Poutine

Prompted by an Atlantic post where three Montreal establishments' preparations are judged and photographed.

The Triple rock here in town has been featuring this for a little over a year. it is awesome, but if you eat an entire serving, you will die.

Too much emphasis on fancy poutine ingredients lately. Foie Gras? Olives?!?! Best get thee to a chip truck (in Ottawa or Montreal) and order the basic version. Fries (twice fried, sure), chicken gravy and fresh cheese curds. No salt or vinegar needed. Yes, curds are essential. Shredded mozzarella on poutine is an abomination.

x-post -- They aren't all dead up in Canada. (Are they?)

Yeah get the basic shit.

There used to be a diner in my area (Philly) during high school that would serve poutine but called the dish, "Disco Fries!" with exclamation point and everything. they were the best, and most awesomely named, dish.

then the diner got sold to a bunch of Chinese people and they totally fucked the menu and i will never return as a result.

(not to be racist, i forgot to mention that it was a very Philly-style Greek establishment for over 45 years or so)

yeah the T-rock version is the basic no fucking around variety - also yeah if you see someone salt this they are def certifiably insane and might vanish in a puff of dehydration after the first bite.

IS POUTINE THE NEW BANH MI???!?!?!?!

i do not know what that is

oh shit never mind, here in the american heartland we refer to those as "one of those vietnamese sandwiches"

There are those that add ketchup to poutine. Some even stir it around into the gravy. I would not advise it.

Other variants: "poutine speciale" (as served outside the Ottawa public library) - with green onions and chopped hotdogs...interesting to try once). "poutine Italienne" (with spaghetti sauce instead of gravy...not a good idea).

Much debate over the true origins of poutine, but true fans know it simply appeared one day from heaven. The clouds split, an invisible choir sang "quand le soleil dit bonjour", etc, etc.

I remember hearing the Devil Dogs disparage poutine as "disco fries" once. I didn't realize there was such a thing. Thought they were just trying to pick on one of the very few bits of Canadian culture.

i think america would be a better place if the cult of garlic anenome wheatgrass aioli turned its culinary attention to our poutine needs tho

Much debate over the true origins of poutine, but true fans know it simply appeared one day from heaven. The clouds split, an invisible choir sang "quand le soleil dit bonjour", etc, etc.

No way, man, it was brought over by one of your founding fathers:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BUws90lhslc/SG90mowCwPI/AAAAAAAAB14/BxNw8wP0PDc/s320/poutine-champlain.jpg

beautiful! I heard he found poutine while looking for his lost astrolabe, up near Pembroke. Perhaps Big Joe Mufferaw was involved, somehow.

That and a few random wendigos.

It is my ultimate dream to try poutine.

Maybe I'll try making it at home! I'm thinking one of those gravy mix packets would work, right? And I'd make my own fries.

Or would crinkly freezer fries work, too?

http://www.montrealpoutine.com/recipes.html

"At home, the province-wide standard is not a fresh sauce, but sauce from a pouch; specifically, from the St. Hubert brand"

When I was in Toronto the last time a Montreal native directed me to what he called "the best poutine in town, but still not very good" and it was A++, so I have to wonder what the OG stuff is like.

St. Hubert and their wacky mascot:

http://www.st-hubert.com/Image/StHubertLogo.png

http://www.st-hubert.com/Image/InvolvementLeft1.jpg

Wld like to know this chicken's 3 miracles.

http://www.st-hubert.com/EN/History-2000

"We then started offering 100% vegetable-grain-fed chickens (mixture of corn, wheat and soy), chalk-full of vitamins and minerals and free of animal fat or by-products."

Chalk-full, I tell ya! That's the secret ingredient!

Also, you gotta like the original, snappy-dressing chicken. A poulet-about-town: http://www.st-hubert.com/EN/History-1950

I fell in love with and married a Canadian after he introduced me to poutine! When we lived back east, we would take roadtrips though Quebec and northern Ontario to find the best and, lo, it is at Chez Ashton in Quebec City.

Abbott, I used to make poutine at home for Canada Day and birthdays; I would just make some oven fries, scatter fresh mozzarella on top, pour on a jar of gravy, and put under the broiler until it got melty. Try to use motz curd if you can find it.

