Happy Birthday Canada
Jun 30th, 2008 | By Peter Minakis | Category: Canadiana, Gravy, Potato, Quebecois, Recipe, Side
July 1st is Canada Day or our nation’s
birthday. Tomorrow this young country will turn 141 and I’m every bit a proud Canadian as I am Greek.
Canada is a nation of the Native peoples, the French and English majority and the multicultural mosaic that’s made up of all the other ethnicities.
I’m grateful for the opportunity Canada gave to my parents and my family to begin a new life where hard work was rewarded, that one could achieve any goal if they set their mind to it, a country full of tolerance, peaceful and safe.
Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict emailed me to see if I was interested in participating in a food event that captured the essence of Canadian flavours and foods.
Canada has some of the best that International cuisine has to offer and this is large part due to the rich tapestry of ethnicities within our borders.
After asking my parents and brother what food(s) captured the essence of Canada’s food…a unanimous reply was French Fries and Gravy.
What’s unique about Canada’s fries & gravy is the Montreal specialty of Poutines. Poutines are basically a dish of french fries, cheese curds and gravy.
This dish will NOT appear on the menu of any diets currently being exercised but you only live once, life’s not a dress rehearsal and Poutines are too damn delicious to not indulge in every now & then.
Cheese curds have the combined texture of Mozzarella and Halloumi and although widely available in Canada, some difficulty will be had in finding them elsewhere.
What you need here are french fries, cheese curds (Mozzarella is the closest alternative) and a deep brown gravy made from a rich beef stock.
There’s no real recipe here other than to do your French Fries properly, seek out cheese curds and make a kick-ass, deeply flavourful and thick beef gravy.
Happy Canada Day!
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Happy Canada Day to you and your family!
Happy Canada Day to you, Peter! And enjoy the non-diet food in moderation. As my beloved loves to say, “Life is short. Eat dessert First!”
Happy Canada Day Peter!!! I can;t wait to eat up my fair share of Poutines!!! Impossible to get cheese curds here so I am always smuggling them home!!! I love the really squeaky fresh ones (not in my poutines though)!!!
Happy Canada Day to you and to all Canadians! My Montreal-born husband will be celebrating, too.
Well I have to say a lot of friends from Canada and some friends that I love so live in Canada, to all them a big hug and happiness to a wonderful country!!! xGloria
Happy Happy Canada Day! The Fries sound delicious!
Happy Canada Day! You have truly elevated fries to heavenly status – WOW! They sound scrumptious beyond compare!
We do have cheese curds in Utah but they are from mild yellow cheddar, not what you use for this dish I don’t think.
I would abandon my diet for a day to try it!
Happy Canada Peter!! (and Family)
Happy Canada Day to you, Peter!
Happy Canada Birthday Pete! I’m so happy to see you talk about Poutines (finally!!). :D
Happy Canada Day, Peter. I hope you have a fun and relaxing holiday!
The Poutines sound great! Oddly enough, there is a cheese shop a few blocks from me that regularly has fresh cheese curds. Hmmm.
mmmm – cheese. double mmmmm – fries! happy Canada Day!
Poutine is amazing! Just as well I didn’t live in Canada for too long. Between the poutine and those waffley things that were sold in little cabins (what were they called? Claws?) I’d be the size of a house! Sooo good.
Happy Canada Day!
Cynthia, thank you so much!
Marjie, I haven’t has Poutines in years…it was a guilt-free session!
Judy, dig in while here and I’d love to take you to my “secret” eatery…best damn food for the price in TO.
Lydia, Happy Canada Day to the pantry man!
Gloria, you’re always so kind and full of warm wishes…ahhh.
Thank you Arundathi…I wish I could share a plate with you.
Astra, welcome back from your vaation…Poutines are a delish as they look.
Kalyn, everyone should have poutines at least once…damn the South Beach diet, just for a bit.
Thank you Marie, you Yanks are right up behind us.
Thank you Jen…it’s firecracker day!
Thanks Heathz…I know you’d be in this plate like a truffle hound!
Sticky, I’m sure they’ll work just fine…make this in moderation but do enjoy!
Thanks Lisa…you should try it sometime.
Wendy, I think you’re speaking of beaver claws…they are delish as well. Thanks for the wishes…we’ll be hearing bag pipes today too!
Sadly finding cheese curds here has tested even my determination. I have tried several substitutes but haven’t hit on a winner yet. My Italian husband thinks I’m nuts when he sees me experimenting with poutines, but hopefully this summer I can convince him to try the real thing! Happy Canada Day Peter!
Happy Canada Day, Peter!
Go Canada! As a Buffalonian, I’ve got nothing but love for our neighbors across the lake/river. Poutine was one of the first things I was told I “had to eat” on my first trip over. Unreal. What’s not to love about fries, cheese and gravy?!
