Oh Canada – From hockey to Justin Bieber, you’ve brought so much to our nation. Culinary wise, you’ve brought maple syrup down south, for which our taste buds and pancakes thank you. But what might be Canada’s greatest culinary export hasn’t had the American exposure it truly deserves: poutine
If you look at the way our friends in Canada have built up this Montreal delicacy, you too would be surprised to hear that poutine hasn’t made its way down to every single high-end restaurant and fast-food joint alike in the United States.
So what is it?
Poutine is a Canadian dish originating from the Quebec province that begins with of a fresh batch French fries. Cheese curds are then added on top of the fries, followed by generously pouring hot gravy over the fries and cheese curds. The end result is one of the greatest dishes on earth.
While you can add a lot of extra toppings to a plate of poutine to make it your poutine, these are the basic ingredients needed to create this delicious dish that sends taste buds all over Canada into a frenzy.
What unique takes are there on poutine?
Even though the traditional fries-gravy-cheese curd combination is a classic (and you can never go wrong with it, for that matter), there’s no stopping chefs from adding their own twist to poutine.
From hot sauce to bacon, green onions to even pigs in a blanket, it’s an infinite world of ingredients you can add on to poutine. There are even vegan versions of this dish, allowing everyone to try poutine for themselves.
How obsessed is Canada with poutine?
Very.
Poutine has become a mainstay in restaurants all across Canada. Places like Costco and McDonald’s have included poutine on their menus at Canadian locations for a very long time.
Montreal, being the home of poutine, is considered by many fans to be the best place in the world for the dish. Many foodies have come to the conclusion that La Banquise is the best place in Montreal for poutine, with people in line 24/7 just to get a taste of what is considered to be Montreal’s finest.
My mouth is watering, so where can I get some?
One place where you can go grab a box filled with poutine is Smoke’s Poutinerie in Berkeley, which has since expanded to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Ann Arbor, Philadelphia and Tampa, in addition to the many locations across Canada.
If you want to settle for a California twist, you can order Animal Fries at In-N-Out, which has cheese, grilled onions and their famous spread all over their French fries.
If you’re nowhere near a restaurant that sells poutine or a poutine-style dish, then you can always make a DIY poutine, and it doesn’t hurt to play around with the basics as well.
Walk The Runway
It’s obvious that poutine hasn’t gotten the attention that it deserves from the rest of the world. Today marks a pivotal change in the cuisine landscape.
Poutine: you’re now ready to take on the world, one bite at a time.