Shanthi’s Blog

Ah poutine! The Canadian comfort food of choice is well known for its trinity of golden, crisp French fries, dripping in a molten sticky mix of cheese curds and piping hot gravy. But where does this miracle hangover cure come from, and what is its place in Canadian culture?

The origins of the dish aren’t quite clear, with many rural Québécois towns claiming creative rights to the dish. CTV.ca  claim, along with most poutine followers, that the dish was invented by the owner of a Warwick restaurant, Fernand LaChance in 1957, after a trucker asked for French fries and cheese curds in the same bag. LaChance reportedly replied, “ça va faire une maudite poutine” or “that’s going to make a damn mess” and although messy, it was also delicious.

Another popular urban legend attributes the concoctions creation to Jean Paul Roy of Drummondville, who at his patrons request, added cheese curds to his “patate-sauce” in 1964, turning it into “fromage-patate-sauce”, or poutine.  Whoever the creator, by the 1970s, poutine was gaining notoriety here in Canada.

In 2000, when then Presidential candidate, George W. Bush thanked Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Poutine for his endorsement, it confirmed two things for Canadians. One, that the soon-to-be US President had no clue about “our most important neighbour to the north of us”; and two, that poutine had entered the Canadian national consciousness.

For some deliciously fatty reason Canada has never been able to shake it away.

And fatty it is, “according to one scale, a medium-size serving of poutine can contain more than 20 grams of fat and 450 calories. Over the course of several servings, those stats are going to add up to a lot of extra insulation, which is useful when you live in a place where the temperature drops to -30 Celsius in the winter,” writes Thompson Rivers student Adam Day.

But the fat content is ok, when you are on a tour of duty in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was no surprise when CanWest reporter Frances Bula reported the menu change when Quebec troops arrived in 2004. The new addition? Poutine, of course.

However for some late night party-goers the fat content is the exact cure for the hangover blues. “Many young Quebecers find poutine has an ability to soak up the alcohol and expand in the stomach” said Gazette writer, Marianne White.  As a result, more and more fast food chains are expanding their menus to include the Quebec staple. International chains in Canada, such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC all sell the nation’s most recognisable dish, although poutine purists won’t touch the stuff.

Poutine is also gaining momentum across the border in New York with many fine dining eateries including the dish on the menu. Ironically, one of the best; according to Shania Friedman (New York Press writer), blogger Jeffery ‘Tastes’ Orlick and New York journalist, Siobhan O’Connor can be found in an Australian themed restaurant, Sheep Shack in Brooklyn.

But if you need any more convincing that poutine is one of Canada’s greatest innovations, look no further then the CBC’s 50 greatest Canadian inventions list. Poutine helped round out the top ten, beating other inventions, such as Lacrosse (#28), the retractable beer cartoon handle (#22), the blackberry (#18) and standard time (#15).