"Poutine", The Official French Canadian Dish

Poutine is a dish originating from the Canadian province of Quebec consisting of French fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. Today it is often identified as quintessential Canadian food and has been called "Canada's national dish". A cultural marker, poutine has long been Quebec's adored junk food before spreading out across the rest of Canada and the USA. It is said to be "the perfect thing after a night of drinking".

However, poutine has since made inroads into proper culinary circles. In fact, In March 2016 poutine was served at the White House during the first State Dinner between Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau.

Many versions exist in Orange County Restaurants (and many of them are a complete miss!). So for the return of Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on February 7th to the Los Angeles area, we found it "apropos" to introduce our "classic" version of a true Poutine to Huntington Beach Catering world!

The History

The legend is that in the early 50's an English businessman, traveling all over Quebec for his work, would often stop at the same fast food restaurants and always request the same thing: French fries with brown gravy and cheese. He would ask for all of it to be serve together, to "Putt the Stuff In"....and so "put in" became "poutine".

The Original Recipes :

For 2 portions

- Large Yukon Potatoes cut into fries

- Homemade Gravy made with our own beef broth.

This is where we shine! We slow roast beef bones with marrow, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and fresh herbs for up to a day & half, then simmer for up to 8 hours before straining the bones & vegetables. Keep reducing to about a third until broth is very dark & aromatic. Make a roue and slowly bring your broth to a perfectly thick and flavorful gravy; and voila!

- Curd Cheese (as fresh as possible) or Gouda cut into small pieces.

Below is one example we found in a Venice Beach restaurant of a poutine experiment that was a bit questionable. Even though some do put a twist on the dish with bacon or smoked Gouda; we like to keep our Poutine closer to the classic version...