|
Poutine (pronounced, roughly, poo-TEEN, or peuh-TSEEN; is a popular snack consisting of french fries topped with fresh cheese curds and covered with hot gravy and sometimes other additional ingredients.
The curds' freshness is most important as it makes them soft in the warm fries, without completely melting. (When the curds are really fresh they will often squeak between the teeth.)
Mini Poutine with regular gravy, from Chez Ashton, Quebec City.Poutine is a fast food staple in eastern Canada; it is sold by nearly all fast food chains (such as New York Fries and Harvey's) in the provinces, as well as by small diners and pubs. International chains like McDonalds, A&W, and Burger King now sell poutine across Canada, but their product is scorned by many as being an inferior reproduction. New York Fries has poutine on the menus of its U.S. outlets as well as those in Canada. Popular Quebec restaurants that serve poutine are Chez Ashton, La Belle Province (restaurant), and Lafleur's. Also, poutine is very popular in student cafeterias in high schools and universities.
Poutine is available in only a few places outside of Canada, including the northern United States; Cuba (in some Canadian owned hotels); the Maple Leaf Pub in London England; and even one snack bar in Burkina Faso (La Quhahaha233;bhahaha233;coise).
Origins
The dish originated in rural Quebec, Canada in the late 1950s and is now popular all over the eastern half of the country, especially in New Brunswick. Several communities claim to be the origin of poutine, including Drummondville, Quebec (by Jean-Pierre Roy) and Victoriaville, Quebec. The most popular tale is the one of Fernand Lachance, from Warwick, Quebec, which claims that poutine was invented in 1957, when a customer ordered fries while waiting for his cheese curds from the Kingsey cheese factory in Kingsey Falls (now in Warwick and bought by Saputo). Lachance is said to have exclaimed hahaha231;a va faire une maudite poutine ("it will make a hell of a mess"), hence the name. The sauce was allegedly added later, to keep the fries warm longer. Linguists have found no occurrence of the word poutine with this meaning earlier than 1978.
Variations
There are many variations of poutine. A common variation, Italian poutine, substitutes gravy with Bolognese sauce, while another popular variation includes sausage slices. Some restaurants boast a dozen or more variations of poutine. For instance, you may find more upscale poutine with three-pepper sauce or Merguez sausage. Another variation, poutine Galvaude, includes shredded chicken and green peas, often eliminating the cheese. When ordering a fast food trio (or combo) in eastern Canada, you can often pay a little extra to get your french fries replaced with a poutine.
__________________
hatisblack at yahoo.com
|