Getting Ready for Poutine Week 2015!!!

And the countdown is on.... http://lapoutineweek.com/fr/montreal/

10 Poutines You Need To Eat During Montreal’s Poutine Week 2015

Best Poutine: Fromagerie d'Etoile

Got me a poutine in Magog, Qc the other day and almost fell off my stole... It was out of this world - home made cheese curds, pepper sauce, hand cut double fried french fries, hamburger, and mushrooms - If you ever are in town and need a fix, GO!!!!

Fromagerie d'Etoile

Poutinville - Poutine Reinvented!

The pursuit continues... This rest has a great gimmick in that you can create your very own Poutine with exactly what you want. Pogos, bacon, chicken, hot peppers, mushrooms and on and on... They also have a 15pound poutine for the brave - a cost of 75$ you better eat it all.

HOME

I had a bacon, mushroom, pepper sauce masterpiece.

The Perfect Poutine - 2013

This poutine came from a brew pub in Dunham, QC... It had a pepper sauce and was a bit creamy in texture. The fries we ok, but needed a bit more crisp, the cheese was too cool, thus never married very well with everything else... Overall ok!

This was from the Pataterie in Bedford, QC which I think is one of the best! It could have been better, because it was rather early in the day and the sauce still needed to reduce. The fries are crazy good, the cheese succulent. Still one of my favourite.

Poutine War

Finally a site dedicated to the poutine...

Poutinewar.com is a website dedicated to the best dish ever: Poutine! The pinnacle of culinary excellence in three ingredients.

Poutinewar.com wants to share, in an interactive way, its love for poutine with poutine aficionados. On this site, you finally have the chance to give your opinion about where to find the best poutine, meet the talented chefs that are behind your favourite poutine, find poutine recipes, admire poutine inspired art, read professional poutine reviews and a lot, lot more!

And of course your evaluations will be tabulated to finally establish WHO MAKES THE BEST POUTINE IN THE WORLD!!!

The Perfect Poutine - Richmond

With the warmer weather finally coming around the greasy spoon cantines are awaking from the winter slumber. I was in Richmond, QC. a week ago and had a craving for fries, cheese curd and sauce... Found this place that had over 20 different poutines on the menu, I took the house special -  the Ti-Roux; fries, cheese curd, brown gravy, hot dogs, ground beef, sausage, bacon and a side order of indigestion. It was delicious - meat. meat and more meat can never do the bodies too much harm, right?

Forever in Pursuit - 2013

Occasionally I go to visit a friend simply named Bossfry for a soiree of fine wines and delicious foods; this past session we decided to make poutine and burgers - a man's delight! 

However, we wanted it to be a bit different yet professional, so...

We made fresh onion rings with a bit of club soda, flour and bread crumbs - fried at 365. These little beauties would top our burgers.

Inside the patties we put capers, dijon, garlic, thai red curry, one egg, bread crumbs, cumin and S&P

We made a sweet / white potato mix for our poutine topped with shavings of parmesan cheese and a quick chicken based gravy.

The Boss manning the hot oil.

Simple yet totally outstanding taste, with the cheese, the sweet from the sweet potatoes and the rich hot gravy - yum time!

The burgers were stacked high, with tomatoes, lettuce, onion rings, a spicy chutney, and the usual burger toppings as per the taste of the individual.

We discovered the optimal fry to be at 365 degrees - these fries were double fried, so 1st fry was at 325 degrees, then blasted for crunch at 365. Excellent fry or as the Boss refers, "the perfect fry"...

Nice Night!

The Perfect Poutine - Bedford - 2013

After curling the other night I was famished and needed a quick fix. It was late, I was tired and I didn't want to wait for anything or anybody. No fear, the fat man's cantine was open! Till 11 pm on top of it all. The poutine was outstanding. Sure I was hungry, but this was beyond that feeling of hungry, this was a perfect poutine. The sauce was the start; thick, rich and savoury. The fries were golden and crisp until the sauce seeped in and took over. And the cheese was classic curd - rubbery and squeaky. Luscious!

Chez Roger [2012]

Forever in pursuit of the perfect Poutine, I heard that this small cantine in Farnham, Quebec had something special to offer in the way of fries, cheese and gravy... IMO looked amazing, but lacked in cheese and salt. The sauce can make or break perfection, this falling way short.

The Perfect Poutine - Part III [2012]

The Ingredients:

The Potato:
The first choice is the "frozen" western grown or Cavendish crinkle or 3/8 straight cut. The western cut contains less water and is meatier. The pre-cut frozen is the industry standard and assures better quality and consistancy. A single portion for a Perfect Poutine should not be more than 4oz.

The Cheese:
Any brand of curd cheese will do. But size of curnell is important. Not so large pieces that it will clump but small enough to sprinkle. Cheese should be at room temp.

The Sauce:
Your choice but check the ingredients for calories and other nasties. Don't drown the fries and cheese but enough to give the mixture a taste to die for. sauce should be poured at about 140F.

The Grande Final!
Now for mixing the perfect combination or your fired!

A) Load 4oz portion of frozen fries in a 365F fryer. Remove when crispy and golden. Allow  to drain, sprinkling of salt for flavour. Time:about 2:30 min.

B) Load 2oz of fries in a container. Add a sprinkling of cheese. Add hot sauce but not too much. Time: about 1 min.

C) Repeat B for second layer over the first. Time: about 1 min.

Practice makes perfect. If you follow this formula you cannot fail! But the trick is to serve customer within 5 minutes of ordering. (The downside is if the customer needs a fork and knife, you screwed up big time!) As a bonus, a 4oz. serving will contain about 500 calories of healthy combination of fries, cheese and sauce.

Let us know how you make out. You are now have gone from a dumb short order cook to a master Perfect Poutine Chef!

The Master

Memphe La Micro: Poutine Trials [2012]

I had lunch at a brew pub in Magog, Quebec the other day. It was a beautiful day, so I sat out on their terrace and had a wonderful blonde ale, they call le blond sur la lac and I sampled their poutine. It was quite good; crispy fries, some curd (not enough for me personally) and their sauce seemed generic. But not bad! Check it, Memphe La Micro

The Perfect Poutine - Part II: The Equipment [2012]

Some of the top fryers for under 100$, but can do the job!

The Equipment:

A vital part of making a Perfect Poutine. A commercial gas or electric fryer should  have sufficient recovery capacity to maintain optimum oil temperature of 360F to 365F during frying cycle. Only vegetable shortening is recommended. This ideal frying temp. minimises oil absorption in the potato to <10% and internal temp. of >200F. A Hot Potato! Crispy outside, retains temp. to melt the cheese and minimises absorption of sauce. A fryer is only as good as the load it carries. At most, a half basket at a time. What's the rush? The holding time of a fried potato should not be more than 3 min. Better still - the potion should be mixed in with cheese and sauce without delay!
PS: Not recommended for home production but doable without burning house down!

The Perfect Poutine - Part 1: The Origins [2012]

The Origins:

The origin of the Poutine dates back to the 1950s in Victoriaville, Que. The basic ingredients have not changed. Fries, curd cheese and gravy. Fast forward to the 90's and even MacDonalds gets on the bandwagon. There must something to this strange combination of basically unhealthy, artery clogging food that keeps growing beyond the Quebec border. Until now there were no scientific or technical papers available to identify the merits or calorific values of this junk food. Unfortunately, we all have a hidden desire to devour one with at least 1,000 calories that comes with it. 

The following recipe for serving a Perfect Poutine has been scientifically tested and proven. The ingredients are readily available, frying equipment is standard and any dumb short order cook can put it together. The real Secret is in Time & Temperature!

Read On!