7 surprising facts about poutine

By Blog of Lists - Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 2:25 PM - 0 Comments

Darren Calabrese/CP Images

To the uninitiated, it looks like nothing more than a steaming pile of fries, gravy and half-melted cheese curds. But in Canada, the signature dish of Quebec is a point of culinary pride. (And sometimes intrigue. What better alias to figure in a political scandal than Pierre Poutine of “robocall” fame?) More than half a century after it first appeared in rural Quebec, restaurants across the country are providing new spins on the iconic dish, throwing maple syrup, pulled pork and even lobster into the mix.

Here are seven facts about poutine you probably didn’t know:

1. It is widely accepted that poutine was invented in 1957 when a trucker asked Fernand Lachance to add cheese curds to his fries in Warwick, Que.

2. “Poutine” is Quebec slang for “a mess.”

3. The average male would have to jog 2.5 hours to burn off the 1,422 calories contained in the country-style poutine (bacon, chicken, gravy, fries, onions and mushrooms) available nationwide through Smoke’s Poutinerie.

4. In 1970s New York and New Jersey, poutine was served as a late-night side dish at clubs. They called
it “disco fries.”

5. At a 2010 poutine-eating contest in Toronto, the winner, Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti of Chicago (pictured above) ate 5.9 kg of poutine.

6. The largest poutine in the world was made in Saguenay, Que., and weighed 654 kg—about as much as a large horse.

7. Considered the most expensive poutine in Montreal, the poutine au foie gras is available for $23 at Au Pied de Cochon

See also: 12 foods Canada has given the world (besides poutine)

Sources: Restaurants; news reports; Livestrong.com

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Calvin Trillin and Adam Gopnik on Canadian comestibles

By Jessica Allen - Monday, June 11, 2012 at 6:16 PM - 0 Comments

Mark O'Neill/Luminato

Late on Sunday morning some 200 food lovers paid $30 a piece to hear Calvin Trillin and Adam Gopnik talk about Canadian comestibles. If there was anyone counting on a weighty discussion on the state of food in this country, they would have been sorely disappointed. Trillin, 77, and Gopnik, 56, were like old friends sitting on a porch catching up, telling tales and throwing zingers. And from the sounds of the applause and belly-shaking laughter from the mostly silver-haired audience that punctuated the 80-minute talk, everyone left fully satiated.

What gives these accomplished writers–Gopnik is the author of eight books and has been a New Yorker contributor since 1986, while Trillin will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a New Yorker contributor next year–the know-how to discuss this country’s food affairs? Well, explained Gopnick, ”we are both greedy guys who like to eat, and we’re both semi-Canadian.” He was raised in Montreal, while Trillin has spent the past 39 years summering at his Nova Scotia home.

That’s precisely where Trillin, who grew up in Kansas City, had his first real Canadian food experience: “Being able to get fresh fish off the boat. You either learn to clean the fish or not eat the fish.” Nova Scotia is also where Trillin does a little cooking. An abundance of good ingredients means he can do it simply. Take his smoked mackerel pâté–one of the three to eight dishes, “depending on how you count,” Trillin can prepare. All you have to do is blitz the fish in a food processor. (On special occasions, like Canada Day, he might add a little mayonnaise and a perhaps a squeeze of lemon.)

Continue…

First, they took Manhattan

By Andrew Potter - Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 9:43 AM - 1 Comment

Quebec’s slow but steady cultural takeover of Manhattan nears completion. The New Yorker this week devotes four pages to poutine, but for evidence of the full colonization, listen to Calvin Trillin’s podcast in which he and an editor eat poutine and talk about Canada at a restaurant in the LES. It’s almost like we’re a foreign country or something.

A slice of Montreal in Manhattan

By Kate Lunau - Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 4:45 PM - 6 Comments

As anyone who’s ever put fork to fry knows, poutine is a deliciously unholy mess—not exactly the kind of food you’d expect beautiful people to hawk. But that’s just what Quebec-born model Thierry Pepin plans to do. This Saturday, he’ll throw open the doors at TPoutine, a New York City restaurant devoted to the Quebec comfort food. “When I moved here, I couldn’t believe people didn’t know about it,” says Pepin, who’s modelled for Armani and Ralph Lauren. “It’s so popular in Canada, there’s no reason it can’t make it here, too.”

Poutine’s been threatening to take New York by storm since at least 2007, when the Times called it the next big thing. Back then, the posh Inn LW12, in the Meatpacking District, was offering an upscale version with spiced pork belly. But the Inn has since closed; today, just a few of the city’s restaurants offer poutine. Sheep Station, an Australian pub in Brooklyn, has it on the menu, for example, but that may be no surprise, since chef and owner Martine Lafond is from Quebec. It’s still a niche product, Lafond says, but those who like it, like it a lot: whenever a customer orders it, “the plate is licked clean.” Continue…

Flogging the Live Blog, Dog

By Martin Patriquin - Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 7:25 PM - 4 Comments

So here at DMA central we’ve spent the day drinking coffee, doing calisthenics and watching with mild amusement the return of this comely young career wrecker in preparation for tonight’s French debate, which we will be live blogging. Gilles Duceppe, that old hand, is by far the most adept at these things, and it will be interesting to see how much he throws at Harper will stick. The polls have indicated a considerable drop in Conservative support in Quebec; those same polls, however, indicate a large number of undecided voters. This corner, or at least this half of this corner, predicts a several choice haymakers from Duceppe.

Also interesting: Jack Layton, and his sudden “Wow, he’s good. Et quelle belle moustache!” appeal in these parts. Can he improve on his one seat in Quebec? Probably not. Can his inroads here further split the federalist vote? Surely!

Oh, yeah. This guy. Unlike my esteemed fellow goddamned Englishman, I happen think Stéphane Dion did fairly well on Tout Le Monde En Parle. Can he build on his lead in his native province?

Elizabeth May: Her French is about as good as Don Cherry’s, but she wins huge points just for basically fighting her way into the debates. She won’t win any seats in Quebec, but her party is arguably more of a fit with the Québec Solidaire vote than the NDP.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go change into my costume. See you all at eight here.

A comment on contemporary mores? A slice of life? Vorshtein?

By selley - Monday, May 26, 2008 at 5:42 PM - 11 Comments

We have agonized over this editorial cartoon from Saturday’s Globe and Mail (click to enlarge), and we have no idea what it’s supposed to mean. Is this Quebec’s present? Its future? By what mischance did this friendly merchant find himself with his multiethnic panoply-on-wheels in Hérouxville, of all places? What has this unimpressed-looking man been served, and why did he order it if he didn’t want it?

We invite interpretations from both Deux Maudits Anglais and Megapundit readers.