What is Poutine?

Authentic Canadian Poutine has been called French Fries, Cheese Curds and Gravy or even Poutine Fries in some culinary circles.

You’ll find Poutine served as an appetizer, side dish and even a main course. It can even be served as is or alongside meat.

The meaning of poutine (pronounced “poo-tin” or “poo-teen,” depending upon where you’re from in Canada) is basically “gravy and chips” or “chips cheese and gravy.” (Chips in the sense of french fries, as it’s known outside of the United States.) The origin of Poutine started in Quebec, Canada, near Warwick, around 1957. The story is that a customer asked restaurant owner Fernand Lachance to add cheese curds to their order of french fries. Lachance wasn’t altogether thrilled about this request, saying that it would “make a dreadful mess,” but he did so out of respect to his customer’s request. Thus, Poutine was created. So, thanks to the serendipitous customer and restauranteur Lachance, who invented Poutine, this dish has been celebrated ever since as a symbol of Canadian cuisine.

Poutine tastes like a mix of the best french fries you’ve ever had, combined with the squeaky goodness of cheese curds, slathered not in ketchup but beefy gravy—yum!

It’s best if you eat it with a fork, sans hands—for goodness sake—and dip, dip away into the gravy, scooping up every bit of cheese along the way.

Usually, the cheese curds in Poutine are white versus cheddar yellow. But around here in Wisconsin, you’ll most likely find the yellow version.

You might wonder where to buy cheese curds for Poutine. Simply put, if you live in Wisconsin, you have easy access to this product. If you live outside the borders, however, it might be a bit more difficult or non-existent thanks to laws forbidding the sale of this ingredient. You might want to check this article Where to Find Cheese Curds for more information.

Many grocery stores sell cheese curds either refrigerated or not. But because this product is perishable, it doesn’t have a long shelf-life and the renowned squeak that goes with cheese curds becomes obsolete after a day or so in the refrigerator. So fresh is always best.

For Canadian Poutine, you can deep fry (which most folks do), air fry, or oven fry your french fries. They need, however, to be nice and crispy, because otherwise the gravy (See Below) will make them soggy. I have a quick and easy go-to recipe that I rely on: Homemade French Fries Recipe. It uses only three ingredients and the results are amazing.

There’s a lot of mystique surrounding Poutine gravy. Some folks choose to use St. Hubert Poutine Sauce (canned or in packet), while others hold their secret homemade recipe close to their culinary heart. I also share my own beef gravy recipe for poutine: Easy Canadian Poutine Fries Recipe.

Considered pub grub, Poutine is delicious as an appetizer, side and main dish and is now served at many restaurants, bars and taverns throughout North America. You can pair Canadian Poutine with beer, lagers, ale, most mixed cocktails and specialty drinks, along with Hard Cider, as well as, your standard soft drinks.