It’s time for round two. Here’s this week’s flag.

Yep, we’re headed north to Canada this week, for Poutine, or basically, French fries loaded with gravy and cheese curds. But where did French fries come from, and how did they become an iconic Canadian dish? Let’s dive in.

Which country owns the pride of paternity for French fries is narrowed down to two contestants: the French and the Belgians. France and Southern Belgium have French-speaking citizens, and since French fries are “street food” no chef has claimed them as their own. The French claim selling them in the late 1700’s before the French Revolution and they are those people who eat fries with a fork, all prim and proper. Fries to the French are upgraded mashed potatoes, usually eaten with a steak or other meat. The Belgians call French fries their national dish, and with that comes much pride on the idea of inventing the French fries.

According to the NY Daily News, Americans and Canadians eat Belgian-style fries. These are double fried for maximum outside crispiness and inside softness. The Belgians eat them at any time of the day with their fingers. Some eat them plain; some eat them with a sauce. Sounds mighty familiar to your McDonald fries, huh?

Poutine originates from Quebec, the French-Canadian part of the country. Compared to last week’s post, Poutine is relatively new, created in the late 50’s. Before this gravy doused dish became an iconic dish of Canada, citizens used it to mock Quebecois using poutine. This dish has now become alongside soups, sandwiches, and bread as its category of food and viable to variations.

 

Masterchef Canada season two had a challenge specifically dedicated to poutine. The contestants, divided into three teams, cooked commercial quantities of poutine hoping to make the most money by the end of the challenge. Each of the three teams had fries, a sauce, and a topping, but that’s where the similarities stop. You can watch the entire challenge for yourself here.

This week’s recipe for poutine comes from Canadian magazine Saveur. The article calls poutine “the ultimate late-night snack.” The recipe has four multidirectional steps, starting with soaking the potatoes. Then making the gravy, followed by twice frying the potatoes (each frying stage is a step). I would say most equipment needed is in the typical American kitchen; perhaps the only ‘special equipment’ needed would be a fryer.

Americans have taken their spin on Canadian Poutine, but not to the same level of perfection. Canadians tried some “disco fries” aka American Poutine, which usually lacked cheese curds and has a glue-like consistency. In the Buzzfeed video below, one person said they would need to be paid to eat American poutine rather than pay for these disco fries.

In my future travels around the world, Canada is definitely on the destination list. I’ve put gravy on my diner fries for years now, but I have a feeling that it does nothing to compare to actual Canadian Poutine.