Quebec's Favorite Food!

I'm not sure if you Uk'ers have Poutine over there but I'm thinking with all the UK'ers coming to Canada lately, you soon will!

POUTINE


\"YOUR BASIC POUTINE RECIPE CONSISTS OF FRENCH FRIES TOPPED WITH CHEESE CURDS AND DRENCHED IN BROWN GRAVY\"

Quebec's contribution to world cuisine...poutine.




Philly serves hot pretzels with mustard. Boston bakes a mean bean. And there's nothing quite like a slice of New York pizza.

So what's the local flavor to savor if you're headed north of the border to Montréal?

Une poutine, sil vous plait.

The basic poutine recipe consists of French fries topped with cheese curds and drenched in brown gravy. OK, so it's not exactly haute cuisine, but it is comfort food at its best - Quebec style.

Restaurateur Ferdinand Lachance invented poutine over 4 decades ago. His idea for poutine was part customer request, part cooking experiment, and now pure folklore.

In 1953, Lachance bought his first restaurant, Café Ideal, in Warwick, Quebec, an hour's drive northeast of Montreal. Inside, patrons could play a game of pool, buy some penny candy for the kids, and even get a haircut.

\"It was practically the rule,\" Lachance says, who's since hung up his apron and now enjoys retirement. \"If you had a barbershop, you had a restaurant, too. It brought in customers.\"

Great Places for Poutine

The poutine legend goes that one day a young patron placed an order for French fries topped with some cheese. Lachance was dumbfounded.

\"But it will be a maudite poutine,\" Lachance replied, which politely translated into \"a damn mishmash.\" But Lachance complied. He served the young man a cupful of hot French fries and soft curd cheese. The addition of brown gravy was still a few years away. So there it was, the messy, melting, maudite humble beginnings of poutine.

Eventually, Lachance renovated his restaurant and renamed it Le Lutin Qui Rit, which translates into \"the laughing elf.\" With the grand reopening of the restaurant in 1957, Lachance wanted to offer a dish unique to the establishment. Since the odd concoction of French fries and cheese curds proved to be not so odd after all, his wife suggested a way to improve the dish by adding some gravy. But not just any gravy. She created a mélange of brown gravy, tangy barbecue sauce (quite new at the time), and a hint of ketchup to pour over the French fries and cheese.

The rest, as they say, is histoire. Poutine was born.

Today, poutine remains popular not only throughout the province, but has spilled over the border as well. Many North Country restaurants serve the dish and Quebecois snowbirds have even introduced poutine to the tropics of Florida. Lachance says his culinary concoction has made it as far as Korea. But while the French fry, curd cheese, and brown sauce recipe has reached the four corners of the globe, there is still no place like Quebec when it comes to poutine authenticity. As inventor of poutine, Lachine has forever taken his place in Quebec culture.


BON APPETITE!

Jackie hun ....and what do you do with it ???? Surely not eat it xxxxx LOL xxxxxx;) :whistle: :whistle:

We have something close,in the dark North of England..called Rochdale Chips...but Im sure its an Urban Myth xxxx;) :whistle: :whistle:

I know I know....but once you do your hooked....then you need to figure out how to burn off all those calories!

I'll have to google Rochdale chips;)

I used to be addicted to self-harm ( LOL...joking) but Ive got over it now xxxxx;) :whistle: :whistle:
Mind you..one question..How can a region,influenced by one of the best cooking-nations on the planet ( with fantastic French delights)come up with such a dish ??? xxxxLOL

Cause its GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD! When in doubt, Tonypark....you know what to do!!!!!

LOL ......I will stick to standing on hot coals and smacking my head against the door xxxx;) :whistle:
As a matter of interest..whats the nutritional value ????

Hmmmmmmmm alittle stubborn are we! You don't know what your missing....step out of the box and taste the world!

Ahhhhhhhhh potato is a vegatable....cheese is a dairy....beef gravey is a protein:P

Now stop giving me a hard time!!!!

Jackie ,I live about 30 mins from the Channel Tunnel ...the journey is about 30 mins and Im in France with food-to-die-for xxx
In the other direction Im 30 mins from London with some of the most International Foods and unlimited Michilin Star Restnt on the planet xxxx
To the East there are 20 or so AA four star eating palaces with Chinese,Indian and other exotic menues xxx
To the West,witjin 40 miles the story is even more so xxxx
Pray tell,my adorable Canadian lady,with all this on offer ...why would I want Veg,dairy and protiene of differing textures and tastes...all at the same time....Pass the Ketchup please xxxx LOL :whistle: :side: :woohoo:<br><br>Post edited by: tonypark, at: 2008/11/03 16:06

I like the Bear,by the way xxxx LOL:)

I appreciate fine dining as well...in fact my father was a gourmet and pastry chef by trade....taught in Belgium! But some of the best tasting foods in the world are simple dishes....comfort food...thier found all over the world....now stop being a snob....a good food critic always tries before he judges!

Ain't he cute!!!!!

Jackiecan2 wrote:

I appreciate fine dining as well...in fact my father was a gourmet and pastry chef by trade....taught in Belgium! But some of the best tasting foods in the world are simple dishes....comfort food...thier found all over the world....now stop being a snob....a good food critic always tries before he judges!

I adore Rustic,Peasant foods...I cooked Lancashire Hot Pot and Cottage Pie only last week....But...French Fries,cheese and gravy..thats like..cheese with peas...Cheesy-Peas xxxx;) :whistle: