Poutine Québécoise

About This Recipe

Poutine is the most Québécois dish there is — a paper plate or styrofoam bowl piled with crisp twice-fried potatoes, blanketed in fresh cheese curds, and drowned in a hot, dark, glossy brown gravy poured over the top so the curds half-melt and squeak between your teeth. The dish was born in rural Quebec in the late 1950s — almost certainly in Drummondville or Warwick — and stayed strictly regional until the 1990s, when Montreal restaurants and bars adopted it. The technique is uncomplicated but the details matter: fries must be twice-fried for the right shatter-then-yield, curds must be fresh and at room temperature so they squeak, and gravy must be poured at the very last second so it warms but doesn't dissolve the cheese.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.2 kgrusset or maris piper potatoes
• neutral oil for deep-frying (about 2 L)
• 30 gunsalted butter
• 30 gall-purpose flour
• 500 mlrich chicken stock
• 250 mlrich beef stock
• 1 tbsptomato paste
• 1 tspWorcestershire sauce
• 1 tspmalt vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 1/2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
• fine sea salt
• 300 gfresh white cheddar cheese curds, at room temperature

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut and soak potatoes

   Peel (or scrub) potatoes. Cut into 1 cm thick batons. Soak in cold water 30 minutes, then drain and dry thoroughly with kitchen towels — wet fries will spit and soggy out.

2. 2

   Make the gravy

   Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 2 minutes to a pale roux. Slowly whisk in chicken and beef stocks. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire, vinegar, and pepper. Simmer 12 minutes, stirring, until glossy and lightly thickened. Season with salt. Keep hot.

3. 3

   First fry

   Heat oil to 150°C. Fry potatoes in batches for 5–6 minutes until pale, cooked through, and limp. Lift onto a wire rack. Cool at least 10 minutes.

4. 4

   Heat oil higher

   Raise oil temperature to 190°C.

5. 5

   Second fry

   Fry the cooled batons in batches for 3–4 minutes until deep gold, crisp, and blistered. Drain on a fresh wire rack. Salt while hot.

6. 6

   Assemble

   Pile hot fries onto warm plates. Immediately scatter generously with room-temperature cheese curds — they should be at least half the volume of the fries by eye.

7. 7

   Pour and serve

   Pour the very hot gravy over the curds and fries at the table, so guests hear the sizzle. The curds will sweat and soften but not melt away. Eat immediately with a fork.

Variations

• •

  Poutine au smoked meat: top with Montreal-style smoked brisket.

• •

  Poutine au foie gras: a Pied de Cochon classic — top with seared foie gras.

• •

  Vegetarian: use mushroom stock and add a splash of soy for color and depth.

Storage

Eat immediately — poutine does not keep. Refrigerated leftovers can be revived only by re-crisping the fries in a hot oven and reheating the gravy separately.

Frequently Asked Questions