This month I was fortunate enough to go on a family vacation to one of my favorite places, Canada!
From the mountain tops to the quaint French and British-style streets, it has all of the exploration and sites you would want to see in a close getaway. I have always been a fan and finally made it to Montreal, better yet for Canada Day!
I could go on and on about the beautiful churches, variety of musical and cultural offerings, and how fun the Gay, Latin or Little Italy neighborhoods are but we are all here for one thing- the food! Of course if I am going to pick one thing to dive into it is going to be Montreal’s most infamous dish- the poutine!
Originating in Quebec in the 1950’s, there is of course debate over where poutine was first invented. It was first considered an embarrassing representation of Montreal’s cuisine but has risen in fame to boast its own festivals even! I assumed the best of the best would be found in Montreal on my last trip. If you are not familiar, poutine is a simple and composed of 3 ingredients- French fries, topped with cheese curds and gravy. I was surprised to find that most places offered a variation of the dish rather than plain. Lobster, smoked meat, bacon and chicken poutine’s were more prominent on most menus rather than a poutine sans protein.
After a week of going poutine-less, Mina and I finally ordered the dish on our last day!
There was simply nothing worth the hype to me (or any of us really). The fries were regular and a little too soggy from the gravy. They need to be a thicker cut to hold the toppings with a crispy, which I thought these could use some more size. Cheese curds are difficult to mess up, but again nothing impressive and I could have done with more. The gravy may have just been the best part as it was light and thin with a peppery tang. We ordered the fried chicken option as it was the only option on the menu. Adding the fried chicken did not do much for me here. Fried chicken is delicious either way but did not do anything to make the poutine better.
I hate to put my first bad rating on the third post but I have to say, next time I think we will just pass on the poutine all together. I will keep it brief and just state that poutine is not for me, at least not this one. Disclaimer: Canada I still love you and will always celebrate your birthday!
