Fernand Lachance, the man who is credited with having invented poutine (although there are differing stories, all in the same region) died last week of pulmonary disease. He was 86.
As a Quebecer, I practically grew up (and across!) on this stuff! When we lived in Germany from 1990 to 1993, it was on the menu at the local cantine. Poutine was served every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at my high school, and I know I chose that for lunch at least once a week at the time! At my Cegep, the best quantity to price deal was to get poutine - and make sure to ask for take-out, since the container was much larger than the eat-in one! University was different, as I moved to Ontario for it. While the concept has reached here, the exact recepie hasn’t (I have yet to find real fresh curd cheese), and so a quebecois poutine has become a rare delicacy (yes, delicacy!) for us here! Oddly, many of our classmates have never even tried this dish of the gods!
In honour of M. Lachance, we will go out tomorrow and buy ourselves some fries, gravy and the closest thing to curd cheese we can get.
Well, I had never heard of poutine before, but now that I have, color me jealous. It sounds like a perfect alternative to cheese fries, my absolute favorite food.
While I agree that there is a small part of the world that serves great poutine (really only in and around Montreal), the best that I’ve found is a chip truck that operates at noon hour only near Kanata (suburb of Ottawa).
The fries are just on the verge of crisp, the gravy smooth, hot and just a little sweet, the cheese curds are perfect.
I guess that’s one advantage to be next door to Hull qwest
But I’ll have to agree with mnemosyne on that one. The best poutines I have eaten were from the Eastern Townships, the cheese was so fresh that it mooed when you poured the sauce on it.
And while Montreal has good poutine, I wouldn’t call it great (or at least I haven’t found any great ones yet). I still remember the days when poutine was introduced in Montreal and half of the places were serving it using grated Mozzarella cheese :eek:
Man, it’s a sad day for the food community… and the triple-heart-bypass-surgeons community.
I discovered the Poutine in Quebec and I felled in love with the most caloric and filling I have ever eaten, and I live in the US ! I understand now how they can bear the 0 degrees temperature!
My favorite is the one where they had little pieces of chicken on top of it… Mmmm… chicken poutine… garglglglaargl… Recipe 1 Recipe 2 Some reading The gravy … can be the success or failure of your Poutine
…Curd cheese too…
I don’t know about putting it with fries and gravy, but there is wonderful curd cheese available in the US – from an Amish farmers market in Burtonsville, Maryland. Ummm, curd cheese…and putting it with fries and gravy? Is there anywhere in the Toronto area where I can find some good poutine when I come to Canada in a couple of years for a visit???
I lived most of my life in the Eastern Townships, and my dad was from Cowansville - I TOTALLY know what you mean about the best poutine coming from that region! Actually, Warwick isn’t that far away, sort of on the border of the next tourist region and the Townships. I am dying to go back to Sherbrooke and get a good old Louie’s poutine! Large round tabke-out container, filled with fries, then THREE regular styrofoam-soup bowls worth of cheese, and as much gravy as you want.
And while Ottawa might have the hang of it, I’m afraid Toronto does not. Poutine here is more often served with grated MARBLE CHEDDAR than with anything else! Orange cheese is just so wrong, but seeing it on a poutine is just sad!
Mama Tiger - I’m sure actual residents of Toronto can tell you of specific places, but you’ll find poutine in a lot of restaurants. If you can find one that lists curd cheese, all the better. You’ll even find it at McDonald’s and Burger King, though I DON’T recommend it - those fries just aren’t the right type.
<slight hijack> mnemosyne is your use of SQUEEK SQUEEK a reference to the movie Karmina 2, since some characters in the movie refer to poutine as SQUEEK SQUEEK also ? </hijack>
Chip trucks still exist? Do the trucks’ wares vary by region, and would they serve poutine in rural areas of Quebec?
I’m asking because frankly, I’m just delighted. I haven’t been back to Quebec since 1981 and I guess I’d figured the trucks would be long-gone. Do they still serve their chips in the white cardboard boxes? With salt and white vinegar on a chain? Beside the road, say, near a recreation lake?
Those were the best chips I have ever eaten. They are somehow impossible to duplicate in the US.
I think it’s time for a road trip.
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detop - sort of. Ever since I was little my family and I called the cheese “squeeky cheese”, and the way it was handled in Karmina 2 was just too funny! So it’s a bit of a combination. I tend to think only of the cheese when I say “Squeek Squeek”.
My parents are driving up here this week for my Convocation, and I’m going to call them tonight and ask them to bring up some FRESH curd cheese and some maple syrup (we can get the latter here, but at twice the price - and besides, my mom always has a can or two in the cupboard just waiting to be used!)
Our poutine last night was quite good! We even managed to find white cheese curds, which is a lot better than that horrible fluorescent orange stuff that is so common around here!
Glad to have it cleared mnemosyne. So, you finally found cheese curds in the wilds of Hamilton . How are you doing for sauce, can you find St-Hubert sauce there ?
Erm… I hate to be the moron at the feast here, but what exactly are cheese curds? I pride myself on being a bit of a cheese conniseur, despite my inability to spell it, but I don’t believe I’ve run into this particular delicacy before. Is it a kind of cheese, or some kind of by-product?
And is it seriously good with gravy, or are you pulling my leg?
Have to admit I’m not sure what kind of cheese cheese curds are, but I can assure you that the combination of fries, gravy and cheese curds is heavenly. Reading this thread is making me crave poutine, but even halfway decent poutine is impossible to come by in Vancouver.
Curds are basically the first step of cheesemaking. The milk/cream is treated with rennet or a similar product and separates into curds (solid lumps) and whey (liquid). The whey is drained off and the curds are pressed into solid blocks and aged to produce the finished cheese. (I am not a cheesemaker, but I understand this is how cheddar-type cheeses are made - other kinds may use a different process.)
I buy curds from the St-Albert cheese factory in the local supermarket. Fresh curds squeak when you bite them. And, yes, poutine is pretty good!
ZSophia, picture this. You are in the wilds of the Village (or Saint-Laurent or Crescent or the like). You have just been dancing for the last five hours. You are so wasted (booze, tina, X, or just fatigue poisons) that you are crawling down Sante-Catherine street.
Suddenly, one searing thought blazes through your limping mind.
Must.
Have.
Saturated Fat.
And after that night, you never question the goodness of poutine again.
. How are you doing for sauce, can you find St-Hubert sauce there ?