I’m very surprised that three of us posted about poutine! I thought I would be the only one :) Thanks for sharing,
Jess
Happy Canada Day Peter!!!
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Canada Day Peter. I love poutine. Can’t wait to eat some this summer when I visit my daughter.
oh man that does make me think of quebec! i have to tell you we love our cheese curds here in Minnesota too, though we fry them in batter, yum. Funny when I lived in California cheese stores laughed at me when I asked for them
i’ve never seen such tremendous fries. would it be unladylike to just bury my face in them? probably. i don’t care. :)
I have to try these when I visit this month. Then walk around the city twice.
Joanne, I feel for you…we take these Canadian ingredients for granted. Poutines are delish and to Hell with the health concerns.
Thanx Mary.
Hi Andrew and welcome. Toronto luvs Buffalo folk and we owe you guys alot for Buffalo wings.
Jessica, it’s a testament to how delish they are and uniquely Canadian.
Giz, Happy Canada Day to you!
Thanks Jessica.
Helene, bonne fete du Canada!
Kat, it’s great to hear you & others around the ‘States have access to cheese curds!
Grace, with your name – you could NEVER been viewed as unladylike…dive in.
Glam, we’ll have lots O’fun again…burn off that poutines calories.
HAPPY CANADA!!!!!!
My official test to determine whether a dish is worth all the calories is this: is it worth an extra 30 (or in this case 45 minutes) on the elliptical? The answer: a resounding YES! Go Canada!
It is cold and wet and wondy here today, so you have no idea how good these fries look at this second – don’t do this to me!
That poutine looks good! It has been too long since I last had poutine. I will have to try making it at home.
Happy Canada Day! As for poutine… I don’t care for the stuff myself. It is more of a French-Canadian thing, never quite caught on outside Quebec.
Peter, poutine is one of my favorite snacks! We’re heading off to Canada (YYZ) on Saturday & my daughter made two requests: (1) H&M (2) poutine!
Happy Canada Day! It was a holiday here, too, but not for the same reason. Cheers!
Thanks Never Full, us Canadians like to toot our horn too ya know!
Susan, I went out for a good, long walk today, did some yard work, helped a neighbor out…burn the Poutines off!
Cakelaw, these taste evil-good.
Kevin, make a batch and invite some friends over so as to not eat the whole batch!
Sam, I’d say Poutine are alive & well in Toronto (at least). Harveys, Burger King and KFC have Poutine still on their menus, many pubs will offer it, many chip trucks offer Poutines and even Bymark has a $25 lobster poutine.
The Chase, YYZ is Toronto and I hope you have a fabulous time here. I’ve attached a link from a Chowhound thread with some suggested places to find Poutine here.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/358659
Next to dolmades poutine is my favourite snack in a food group of its own. It is harder sometimes to find fresh cheese curds that have that characteristic squeak:D
Chips and gravy for lunch at university made me the woman I am today (i.e twice the woman I was) good thing we didn’t have cheese curds as well!
Happy Canada Day! Sorry it’s late – I’m still catching up :)
I’ve tried poutine once – lush – I just need to track down some curds so I can give it a go here!
Man I love me some Poutine! Roberto and I have been vowing to make it at home after a fabulous trip to Montreal 2 years ago…and we just never got around to it. Didn’t know what to do about the cheese curds…so now I know, and I am gonna have to make it soon!
I haven’t had cheese curds since my last visit to Wisconsin! (FYI – they are also good deep fried – did you deep fry these or use them as is?)
Never having visited Canada (I long to visit Lake Louise), I never would have thought to pour rich, brown gravy over fries, much less over fries AND cheese curds. It sounds odd, but at the same time I bet it’s delish. It almost seems like the perfect pub food provided the gravy would stay hot enough.
While I’m late to commenting, Happy Belated Canada Day to you and all your fellow Canadians!
I’ve never made poutine at home before, I must give it a try! Looks good. I like the patriotism, we need more of it.
Ah yes, poutines. I’ve heard about those from Canadian friends before. Always thought it sounded odd, but everyone tells me they’re wonderful. :)
Hope you had a nice holiday. I know how proud Canadians are and you have every right to be. Cheers!
Happy Canada Day! I thought of you the other day and was going to hit up the Canadian Cafe for some poutine fries but didn’t have time.
Happy Belated Canada Day Peter!
Oh man, nothing better than a good poutine. Nice job.
Oh you nailed it! We lived in Vancouver for almost a year (loved it tremendously, but was re-relocated). I remember trying these out numerous times. Never seen before & not since.
Great post!
[...] side dish, treat, indulgence is inspired by the French-Canadian dish called Poutine. Poutine is basically French Fries topped with cheese curds (white or orange) and finished with a [...]