(Almost!) Authentic French Canadian Kosher Poutine
This (almost) authentic poutine – the classic Quebecan combination of crispy French fries, melted cheese, and savory gravy – is utter perfection!
If you know what poutine is, chances are you’ve either been to Montreal or you know someone who is from or who has been to Montreal. Poutine is a specialty of Quebec (the Canadian province that Montreal is part of), and is typically made of beef gravy, fresh cheese curds and French fries. Obviously, we can’t use beef gravy and kosher cheese curds are not easy to come by, so in the kosher versions, it is made with shredded cheese and some sort of pareve imitation beef gravy or onion gravy.
We Montrealers are ridiculously proud of our authentic poutine! We get excited and oooh and ahh simply over the mention of the word! Interestingly, the first time I tried it, I was extremely grossed out. I was a little girl and my brother convinced me to buy it when we were at the pizza shop together. I didn’t like the gooey cheese mixed with the gravy. To me, fries were meant to be fries—don’t mess with a good thing.
Over the years, my taste changed and evolved, and now I think poutine is the best thing ever! Poutine is an incredibly delicious comfort food and the combination of gravy, cheese and hot fries is perfection! I dream of going home to visit my parents so I can order the cheesy, saucy dish. It’s so good, I almost feel like I wasted all those years growing up in Montreal and not eating it!
Once I was old enough to appreciate it, I would eat poutine on cold Montreal winter Motza’ei Shabbosos when I went out with friends. And the night of my engagement party, I told my husband not to eat anything fleishig because as soon as the vort was over, I dragged him to the pizza shop to savor his first poutine!
Living in the States, I’ve come across a few places that make a decent poutine, though nothing comes close to authentic poutine from Montreal. And I often make my own poutine. I’ll admit the poutine I buy in Montreal is still better, but my version comes in at a pretty close second.
When I make it, I usually use frozen French fries baked in the oven according to the package directions, but you can totally make your own homemade fries and use those.
Any type of cheese works well with poutine. I usually have a big bag of shredded cheese on hand and I sprinkle on that.
When making the gravy, if you use a whisk, the gravy comes out a lot smoother. I’ve tried using a fork, but it just doesn’t come out as good. Occasionally, the roux used to make the gravy get clumpy when the liquid is added. If this happens to you, a quick whir with an immersion blender should do the trick. The recipe calls for flour in the roux to thicken the sauce, but this can easily be replaced with a gluten-free flour blend for those who can’t have gluten.
If I am preparing poutine and plan on serving it within the next couple of hours, I make the entire thing and then just melt the cheese in the oven right before serving. If you are making this dish more in advance, definitely keep the sauce separate or the fries will become soggy. The sauce can last a few days in the fridge and can even be frozen.
(Almost!) Authentic Kosher French Canadian Poutine
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen fries, baked according to package directions
- 1½ cups boiling water
- 3 Tbsp beef consomme powder
- 1 Tbsp butter or margarine
- 1 Tbsp flour
- Shredded cheese, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a bowl, mix boiling water and beef consomme powder very well. It will become somewhat thick. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low flame. Add flour and mix well with a whisk to create a roux.
- Add beef stock and continue mixing until sauce becomes thick.
- Place baked fries in a 9×13 pan or oven-proof dish. Sprinkle a few handfuls of cheese over the fries. Pour the sauce over the cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Notes
Recipe by Faigy Murray | https://mykitchenmystudio.com/almost-authentic-french-canadian-kosher-poutine/
