What makes a great poutine [Food/Vendor]

2016 Apr 26
Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to do some crowd sourcing. I am doing some posts on my blog leading up to Poutine Fest on May 5-8 and was hoping to get some feedback on these questions:

1. What do you think makes a great poutine?
2. What crazy ingredient would you love to see on poutine?

Thanks so much, Ottawa Foodies! :)

Robyn

2016 Apr 26
1. Layers. Yes, the traditional way is to dump the cheese and then gravy on top of the fries, but layers just makes it better. Better distribution, better retention, better finish, better nom nom nom nom nom....

2. I want to see someone reproduce the Big Mac in poutine form the way Industria reproduced it in pizza form.

2016 Apr 26
1. Chip truck style fries. Have to be fresh cut, not frozen.
2. Dark gravy. I've had the poutine at Churchill's Pub that I frequent and the light (chicken, turkey) gravy throws me off. All the other components are there though.
3. Cheese curds.
4. Add ons
To be honest, if 1 and 2 are firing on all cylinders 3 is a less of requirement. I can slum with some shredded cheese every once in a while. 4 is usually best as an idea.

2016 Apr 26
1. Fresh cut fries, chicken gravy, layers (as mentioned by OsoloMeal) and curds that aren't too cold. I like the "squeak" they get from being out of the fridge for a while. Shredded cheese like they do it at some pizzerias is sacrilegious as it turns into soup.
2. I would love to see a fish and chips poutine. It would likely have to be after some sort of feat in order to justify the calories, but it would be heavenly. In Newfoundland you can get gravy and dressing (stuffing) with your fish and chips and I've been dreaming about it since I left.

2016 Apr 26
1. Layers, Brown gravy, extra crispy and thick fries, and cheese curds that squeeks. But not too big. You want a mouth bite of all three, not a giant curd, that is cold in the middle.
2. I've always wanted to see a poutine with different cheeses. Like a 3 cheese poutine. Curds, cheddar, and swiss or something?

2016 Apr 26
1. Layers
2. Cold-ish (but not fridge-cold) curds and hot gravy when it is plated / put together - too much melt is bad, too little melt is bad. The curd will warm up and melt on the outside just enough to maintain some squeak on the inside. Too warm a curd with hot gravy can just turn everything into a creamy gravy sauce which isn't poutine.

2016 Apr 27
Shredded cheese goes on cheese fries.
Poutine requires curds in all their squeaky glory.


2016 Apr 27
Fresh fries and curds with not too much gravy. Lots of black pepper is key IMO. Lots. Bonus points if served in styrofoam.

2016 Apr 27
Yeah, as above.

Fresh cut fries, freshly double fried. Thick, brown gravy. Layers. Cold curds that are allowed to warm in the gravy. Bonus points if there is a skin on the gravy that they have to chisel through to fulfill your order.

That's all.
No peas. No smoked meat. No butter chicken. Anything else is part of another dish and should be kept separate. Don't put bacon on it, or additional cheeses. Just leave it alone. Walk away, after you bring it to me. We're done here. I'll be enjoying this plate of joy and won't have time for you.

OWMnomnomnom

2016 Apr 28
Haha, this is great, thanks everyone! :)

2016 Apr 28
There's also a Poutine fest going on Sparks today to Sunday if you want to warm up and test out the above recommendations;)
sparkslive.com

2016 Apr 30
Post link to your post would love to read it:)

Here are few offerings from this week (there's still something special about the the good old original fries, cheese curds (St-Albert or other real deal cheese), brown sauce (mushroom or beef based). Fusion/specialty are fun to try too but hard to best a classic.

I liked the folowing videos and reviews:

bakeandbemerry.wordpress.com






History on wiki, a traveller in Quebec asked for fries, gravy cheese in a few cities and poutine was borned:) Thank you mystery business traveller
fr.m.wikipedia.org(plat)

2016 Apr 30
I will say that there is a case for chicken gravy on poutine, but that is ONLY if it is on sweet potato fry poutine. Lots of black pepper. It works.

That is the only acceptable variation on the chip truck fry-brown gravy-cold curds poutine.