Cheese curds used to be impossible to find up here, but they’ve been showing up increasingly in the gourmet cheese cases of the supermarkets that fancy themselves classy enough to have a gourmet cheese case. Quality ones should look like tiny lumps of semi-dry white cheese, taste like very mild cheddar, and have a texture not unlike a latex balloon.When I make poutine, I just bake and/or shallow-fry whatever frozen fries I have on hand, chop up some curds into tiny bits and toss them on top, and pour on a half-cup or so of jarred beef gravy. The gravy and cheese are salty enough together that the fries don’t require any extra seasoning. I recommend serving and eating them quickly before the curds have a chance to melt - melty curds completely change the texture of the dish.
True, we have a few such and there usually one, maybe two expensive but tasty versions around.
Please don’t use that horrid white gravy - and make sure it’s super HOT. I hate it when the cheese curds don’t get all melty.
Hubby puts vinegar on his side of the poutine - heretic.
Trader Joe’s has cheese curds. Someone put them on the kitchen counter at work with a note about being an “acquired taste.” No offense to the Quebecois but blechh is what I thought.
IMO if you want something your daughter will actually like use cheddar, or step it up a notch and use Trader Joe Petite Basque cheese.
An acquired taste? I would never have thought of that. Cheese curds just taste like a really young cheddar, to me.
Those are not cheese curds. They may have been at one point, but cheese curds simply do not last long enough to be put in nice packaging and sent around the country.
White gravy? I’ve had it with beef and chicken gray but not white gravy. And don’t knock the vinegar, malt or apple cider makes a lovely accompaniment and cuts through the richness nicely. 
I agree about the temp though, the curds should get soft and slightly stretchy…
Yes, they are, and yes they do.
I think Athena is referring to cheese curds as we know them here in the heart of cheese-making country.
Every Friday I can stop at the cheesemaker that is ~7 miles from my home and buy cheese curds that are so fresh that they’re still warm.
They have a texture that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the texture of cheese curds that you might buy in the refrigerated case of your local grocer.
The point is, cheese curds don’t age well. The famous “squeaky” texture is gone within a day or two and the texture is the key element. Old cheese curds just taste and feel like extremely mild cheese.
This is how my husband and I used to make it. We called it “heartburn” for obvious reasons.
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Bake some frozen french fries in the oven. Use the ridged kind (“crinkle cut”) for better gravy & cheese adhesion.
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Warm a can of gravy (we used the mushroom kind because we’re vegetarian) in a pot on the stove.
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Grate some cheese. We used either old cheddar or marble cheddar. Yes I know the proper way is with cheese curds, but we don’t have any readily accessible around here.
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Take the fries out of the oven and dump 'em in a bowl. Sprinkle the cheese on and mix. Pour the gravy on and mix until the cheese melts.
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The secret ingredient: Lowry’s Seasoning Salt. Sprinkle a little bit all over everything and mix it up.
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Have Tums handy. Enjoy.
I suppose you can package cheese curds and ship them off to wherever without spoiling them, but you will not be getting them in the state they’re meant to be eaten, and definitely not in the state that should be used when making poutine. Fresh cheese curds should be consumed within 24 hours of their production, and the sooner the better.
You can call it whatever you want as long you as you don’t call it poutine.
I’m making some right now actually.
I am baking frozen fries.
Then sprinkling with salt, pepper, and shredded mozzarella.
And then pouring a half can of microwaved poutine sauce on top.
Yes, every grocery store here in Ottawa has canned, and packaged (just add water) poutine sauce.
Is it authentic? No.
Is it tasty? Oh hell yeah!
Not the same thing of course, but closely related and discussed previously on this board - Disco Fries. I imagine if you cannot get fresh cheese curds it’d be better to attempt this (or another) variation.
Yes, good cheese curds need to be fresh, real fresh. They lose that squeaky quality after only a day or so. They are a great snack by themselves, a bit saltier than finished cheese. After a few days they are just not the same.
If you are ever travelling on the Oregon Coast do not miss out on a stop at the cheese factory in Tillamook. It is a major tourist stop and we never pass it by without stopping for squeaky cheese and some of the best ice creams you will find anywhere.
http://www.tillamook.com/products/cheese/squeaky-curds.html
You will know when you enter Tillamook because the entire town smells like cow shit. Nothing quite like a warm Spring day watching the fountains of liquid cow shit being sprayed out over the dairy fields. Recycling at its best, and nothing is more ‘green’ than cow shit. 
Ewww! Vinegar on poutine!?
You don’t have “squeakers” at your supermarkets?
I’ll see you that and raise you carne asada fries.
You can’t even get fresh cheese curds at the cheesemaker in Ontario anymore. They are required by law to refrigerate them before selling, thereby ruining the texture that makes them cheese curds.
It’s incredibly sad.
However that shouldn’t stop your attempt to make poutine because any vendor who is making it suffers from the same supply issue for fresh curds so just use what the grocery store has or if you can’t find them, one of those soft balls of mozzarella, cut up into curd sized pieces is the next best option.
In fairness, I generally don’t but it does do a good job of cutting through all the richness of all that cheese and gravy (and get you going…:D). I do, however, prefer vinegar on good fries. McCain’s (frozen fries) get the ketchup treatment.
Squeakers aren’t the same as fresh curds from La Baie (Best curds I’ve ever had) but since my Bagotville trips have been curtailed since I retired, I haven’t had them in a while.
Pro Tip: If you nuke your store bought curds for roughly 10 seconds you can get the “squeak” back. Once the bag is open though you should use them right away.