poutine

Poutine


1/28/10

Tonight for dinner I am making poutine in honor of my wife’s French Canadian ancestry. The funny part is she never knew what poutine was until I told her. Regardless I feel we commune with our ancestors through food. That is why cuisine of Italian, Irish and Spanish origin so frequent my table. The recipes for me are a way to reflect upon those family members we have lost and the times I eat the same dish with them. Other dishes simply are my education regarding a geographic region in which a long dead relative originated from. For example my great grandmother and grandfather were from Andalucía Spain. I never met them, they were long sense dead by the time I came around but I commune with them through my research on Andalucian cooking. Some recipes survive through the generations long before my great grandparents, and perhaps their lineage as well. Food binds us together and takes us back through time if you allow it too.

Poutine for those not in the know, and if you have never heard of it that is completely normal, it is a specialty of Quebec Canada, specifically from Montreal. A simple dish of pomme frits with gravy and cheese curd. The translation of poutine means “dirty mess” which it looks like from afar, but it certainly is not a mess to the palette especially if you are drunk or cold or both. Poutine comes is several variations from the base dish, frys, gravy, curd. To this base a whole assortment of mixed items can be added. Tonight on mine I will add a variety of pork products, some ground pork, some tasso ham, some bacon. But I am just on a hog rally tonight and want to use up my excessive supply of recently cured pork products. Basically anything beyond that simple base that sounds good to you is far game, but use caution on the gravy. Homemade gravy is key to this dish, don’t fuck around with canned or powered abortions please…do it right or don’t do it at all.

The best part of Poutine is that it fills you up and warms you up. And I am both hungry and cold today. California has been gray and wet for days there was some sun today but it did not warm the soul so I am hoping Poutine will do the trick for me….will post a pic later. Until next time..Chao..