Oh god I love poutine... Agree totally that 'fancy' poutines with anything other than fries, real cheese curds and standard gravy are just wrong. A place just opened up by my house called "Poutini's house of Poutine", and they don't fuck around - straight up standard poutine, nothin' else.

I recall another poutine thread with fierce debate about the pronunciation of Poutine... "Poo-tan" if you want to go proper Quebecois style?

Just got home from the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and poutine was on the menu in several eateries. After a weekend of festival food though, I was jonesin' for fresh vegetables, so fries/cheese/gravy was NOT what my system wanted. Next time...

i have a lot of favourite poutines. it all depends on the occasion.

this is true.

my favorite poutine is...

THIS ONE!!!!!

http://www.topnews.in/files/putin_0.jpg

no it has to be real cheese curds max

Poutini's is way, way, way, way, way, way too awesome an idea to be marred by Copperplate Gothic ;_;

Poo-tan" if you want to go proper Quebecois style

ehhh

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that french for 'whore'?

you'd know

this thread just inspired me to go eat some.

yay.

Oh god I love poutine... Agree totally that 'fancy' poutines with anything other than fries, real cheese curds and standard gravy are just wrong. A place just opened up by my house called "Poutini's house of Poutine", and they don't fuck around - straight up standard poutine, nothin' else.

Is this place good? I want dark, unsalted, toothsome but not crispy fries. I do not want the crispy, salty, golden anglofries they use at Smoke's (and pretty much everywhere else). I have been suspecting that poutine has been so heavily adapted for the TO market based on the fear that Torontonians wouldn't "like" the real thing. I just can't understand why else they wouldn't use the real fries? Do they really not know the difference?

I note that Poutini apparently serves their poutine in a deep round tub. This is convenient for eating it outside on the street but ultimately I don't like it for two reasons: 1) it hampers proper curd dispersal, 2) it retains heat, so the fries at the bottom are still volcanically hot and cause the curds on top to melt. I like my curds as intact as possible. Poutine is best served at as low a temperature as tolerable. Please confirm that curd integrity is retained despite serving container.

Funny that I saw this thread today, I was actually looking at Poutini's website yesterday and deciding whether or not to make the trek.

the curds are supposed to melt a bit!

cold poutine is gross!

Yes but they're not supposed to disintegrate completely.

this thread has led to a planned poutine expedition w/several of my friends.

is it possible to eat a whole serving of poutine by yourself? it seems like it would be stomach destroying madness to me.

then i have literally lived in the mouth of madness

you have special canadia powers though wrt to poutine consumption tho right? i was speaking from the delicate flowers of america perspective.

TBF this feeling prob has more to do w/ the MN tradition of restaurants piling the food on until you cant see the plate to serve some ancient obsession w/VALUE

Poutine is proof of the existence of disco.

Best poutine ever is Trois Viandes at La Banquise (aka Poutine Palace) in Montréal. Je me souviens, La Banquise.

problem with banquise is sometimes it's cold.

Never had that problem (perhaps because I was always completement ivre while consuming it and never noticed). If the curds were too cold, I just mixed 'em into the mush to melt em up.

Why has poutine not caught on in the USA? It seems perfectly tilored to the America stomach.

tailored too

IT IS TOO HOT IN NYC FOR POUTINE :C

http://www.pommesfrites.ws/

pommes frites would smash

problem with banquise is sometimes it's cold.

La Banquise is how I learned to love poutine and I'm convinced that other places serve theirs too hot. If it's too hot I can't taste anything. A little cooler and it brings out the flavour of the sauce and keeps the curds intact.

Checked out Poutini here in TO today. It was fine. Perfectly alright, but the fries had a bitter, salty taste, and the gravy congealed almost immediately and lacked flavour (other than salt). It's clear that by double-frying they hoped to make Quebec-style fries but they weren't quite up to it. Perhaps the temperature of the frying is an issue too, or perhaps l'huile de cuisson is different. Curds were fine and the temperature overall was fine (curds didn't disintegrate). The price was perfectly acceptable. I don't visit that area often but if I am ever there after a few drinks I'll definitely stop in and try it again. Probably wouldn't eat it again sober though.

I've wanted real poutine ever since my Quebecois ex-finacee told me about em 10 years back... I mean here, chips with gravy's really common, but the curds are a whole other thing.

