To Poutine or not to Poutine: Comfort food in Montreal (with a little healthy tea for balance)

Poutine: Quebec comfort food extreme - French fries, cheese curds and brown gravy

French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds - would such comfort-food-extreme taste as satisfying by any other name. . . ?  

While visiting Montreal last month, one regional dish we were interested in sampling was poutine. It's not terribly hard to find as its found in fast food restaurants in the province of Quebec, including St-Hubert.  This chain's specialty is chicken, but it not only has poutine on its menu, it has its own very special version which adds barbecue sauce and smoky seasonings to the mix. 

Our first visit to St-Hubert. We had chicken sandwiches, but no poutine here. 

Although we don't doubt that St-Hubert, or even MacDonalds, does poutine justice, we were looking for something more dine-in than drive-through. So, once situated at our hotel, our search began with the aid of my smart phone which sent us on a detour, but not one that wasn't appreciated.

St-Hubert offers traditional and its own version of poutine.

After punching in "poutine nearby", on a very hot, humid afternoon, intensified by several working construction sites in the city, my phone led us to a little cafe -  pretty, but not telegraphing "poutine vibes".  A quick check in with the hostess confirmed our suspicions. It was the antithesis to fried potatoes and gravy:  a health food restaurant! Dommage pour nous.

Not poutine. Wise phone leads us here.

Kombucha tea, refreshing and delicious

But, we discovered our smart phone was also a wise phone. Tired and overheated, we decided to stay and save the poutine search for later.  Here we found the most amazing salads (yogurt dressing was incredible) and we ordered a raspberry Kombucha* (a fermented tea drink) that refreshed and hydrated. We appreciated our modern-day technology for knowing we needed a little good-for-you food and drink during our poutine quest, which we saved for the evening.

This time, we turned to Montreal's Old Town and found what we were looking for. Again, not a difficult search since in plain view, we spotted a restaurant called "Montreal Poutine".  We felt pretty certain we'd find what we were looking for there. And, of course, we did.

We ordered up the traditional poutine, but again, they had variations that filled two pages of the menu. Finally, our wait was over.

But, where did poutine originate? 

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, there’s some dispute over who created the first poutine dish, but all stand behind that it started in rural Quebec in the 1950’s.  The nearby fromageries supplied the cheese curds and the fries and gravy were fairly standard offerings at local diners and food trucks. Putting them all together was what created the magic.

Don't fear the poutine!

Once it made its way to Montreal, some twenty years later, fancy restaurant chefs began turning poutine into haute cuisine with various iterations including Italian poutine (made with spaghetti sauce or sausage in place of gravy) and veggie poutine (made with mushroom sauce and vegetables). 

(The US even got into the poutine craze in the 1970's with "disco fries" which were popular in New York and New Jersey. Shredded mozzarella replaced cheese curds while, during this same era, my weekend muted, cotton tops were replaced with shiny, satin shirts.)

Enjoying a bit of messy pudding!

In the 1980's poutine came full-circle and became a fast food staple, starting with Burger King. It returned to its roots as an unpretentious, high-calorie, restauration rapide staple.

The etymology of poutine is as uncertain as its original creators, but most believe it came from the English word, "pudding". Poutine is also Quebec slang for "mess".  To answer a question we posited at the start of this blog, we believe whether you call it pudding or a mess or a messy pudding, it does indeed taste the same.

And, how did we find the taste? 

Well, if you are famished, I think it would take the edge off very quickly. It's heavy and salty and greasy. I enjoyed the first few bites, but I think Chris was more in the camp of a former premier of Quebec, Jean Charest. When asked how she liked the dish, she said, "I love poutine so much that I eat it as little as possible". 

On BTS menu for the Fall. Stay tuned!

That being said, I did purchase a poutine recipe card and plan to make some in the future. Like my attempts on sticky toffee pudding and other kitchen disasters, I've already got a handle on the mess . . . stay tuned!

*Kumbucha tea blog coming soon!