Poutine

I finally had poutine! Poutine is to Canada as apple pie is to America. Poutine is a salt-bomb of fries, gravy, and cheese curds that originated in Quebec and has been adopted and adapted by every corner and culture in Canada. You can get Asian poutine at the izikaya down the street in Vancouver, topped with pork belly bits and miso gravy. Sweet potato poutine, vegan poutine, foie gras poutine (or so I hear.) But the real thing is to be found in Montreal, so when I got in from Vancouver at midnight and met dear Bali-friend Bari and her sweet friend Jaq, we declared it high time for a poutine outing.

So off to Eddie’s we went, a old-school late night diner, complete with plastic-lettered menu, formica tables, and droves of drunk people. I’d written off poutine as a slightly gross product of the coldness and boredom of the long Canadian winters, but I have to admit I was wrong. It is pretty dang good. Fat on fat on fat, where can you go wrong? Jaq, a true-Montrealer, said that Eddies poutine was illegitimate, that they broke the poutine code and put cinnamon in the gravy, which I think they certainly did. But still. Hello… cheesy fries with cinnamony gravy is still fries with cheese and gravy. I eat my words Canada, you have something good going here.