On the Hunt for Quebec's Best Poutine

[cpzilliacus]

Wall Street Journal (note: paywall may interfere - if you cannot read this, PM me with an e-mail address and I will send you a free link):

On the Hunt for Quebec's Best Poutine - Where's the richest, runniest, gut-busting-est combo of fries, gravy and cheese? In the dish's Canadian birthplace

QUEBEC'S CONTRIBUTION to the junk-food arts has been on a tear of late. You can find poutine–french fries and nuggets of curd cheese smothered in gravy–at New York hot spots like Fatty 'Cue and M. Wells Steakhouse. It has invaded menus from Miami to San Diego; Chicago kicked off an annual poutine festival last year.

But is poutine better in its homeland? And more important: Is there even such a thing as a great poutine?

Those questions occurred to me during poutine week in Montreal, where chefs were judged on their attempts to enhance the dish's foundational triumvirate. Offerings included a version with Indian butter chicken; a coffee-and-doughnuts poutine (potato doughnuts, red-eye gravy); seal-meat poutine; poutine-covered pizzas; even a Japanese seafood "disaster" poutine. The winner: the General Tao poutine from an establishment called Poutineville.

Poutine variations are certainly crazier in Quebec than anywhere else. They're also often pricier, given the added ingredients. The problem with aiming to make poutine fancy is that the dish is meant to be trashy. Trying to improve it is like adding a penthouse to a mobile home. Poutine only makes sense at the end of a drunken revel, after playing outdoor winter sports or on a road trip–ideally through rural Quebec, the concoction's birthplace.

[6a]

That is an outstanding sign at Chez Ben. I've never had poutine, which is a shame given my relative proximity to Canada but it's something I've always wanted to try. Perhaps a trip just like this is the way to do it.

[Alps]

I am very, very
very

very, very, very

very

tempted
(very)
to try to hit up all 10 places in one weekend.
This year.
Soon.

[jakeroot]

I've watched enough South Park to know that Canadians on the hunt for the best poutine would normally be a stereotype, and given that, I find this hilarious!

[cpzilliacus]

I am very, very
very

very, very, very

very

tempted
(very)
to try to hit up all 10 places in one weekend.
This year.
Soon.

It sounds like tasty fun, but given my weight problem, such an adventure would probably add at least 5 kilos to my (already ample) spare tire.

[froggie]

Must.  Have.  Smoked.  Meat.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I've watched enough South Park to know that Canadians on the hunt for the best poutine would normally be a stereotype, and given that, I find this hilarious!

Stereotypes exist for a reason.

I am very [...] tempted [...] to try to hit up all 10 places in one weekend.
This year.
Soon.

I'd join. I haven't been to any of these.

That is an outstanding sign at Chez Ben.

It's almost as big as it looks. Something to behold at night, with its 50s-style neon animation.

[webfil]

My whole body is aching right now for some of that golden, sacred triumvirate.

[hbelkins]

I've never had poutine, but it's one thing I'd definitely like to try sometime. I don't know how you could go wrong with fries, gravy and cheese curds.

[Road Hog]

It's not a stereotype if it's true.