

Poutine is on my list of "never to eat items" though I'm sure it is delicious. I cannot even consider gravy on fries let alone the cheese curds. It is available in PEI in pubs and food trucks etc.

Linda Kay said...

I think I'll stick with a burger and fries, if it's okay with you.

Mage said...

I think I will stick with salted fries.
LOL

troutbirder said...

Oh my that sounds wonderfully deliciously horribly unhealthy. I'm already taking the maximum dose of Lipitor to fight the chloresterol demon but cheese curds oh my how I love them...

Mara said...

Not sure about this dish. Then again, I think we probably have similar dishes in the Netherlands, so perhaps I should try it when I visit Canada at some point in the future.

Kay said...

In all our travels to Canada, we've never tried poutine. Darn! How can that be? Looks like we'll have to go visit Canada again someday. I see I've missed quite a bit. We did discover dulse though.

Jenn Jilks said...

It's a good idea for a cold day! The variations are fascinating. The creativity!!!