2000-09-29
Dear Diary:

Alright, I admit it. I said the "P" word in my guestbook.

Yes, I spoke about Poutine.

Poutine is one of those dark little secrets that those of us who live in Quebec share. None of us admits that we EAT the stuff, but we do. (Except me, of course.) Why else would all the big fast food chains (including McDonalds and Burger King) offer it in this province, if we didn't eat it, eh?

(I would be using the collective "we" here, because, as I've mentioned before, I Don't Eat Poutine.)

And I sweartogawd that I don't know HOW that can of Poutine Sauce that I photographed for this entry got into my cupboard.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Poutine, the ultimate Quebec taste treat, eh. As you can see from the picture on the can, Poutine is not part of your basic heart healthy diet. You start with a layer of french fries, sprinkle in a layer of cheese curds, more fries, more curds and then you top this lump o' artery clogging goodness with hot gravy, turning the curds into a mass o' melted cheese. Or so I've heard.

(Did you notice on the upper left of the label it says, "Very Low in Fat". Ummm, people, we are pouring this stuff over FREAKIN' FRENCH FRIES AND CHEESE CURDS WHICH ARE PURE FAT. When I read the can in the grocery store I felt like saying, "Could we have a reality check over here in Aisle Five, pronto?")

There are variations, schisms in the Way Of The Poutine. Some places substitute spaghetti sauce for the gravy and call that Italian Poutine. Most thinking folk, however, consider this unspeakable heresy and only consider the fries-curds-gravy triumvirate to be the One True Poutine.

There is an unwritten law that first time visitors to Quebec MUST eat Poutine. When our sin-laws came over from France this summer, we made sure they experienced this apogee of Quebec culinary achievement.

They were suitably impressed and actually cleaned up their plates, but these are people from a country where they eat garden pests (snails/escargots) so I'm not sure how much weight we should give their opinion, eh.

Poutine used to be unique to Quebec, but now the Poutine virus is spreading. I've seen it in Vermont and also in the parts of Ontario which border on Quebec. We'll know it's REALLY caught on when we see the Iron Chefs fight Battle Poutine. As you can imagine, I can hardly wait.

We lost another unique bit of Quebec yesterday, our 15th Canadian prime minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. I was going to write a little bit about what this remarkable man meant to me, but CF188 did a much better job than I ever could.

It's a keeper, CF.

--Marn

Old Drivel - New Drivel


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Want to delve into my sordid past?
She's mellllllllllllllting - Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 - Back off, Buble - Monday, Dec. 19, 2011 - Dispersed - Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 - Nothing comes for free - Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 - None of her business - Friday, Nov. 04, 2011 -


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