electroshock
Oct 4, 2009, 03:18 AM
Hi ladies and gents --
After nearly 20 years of putting it off because I don't get to Canada as often as I'd like, despite it being a pretty cool country to visit... I finally decided it was time to go and try poutine. :D I don't think my cardiologist would approve eating it regularly ;) but no harm in the once-in-a-long-while one-off.
Unfortunately, I couldn't try it in Quebec. The best I could do was anywhere between Niagara Falls and Toronto. Finding a reliably recommended poutinerie in the TO (and NF) area was harder than I thought because everybody had so many opinions. I know the basics: fries, squeaky fresh cheese curds, hot beef or chicken gravy on top -- and enjoy. But I'm still curious about a few things, even after having tried it.
1. What's the most authentic place for serving traditional poutine in the TO area? (Or NF/NOTL, but mostly curious about TO)
2. I know the cheese needs to be squeaky and really fresh from one of the local farms in the area. But what kind of fries/potato should it ideally be? Should it also be kinda thin/stringy or thick? I'd heard some debate about that. Some thought the fries should be a bit on the thick side to properly absorb the gravy for extra flavour.
3. What kind of gravy is most optimal? I've heard sometimes people say chicken, sometimes beef. Which is it? ;)
4. If I'm seeking traditional poutine, should I go for the easier finds such as the more common places that serves shredded (mozzarella??) cheese instead of cheese curds? I've heard that's the style NY Fries serves but wanted to avoid that place for a first taste because while it might be tasty, it's still kinda a chain...
5. Lots of folks ended up suggesting either Smoke's Poutinerie or the blue? chip truck on the east side of City Hall -- but couldn't remember a more precise description or what that outfit was called. Problematic because I heard there's 3? chip trucks in that location. :)
6. How common is it for poutine places to actually have sufficiently (say, within the past 24 hours) fresh cheese curds bought from a local farm? I'd heard that percentage was on the low side.
7. Is poutine mostly only eaten in Quebec with a little in Ontario? I'm curious how common it is in rest of the country, and how widely inhaled outside of Quebec.
8. Is there any rule of thumb, tip, or trick for figuring out if a place might be a decent poutine shop or not?
Obviously, if I really wanted traditional poutine, I'd have to go to Quebec to properly sample it in its native land. But not an option for now. TO/NF/NOTL is far easier for me to get to these days. Any tips or pointers for whenever the next time is would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
After nearly 20 years of putting it off because I don't get to Canada as often as I'd like, despite it being a pretty cool country to visit... I finally decided it was time to go and try poutine. :D I don't think my cardiologist would approve eating it regularly ;) but no harm in the once-in-a-long-while one-off.
Unfortunately, I couldn't try it in Quebec. The best I could do was anywhere between Niagara Falls and Toronto. Finding a reliably recommended poutinerie in the TO (and NF) area was harder than I thought because everybody had so many opinions. I know the basics: fries, squeaky fresh cheese curds, hot beef or chicken gravy on top -- and enjoy. But I'm still curious about a few things, even after having tried it.
1. What's the most authentic place for serving traditional poutine in the TO area? (Or NF/NOTL, but mostly curious about TO)
2. I know the cheese needs to be squeaky and really fresh from one of the local farms in the area. But what kind of fries/potato should it ideally be? Should it also be kinda thin/stringy or thick? I'd heard some debate about that. Some thought the fries should be a bit on the thick side to properly absorb the gravy for extra flavour.
3. What kind of gravy is most optimal? I've heard sometimes people say chicken, sometimes beef. Which is it? ;)
4. If I'm seeking traditional poutine, should I go for the easier finds such as the more common places that serves shredded (mozzarella??) cheese instead of cheese curds? I've heard that's the style NY Fries serves but wanted to avoid that place for a first taste because while it might be tasty, it's still kinda a chain...
5. Lots of folks ended up suggesting either Smoke's Poutinerie or the blue? chip truck on the east side of City Hall -- but couldn't remember a more precise description or what that outfit was called. Problematic because I heard there's 3? chip trucks in that location. :)
6. How common is it for poutine places to actually have sufficiently (say, within the past 24 hours) fresh cheese curds bought from a local farm? I'd heard that percentage was on the low side.
7. Is poutine mostly only eaten in Quebec with a little in Ontario? I'm curious how common it is in rest of the country, and how widely inhaled outside of Quebec.
8. Is there any rule of thumb, tip, or trick for figuring out if a place might be a decent poutine shop or not?
Obviously, if I really wanted traditional poutine, I'd have to go to Quebec to properly sample it in its native land. But not an option for now. TO/NF/NOTL is far easier for me to get to these days. Any tips or pointers for whenever the next time is would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
