Before anything else…Poutine…

What is Poutine? Well, poutine is a Canadian dish that consists of fries, cheese curds and gravy! It is very popular in Canada and it is pretty much known around the world as a classic Canadian snack food.

Brief history

Poutine first appeared in Quebec in the 1950’s. It was widely popularized across Canada and beyond in the 1990’s. It is pronounced as “poo-tin”.

When I first came to Canada in 2010, I had no idea that I would fell in love with this dish. It’s a very simple dish but, this was very new to me since I didn’t get to eat this type of food back in the Philippines. We mostly ate rice. I don’t remember eating fries that much when I was younger. I only started eating them so much when I came here to Canada. A friend of mine introduced me this dish. She said that I should try it out since I’ve never had them before. I remember thinking “woah, this taste so good!”. I consider this dish as my “go to” food, my comfort food. Whenever I need a quick snack or meal, I always go for poutine. As for drinks, any soda works, but specifically iced tea is my favorite drink that goes with poutine the most. Back when I was in Grade 9, I remember I would order this together with my best friend at the mall. We would eat this dish every weekend. 😆

What are the ingredients? 

Ingredients include: Fries, Cheese curds, and Gravy  (other toppings are optional) 

  • 1 lb frozen french fries ~ 1 bag
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 cups beef stock no sodium preferred
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch made into a slurry with 1 tbsp water
  • 1.5 cups fresh cheese curds

The procedure

  • Simply put the frozen fries in the air fryer or oven (even better).
  • While waiting for the fries to be done, make the gravy.
  • To make the gravy (sauce), melt the butter over low heat and sprinkle in the flour. Stir it for 2-3 minutes.
  • Slowly stream the beef stock while whisking. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder and cornstarch slurry.
  • Then, put the heat up to medium high and let it simmer. Stir occasionally until it is thick. Then taste the season with salt and pepper.
  • Finally, when the fries are ready, you can simply put the cheese curds (as much as you want), and ladle the gravy.

*I personally like the original recipe which is just the gravy with lots of cheese curds. However, sometimes, I like to change things up a bit and change the gravy sauce to cheese sauce and I like to add some bacon bits on top as well. I have tried many poutines in many different places but personally, I think poutine in Canada is still the best. They know how to cook it well!

You can get poutine anywhere!! I suggest going to fast food restaurants. They most likely serve poutine at any burger/pizza places. My favorite place to get poutine is in New York Fries!

Bibliography: 

Team Mike and Steph. “Poutine recipe”. I am a food blog, January 10, 2023. https://iamafoodblog.com/poutine/

Sullivan, Justin. “If You Love French Fries, You Gotta Make Poutine At Home”. Delish. January 04, 2023. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a33660576/poutine-recipe/

Crampton, Linda. “Poutine Facts, History, and Cultural Importance in Canada”. Delishably. August 12, 2022. https://delishably.com/world-cuisine/Poutine-in-Culture-and-History-Traditional-Canadian-Food