Our awesome chip kiosk Lord of the Fries does "canadian style" topping - but its just gravy and grated cheese. I'm sure thats not the same (even though the chips are very good ones, hand cut and twice fried and vegetarian and all that jazz)

*shrugs*

I'll put a word in for Chez Claudette. My fav MTL poutine joint.

― sofatruck, Wednesday, July 14, 2010 9:52 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

miss this place so much. used to be a block away from it. always got the hilariously named "poutine new york" which is poutine regulier + boeuf hachee + tabasco. SHIT IS REAL.

But it's good that I now have a list of Mtl poutine joints for the next time I'm there! Last time I think I had some from "La Pataterie"?

― Sundar, Wednesday, July 14, 2010 9:56 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

If you actually went to La Pataterie that I know that is suuuuuuuper random, out in HoMa like a block away from where I work. Their fries are dope but their gravy just ruins it. You more likely went to Patati Patata though, which is a block away fom my CURRENT residence and they nail that shit and I think they use veggie gravy there, too.

slept-on poutine: louigi's on mcgill in old mtl. kinda sweetish gravy. real nice. i should have one again soon it's been a minute

― coldfrap - foam mountain (s1ocki), Friday, July 16, 2010 1:23 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark

I have to check that out. My slept-on poutine pick: the Indian place on St. Laurent between Rachel and Duluth. They have a "curry poutine." It's unconventional as hell (fries are battered, insanely, and insteado f gravy it's a curry sauce, and little green chilis are up in there) and it's barely poutine but WTF IT'S A TASTE SEXPLOSION.

Wait-- I have been to Louigi's! I used to work right near there! Never had the pout though, only the... like... chicken balogna sandwich thing. Dirt cheap, disgusting, made me feel sick, never went back. WHY IS IT THAT I HAVE LIVED OR WORKED BESIDE EVERY PLACE IN THIS THREAD?

The Indian place Will is referring to is called Chef Guru. Their other food is fairly good and reasonable too.

ehh, i found it pretty mediocre.

http://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/f3324d1c6ca5445b50987d39eeb10952/tumblr_mtl2ygyTxB1qzv6oxo1_500.jpg

wut

When I was in Toronto the last time a Montreal native directed me to what he called "the best poutine in town, but still not very good" and it was A++,

hey where was this

I want curds

I would also like to know; I've yet to have good poutine in TO.

Buffalo Wild Wings has something they call pouting, but judging from the picture on the menu, it is an ungodly abortion the type of which you would expect from such a chain

*poutine

http://www.foodspotting.com/reviews/3524131

what is this abomination

Ever since I've moved to Los Angeles, I've seen poutine served in the most disgusting forms.

Also, it feels bizarre going to a high-endish restaurant and having that fancy poutine special. Because, you know, poutine is so froufrou.

95% sure the Toronto poutine place was here: http://smokespoutinerie.com/

bear in mind I was d-r-u-n-k and am from Chicago where poutine is not very good at all so who am I to judge really

i liked the oxtail poutine at animal, but i can see how some people would consider it an outrage.

http://www.starchefs.com/chefs/rising_stars/2010/los-angeles-san-diego/recipe-poutine-oxtail-j-shook-v-dotolo.shtml

grated cheddar instead of curds, for one thing.

everywhere i looked when i was in toronto there was shitty poutine and pulled pork

(xp) 20 lbs of oxtail on 3 lbs of fries for another.

I regret I never made it to this Canadian restaurant that used to be open near me (Canadian Cafe). I've heard their poutine was good.

ta dan - had Poutini* on Tuesday and some random pubtine with peas in it yesterday; my transplant local friend is all "ehhh you might as well go to Smokes, at least it's better than these"

* tbh their pulled pork version may have been a big step up

So, White Spot is coming out with a poutine burger.

Are there White Spots back east?

Poutini's was as good as any poutine i had in Montreal.

