Uncover the Crispy Secrets of Poutine: Canada's Iconic Deep-Fried Delight!

Poutine is the closest thing we have to a national dish. The recipe is deceptively simple-fried potatoes, cheese curds, gravy-but the story behind it is as rich and complex as Canada itself. Yet the odd, winding history of poutine has never been written-until now.

“Is poutine a Québécois dish? Or a Canadian national symbol? That’s the question at the heart of Justin Giovannetti Lamothe’s fascinating Poutine: A Deep-Fried Road Trip of Discovery. Part culinary investigation, part family history, and part travel memoir, this smart, engaging read guarantees you’ll never look at a plate of poutine the same.”-Ann Hui, author of Chop Suey Nation

“Poutine: A Deep-Fried Road Trip of Discovery is a culinary journey through the heart of Canadian culture and a deeply personal tale of reconciliation between father and son. Lamothe shows how poutine combines simple ingredients to create something greater than the sum of its parts and, in doing so, reflects upon the unity and diversity of a nation.

As the son of an anglophone mother and a francophone father, Giovannetti Lamothe is perfectly suited to the task: much of his childhood was spent on the outskirts of Trois-Rivières, a stone’s throw from the region where-according to local lore-poutine was invented sometime in the 1950s or ’60s. After reading the delectable Poutine, you’ll never see-or taste-this humbly famous food in quite the same way again.

Poutine: Dump gravy and cheese curds on french fries: Voilla poutine! Quebec is the homeland of poutine, but you can get it all over the nation.

Classic Poutine

Other Canadian Culinary Delights

While poutine reigns supreme, Canada boasts a variety of other unique and delicious foods:

Cretons: Break your morning butter-and-jam routine and have some cretons instead!
Malpeques: Many consider these Prince Edward Island delicacies the world's tastiest oysters, harvested with great care by workers who rake them out of the mud by hand.
Nanaimo bar: New York also claims this confection, but the thoughtful Manhattanite doesn't utter that on Vancouver Island. It's a chocolate bar layered with nuts, buttercream, and sometimes peanut butter or coconut.
Perogies: Canada's large waves of Slavic immigration have brought these Polish-Ukrainian delights to the True North. They're small dumplings with a variety of fillings, including cheese, meat, potatoes, mushrooms, cabbage, and more.
Ployes: Acadia, the Cajuns' ancestral homeland, loves its buckwheat pancakes. But these greenish-yellow griddle cakes contain no milk or eggs, so they're not actually pancakes.
Rye: This is the Canadian name for Canadian whiskey, though it's actually made with a blend of rye, corn, and barley. Prohibition in the United States created a boom for Canadian distillers, and this unique style became part of the national identity.
Tim Hortons: Horton was a solid National Hockey League defenseman of long service to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he's best known for founding a ubiquitous chain of donut shops. Though Tim Hortons sells coffee, breakfast foods, and sandwiches, the donuts are the most popular.

Tim Hortons logo

Celebrating Canada Through Cake

Canada's identity can even be expressed through cake! From intricate maple leaf designs to iconic landmarks, cakes offer a sweet and creative way to celebrate Canadian culture.

And after looking at hundreds of Canadian flag cakes, I can say with complete confidence that the maple leaf is officially the hardest thing in the world to draw accurately.

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