On Frozen Blog

Some, including us at OFB, say that nothing goes with hockey better than beer. Many will agree that nothing goes with a night of drinking than a good solid food to soak up that which may have been over-enjoyed. For many Canadians, Quebecers in particular, that food is poutine, a dish consisting of french fries topped with fresh cheese curds — squeaky cheese — which is covered with gravy. OFB had the good fortune to enjoy some authentic poutine at the Canadian Embassy during the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

What we did not know when we were enjoying this marvelous dish, is that poutine turned 50 this year. At least that’s how the story goes. From the Montreal Gazette:

There is no agreement on the origin of poutine, but the most popular story dates to 1957. Fernand Lachance, who has called himself the father of poutine, was asked to mix fries and cheese curds together in the same bag at a customer’s request. Lachance, a restaurant owner in the dairy town of Warwick, then replied: “Ça va te faire une maudite poutine” (”It’s gonna make a hell of a mess”). The sauce was added later to keep the fries warm.

Poutine has been knocked as an artery clogging, unsophisticated, working-class food. However, these labels have not hurt it’s reputation with Canadians. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation asked their viewers to rank poutine against other Canadian inventions. Out of 50 inventions, poutine ranked 10th. That 10th place ranking is more impressive when you see what it beat - Java Programming Language (#12), the BlackBerry (#18), Radio Voice Transmission (#19), Instant Replay (#24), Goalie Mask (#25), Electric Oven (#29), Alkaline Long-Lasting Battery (#32), and the Snowblower (#37). If you were wondering, insulin was ranked number one.

Who’s hungry?