Poutine Perfect
Posted by Jay on Thursday, 4 March 2010
OK, I had the poutine flatbread. It’s everything I thought it would be. The French Canadians are geniuses — gravy and cheese-curd French fries, hell yes — but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of poutine being pizzafied before. It works.
Kettle-fried Kennebec potatoes, chicken gizzard gravy (from Curtis Womach’s pastured chickens), Spring Hill jersey cheddar, on a grilled house-made whole wheat flatbread.
And here’s that pork chop (from Jim Neville’s farm) with pigs feet and house made mac and cheese*
We expect to have both of these dishes through the weekend, although we never know for sure.
* Legal disclaimer: this mac and cheese does not have actual macaroni, it instead includes hand made noodles that do not have a hole running down the center. And while I usually agree with the hard-line stance the Cod takes regarding food semiotics — don’t even get me started on tortilla chips that have never been a tortilla — in this specific case I propose that, for our generation “mac and cheese” is a concept which can be created with alternative types of pasta. When people assemble this at home, they still call it mac and cheese.
March 5th, 2010 at 9:10 am
You better add that legal disclaimer to a large format sign near the front door, and make sure the patrons sign off on it when they order mac and cheese.
I have been stewing and collecting my thoughts for a few days. I’m going to write my highly annoyed (yet respectful) letter to the city attorney today.
March 5th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
What you sell is not poutine unless it’s changed since I had it there a couple months ago. I lived in Montreal for 17 years, and that is not it. The fries are good, the gravy is fine but the cheese is wrong wrong wrong! My friend who lived in NJ who sampled them says that what you are selling is disco fries. Do not be ashamed of calling them disco fries! That’s a fine thing - the seventies are long enough ago now that we can embrace our disco past. But unless you find a source for proper cheese curd, this is not poutine. There should be visible lumps, not a sauce.
March 6th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
jenjen,
I totally agree with you. We tried to make it clear we were using cheese instead of cheese curd, but really we should’ve gone the extra mile and sourced cheese curd instead. That’s our bad, even though (as you point out) it still tastes good.
Next time we run a poutine dish, we’ll have cheese curd.
Best
Jay
March 10th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Hey Jay - It’s nice to know you’ll have cheesecurds next time. It ain’t poutine without it.