What is this Montreal phenom ‘Poutine’?
Everyone who visits Montreal feels they MUST try the Quebec-born Poutine. The fact that my daughter is addicted to Poutine always made me wonder why it is so popular.
photo courtesy: https://acorkforkandpassport.com/
Earlier this year when I attended a Women in Travel Summit in Quebec City, I got a first-hand chance to see reactions of people trying this quintessential Canadian food. Surprisingly, people were hesitant to try it and pleasantly happy (or more like shocked) at how much they enjoyed the dish.
I recently collaborated on a story with Lisa from LL World Tour about the Most Popular Food Cities in the World. Of course, living in Montreal I wrote about Poutine, which led me to digging deeper into the cultural phenom. Poutine seems to be everywhere. How did the famous Montreal Poutine come to be? When I started looking, the first thing I came across was Poutine has it’s own Wikipedia page. If a food has it’s own Wikipedia, it’s got to have a good backstory right?
What is Poutine?
Poutine is a dish made with fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy! There are many variations as many agree the most variations are with the fries and most importantly the sauce. If you ask most Quebecers they will agree the potatoes should be hand-cut and the cheese squeaky!
Today there are too many varieties to count. You can have your poutine with topped with sausage, smoked meat, onions, bacon, salsa or a Newfoundland favorite: turkey stuffing!
Poutine is no longer just for lunch either, a popular variety of breakfast poutines are cropping up all over the city.
Quebecers love poutine so much they even make Poutine cakes.
Cake by Short n Sweet by Sil
Where Did it All Begin?
Photo courtesy: https://www.justgoplacesblog.com
The most widespread story is that poutine originates from a restaurant formerly called Le Lutin qui rit in Warwick, in the Arthabaska region. In 1957, a client named Eddy Lainesse asked the owner Fernand Lachance to mix the cheese curds in with the fries and a cultural icon was born. It was only a few years later that they started adding sauce to keep the fries warm. In it’s early days Poutine was only found in greasy diners and pubs, unlike today where it can be found in all types of restaurants. It is said that Warwick restaurateur Fernand Lachance of Le Café Ideal, when asked to add cheese curds to the fries replied “ça va faire une maudite poutine!”. This translates to “It will make a damn mess” and hence ‘poutine’ or a messy meal was born.
A Drummondville restaurant called Le Roy Jucep registered a trademark stating that it is the inventor of poutine. Jean-Paul Roy, owner of this restaurant in 1964, is the first one to have served poutine as we know it today, meaning with French fries, cheese and gravy.
Where can you find a good Poutine?
This is the question everyone wants to know and it’s a hard to answer. Considering that big chains like McDonalds and Burger King serve Poutine you can literally find Poutine on every street corner in downtown Montreal. There is also a lot of debate as to what makes a good poutine. Are the potatoes hand cut? Is the sauce from scratch? How were they fried? All of these things and more combine to deem a ‘good’ poutine.
No matter where you try a poutine from the trifecta of fries, cheese and gravy will not disappoint. My personal favorite is from food trucks or casse-croûtes and there is no shortage of them. La Belle Province is one found province-wide. If you are traveling north of the city then you have to make a stop at Chez Gerard where Poutine is still made like it was decades ago. Even more modern chains like Five Guys now offers a pretty good Poutine with their fresh daily hand cut fries.
Photo courtesy www.evablue.com
The first restaurant to mention is Poutineville – it’s in their name and they are working constantly to reinvent the popular dish.! Or there is Poutine Central too. Hey it’s Quebec after all, you will find a lot of restaurants with Poutine in the name.
Poutineville Poutine photo courtesy www.evablue.com
For any vegans, they will want to check out Vegan Rapide.
For those with refined tastes wanting something decadent then you want to head to Au Pied de Cochon and try poutine au fois gras.
No matter where you go in Quebec you can find a poutine to fit every budget and taste.
Poutine with smoked meat and fried pork
Is there a Festival about Poutine?
If you are planning a trip to Montreal make sure to check out some of the Poutine festivals such as the Drummondville Poutine Festival or the Grand Poutinefest happening across the city. Or come visit in February and celebrate Poutine Week.
Enjoying a summer festival poutine
