With the Coupe Grey in Montreal fast approaching, this seems an opportune time to revisit my favorite French-Canadian invention: poutine!
Over a year ago I beseeched the blog readers of Portland to reveal to me the location of poutine in Portland.
And the bloggers of Portland heard my call! (Well, at least altportland’s VJ and Cuisine Bonne Femme from PortlandFoodAndDrink.com, and now blogging at Food Carts Portland did.)
Since that time the Florida Room has ceased to offer poutine, but Potato Champion has taken up the call to champion poutine to the people of Portland.
And of course, you have the option of making your own poutine. I buy fresh cheese curds whenever I can find them (Rogue Creamery’s are available occasionally at the farmers markets), and I have a Québécoise friend who, whenever she makes a trip to her homeland, brings me back cans and packets of poutine gravy. And of course, french fries are easy! Other Portlanders have tried their hand at making poutine too - check out this delicious account, with photos, at Gild the (Voodoo)lily,: homemade sweet potato poutine.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Markovitch // Nov 19, 2008 at 10:20 am
what makes poutine gravy special? The stuff I’ve had at Potato Champion kind of tastes like gravy crossed with hollandaise– zingy.
2 Flynn // Nov 19, 2008 at 10:25 am
Now, I can’t at all vouch for it being quality - But the Sports Page on Hall + Scholls Ferry near Washington Square does purport to serve poutine during weekend breakfast.
3 Dave // Nov 19, 2008 at 10:35 am
Markovitch - I don’t think there’s anything particularly special about poutine gravy. It’s just a runny brown gravy. Some places, like Potato Champion, make their own, but other places use pre-packaged stuff with modified food starch and all that crap.
Flynn - I’ll have to check that out! I don’t get out to the burbs much, but if I’m near there someday soon I’ll try the poutine.
4 Markovitch // Nov 19, 2008 at 10:41 am
so I guess the curds are the ingredient that most gravy slinging joints don’t have around to throw together an impromptu Poutine.
clyde common had a foie gras poutine on the menu when they first opened… was that last winter?
5 Heather // Nov 19, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Whoa, what a nice surprise my Sitemeter has provided me! Thanks for the shout-out, man.
New Seasons has the curds for $5.49 for a small tub.
6 Devlyn // Nov 19, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Poutine gravy tends to be really salty chicken gravy. I make my own at home with boiled down homemade chicken stock and adding some thickening agent - it usually turns out much better than the stuff I’ve had from across the border. The curds are where I have trouble. They *must be* room temp before serving, or else they don’t get to that gloopy loveliness with the heat of the gravy. Yum. Now that I’ve got some peanut oil, I’m thinking of making poutine entirely from scratch. I’ll document it if I get the cajones to do the fries.
7 Dave // Nov 20, 2008 at 9:51 am
Markovitch - Clyde Common briefly offered foie gras poutine during the summer of 2007, but I didn’t get there quickly enough
Heather - Your sweet potato poutine looks like it was good, and thanks for the cheese curds tip!
Devlyn - I’ve made homemade poutine before, but the whole house smells like a deep fryer afterward, so now on occasion I’ll make it with oven fries; it’s still pretty good!
8 XUP // Nov 20, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Ah, it’s nice to see we’re clogging up arteries on both sides of the border
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