by H. Snowborne

Created on: January 27, 2010   Last Updated: February 27, 2010

Poutine is the ultimate Quebeçois comfort/street food, made of simple ingredients that don't sound impressive on their own, but become a better whole than sum when combined.  Stripped down to the bare components, poutine is made with French fries, gravy, and fresh white Cheddar cheese curds.   Millions of variations exist as to which potatoes, which gravy, and which form of "cheese" can be used, but the word definitely brings up a particular flavour for those who've had the chance to experience the food in its native province.

If you want to be strict about it, the French fries should be hand cut, unpeeled russet potatoes deep fried in vegetable oil; the gravy should be St. Hubert's chicken velouté gravy; and the white Cheddar cheese curds must be real cheese curds and they must be as fresh as possible, the kind that squeak when you bite into them and refuse to melt under the hot gravy. 

That "squeak" is non-negotiable:  poutine really suffers if the curds are stale, or a cheaper "fake cheese" substitute is used instead of the fresh curds (I've actually seen an American version using faux-dairy plastic cheese slices.  Avoid this).  Cheddar cheese that's been shredded is fine as an afterthought or in addition, but on its own it is no substitute for the texture and mild flavour  of the fluffy curds in the dish. 

Poutine originated in rural Quebec during the 1950's, and many little towns there lay claim to being its birthplace.  The original form of poutine was simply the fried potatoes with the cheese curds added on over the potatoes-the gravy addition came later. 

The traditional St. Hubert gravy is the chicken sauce gravy used by the St. Hubert restaurant chain, a barbecue chicken restaurant with locations all over Quebec.  It's rich and hot but subtly spicy-an ideal accompaniment to the barbecue-roasted birds on the restaurant chain's menus.  St. Hubert long ago started to sell their gravy in powdered flavouring mixes and in cans,  and this made it the most accessible gravy to use as a poutine staple-easy to heat up on any chip wagon, anywhere!  Anyone who's ever tried street-side poutine in Quebec knows the characteristic flavour of the gravy.

I don't think it's the best gravy.  Rich, home-made gravies always trump the expected "classic" store-bought St. Hubert's.  Though the dish does have it's purist followers, those who really love poutine have begun to experiment

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