Poutine Talk

Best of Poutine on the Web

Welcome to Poutine Talk! This month, we are going to give you a mini tour of poutine on the web.

Everything you need to know about Poutine, for beginners or experts, courtesy of Aviva Las Vegas and Poutine Talk. Imagine yourself far from Quebec, and dreaming of Poutine. You can't get your hands on any. You are frustrated, hungry, maybe even homesick.

Well, this week in Poutine Talk, we offer solutions you can almost taste: sound clips, audio clips, recipes and the odd facts on Quebecers. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Poutine, but didn't know how to ask in French: "the insiders guide to Poutine"

How to Pronounce Poutine

Let's start with the best site that I discovered. There's very little to it, but it has one feature that beats all of the other site: an audio clip on how to pronouce the word Poutine: http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/poutine.au

Maybe I am not getting out there enough, but who is the guy's face on the poutine container here? Any ideas, please let me know. http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~gedetil/poutine.shtml

Sing the Ingredients

The next important thing to know once you can pronounce poutine: is what the ingredients are, and what better way to find out, than in a song. http://www.frenchteacher.com/poutine.wav Let's give credit where credit is due: if you are interested in the band that does that song: please check out:the link below. Here is a link for a French Record for kids http://www.frenchteacher.com/poutine.html

Where to get Poutine:

Once you know how to pronounce the word, the next big challenge is where to find it: the only restaurant that came up in my web search is one I never had the pleasure (yet ) to eat Poutine in. I do feel they could have put a more appetizing picture of poutine on this site: I haven't quite figured out what is in the photo on top of the gravy and cheese, it looks a bit scary. On the plus side, check out the cool flash french fry icon. How can anyone resist this? http://www.quebecinfo.com/restpoutine/

Colis: what the #$*@ is curd cheese? (and other weird facts about the Quebecois)

For those of you who don't know what curd cheese is: Here is a site that explains this, on the "human internet". It also includes a very strange quote: "When Quebecers travel in the different areas of the province, they like to stop at the many cheese factories to taste a new cheddar and buy some to take home." This is certainly news to me. I tend to stop at depanneurs for cold beer, or the Brasserie, but that's about it. http://frenchcaculture.about.com/aboutcanada
/frenchcaculture/library/weekly/aa052398.htm

How to make Poutine

A recipe on how to make what they claim to be the perfect Poutine: It includes Italian Poutine (there are many interesting and some downright freakish versions of poutine that this site only begins to discover).

It also tells you that McDonalds serves Poutine. I would like to make a confession here and now. After a night of drinking beer, I actually caved in and tried this McDonald's concoction in Montreal. Do not try when sober. The wor d on the street is that they don't use real curd cheese. http://frenchcaculture.about.com/aboutcanada/frenchcaculture
/c/ht/00/07/How_Perfect_Poutine0962932680.htm

French Sites on Poutine: Serious Poutine Passion: "Vive La Poutine Libre!

Not everyone wants to read about Poutine in English. For the real skinny on Poutine, you may be best to discover these sites in French: These are actually the best sites on Poutine in terms of passion, commitment and overall understanding of the nuances of Poutine.

The first site I discovered seems to know what they are talking about, and take their poutine very seriously (as one should). http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/2111
/Historique_de_la_poutine.html

There are som good quotes on the site I just mentioned, including my favorite: " En Ontario, la poutine est dŽgueulasse" which roughly translates as "In Ontario the Poutine is disgusting ". They also include a truism : the Poutine at Mc Donald's is not edible. Also, points for attractive Poutine photography.

The next site is enthusiastic and takes more of a philosophical stance on poutine: Vive La Poutine Libre! It also gives you a tour of Poutine on the net. I must warn you in advance that some of the links are no longer working, and let me tell you baby, it broke my heart: all of the Poutine Poetry could not be found. If anyone has any poutine poetry please send it in, and we promise to post it on avivalasvegas. http://www.scarabee.com/TRANCHES/poutine.html

Experiments on Poutine and Remedies for "Post Poutine Depression"

Even though the first link most of the links in the above site didn't work, on did: entitled " Strange Way to Eat French Fries and Cheese." http://www.tx7.com/fries/docs/poutine.html This one is definitely worth checking out: including their experimental kitchen tests on Poutine, and a photo of remedies for the stomach after having eaten Poutine. Before I go on, I do have a confession to make: I stold the expression "Post Poutine Depression" from Ms. No Style.

Lost Souls looking for Poutine in all the wrong places:

For the vegetarian type of vegan Kitsilano/hippie kind of still loves "Harmonium" kind of Poutine Eater: here we go with the recipe for vegan poutine: http://www.vegweb.com/food/quick/2655.shtml Last but not least: can anyone help this poor soul: A woman has posted a notice that she is looking for poutine in Paris: One fellow who answered her was quite direct: "In Reply to: Poutine Paris posted by Nicolas on April 15, 1999 at 01:29:27: tu es newf!!!!!!!!!! http://eslcafe.com/discussion/wwwboard2/messages/2118.html

Cartoons: The family Poutine

Finally , to leave you all with a smile: here is a cartoon on the Family Poutine: One for adults: http://www.qbc.clic.net/~troglo/p-18.htm and, not to forget the wee folk: one for kids http://www.qbc.clic.net/~troglo/p-strip1.htm

Video Clip, with Reference to Poutine:

If you have a sense of humour, you are bound to love this clip, the Quebec version of the famous "I am Canadian" beer commercial. It may take a bit of patience to download, but it is well worth it: http://www.adcritic.com/content/edge-102-i-am-not.html

To all of my fellow Poutine Lovers out there: in the immortal words of my favorite Quebec Celebrity of all time "I love you! I kiss you!" Please check out the link below to discover who this is. HinT: This is a woman who lives by the values of Poutine: cheese and gravy all the way! http://www.jojoalliance.com/services/aboutus.htm

That's it for this week and Poutine Talk! Ta-Ta and Stay Beautiful! Please send me your links to your favorite poutine sites for our library!

Aviva Las Vegas

Contact Poutine Talk at 5a7@avivalasvegas.com. Make sure to put Poutine Talk in the subject line.