White Spot is a BC thing. I think there's a few in Alberta.

never eaten poutine outside of qc but i find the idea that it's worse outside the province so hilarious. like i believe everyone who says they've had awful ones in toronto or wherever, but... it's literally just three ingredients, all of which are dirt cheap, easy to prepare & presumably widely available (maybe curd cheese is an exception?) ... how could everyone be fucking it up?

using fries that don't work due to being too thin
using gravy that's too watery or mostly salt (hard to do)
additions that make no sense w/gravy (pico de gallo?!?)

yeah but... what makes ppl outside of qc worse at any of these things? you should see the people who make poutines here, not exactly culinary experts. was served one prepared by, like, a 14 year old kid the other day. and it was delicious

they don't get the simplicity

did you see that bww thing I linked upthread where they tried to make something and call it "poutine" just using what they had sitting around in the back? those are breaded fried cheese balls, wtf.

poutine can be bad outside of qc the same way pizza can't be good inside of quebec. that's just three ingredients too

(although technically "gravy" and "fries" aren't ingredients)

lol quebec pizza

Actually, I've only had poutine in BC (Vancouver).

I have friends who've had it in QC, and they say the major difference is the 'squeaky cheese'.

I've never had that type of curds in Vancouver.

And with regard to preparing it, I have no clue, but I wonder if it is the same as NY pizza vs pizza elsewhere (barring Chicago style deep dish). I was watching Food Network once and they the taste might have to do with the actual water.

said+

Thing is my local Dairy Queen's poutine tasted vastly different from, say, a family-owned restaurant--and both were in the same city.

So, yes, I buy that it tastes different in QC/Montreal.

this may make socki's head explode - but i had a poutine at a burger king here in Toronto with squeeky cheese curds!
(which i'm to understand just means they're really fresh)
conversely, one of the worst poutine experiences in my life was in a hotel in Montreal - cheap-o grated cheddar, watered-down gravy and soggy fries. bleugh!

poutine can be bad outside of qc the same way pizza can't be good inside of quebec. that's just three ingredients too

(although technically "gravy" and "fries" aren't ingredients)

― socki (s1ocki), Friday, September 27, 2013 2:13 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ok true, i mean i guess http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Itisamystery.gif (to me atleast) why pizza is not good inside quebec as well? but, like, there are so many more degrees of freedom in making a pizza, and other cities are competent at making fries. and most places in montreal make their gravy out of powder...

http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2013/09/05/pynchonicity/

Most astounding for me are the brief journeys to Montreal and Montauk described in Bleeding Edge. During the two weeks before I started reading the book, I happen to have visited those very places myself. In Montauk, I took photos of the gigantic Cold War–era radar apparatus which figures explicitly in the sinister “Montauk Project” Pynchon discusses. And in Montreal I experienced the coronary-baiting local specialty poutine, French fries slathered with viscous brown gravy and melted cheese curds. “Anyone who doesn’t dig this doesn’t dig being alive,” I told Vera, mumbling because my mouth was full.

Writes Pynchon, “In Montreal it’s a diagnostic for moral character—if somebody resists poutine, they resist life.”

I have to admit poutine is my Achilles' heal, which I've not been able to reason why. It messes with the minds of those who know me.

I don't know, maybe it's nostalgia? Even though, like I say, I've never actually eaten it in the province it's from, so go figure.

I no longer live in Canada, so I made Nanaimo bars last Christmas and they didn't come out as great, nor did they trigger anything in me. Sorry, I don't mean to tread on 'FOODIE' territory.

wh473v5

HEEL*

ugh

im in vancouver; white spot/triple o's is dreadful

the place to go out here is brado. they make poutine pizza and it is the BOMB

http://lowercrust.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/poutine-pizza-at-brado/

i had one of the best pizzas of my lyfe in montreal

are you sure?

There was a summer when I was 11 when poutine Italienne was my first choice. Replace the gravy with Prego. IT WAS GREAT.

yes, although it was a long time ago and i couldn't name the place even if it still existed. it was in a basement in the, um, mcgill ghetto

were you stoned

lol Amelio's best pizza ever

i was not stoned until afterwards

Brado is awful.

No idea where is good for poutine in Vancouver.

Belgian fries on Commercial.

poutine would be pretty good if they replaced the gravy with ketchup

^^ this motherfucker

dafuq

For poutine in Vancouver, Fritz used to be good.

About 10 years ago I had it at Templeton and it was quite tasty, with a mushroom gravy. When I went back maybe 4 years ago, it was gross.

Ah...maybe I should just pack my things and go back already.