Ooh! Poutine! I knew there was a favourite food item I hadn't had while in Vancouver. Now I know what I'm having for lunch. (There's a wicked Belgian fries place near where I'm staying that makes a wicked poutine.)

french fries, gravy and cheese curds — and a German snausage w/sauerkraut on the side
My only quibble is with the singular indefinite article in the second half there.

I should have heeded the warning and not opened this.

One great thing about living in Montreal is that there are holes-in-the-wall serving amazing poutine all over the place. Any slightly-sketchy fluorescent-lit straight-from-the-60s diner here will probably blow away fancy-pants poutine from outside Quebec.

I don't know what that shit in the Star article is though -- did they put guacamole on it? Sorry, I'm a purist.

≡ Click to see image ≡

A question I've always wanted to ask, as an absolute poutine novice - are homemade cheese curds of the appropriate quality for poutine? By which I mean - pour 2 litres of milk into a saucepan, heat until simmering, add half a lemon's worth of juice until the milk curdles, pour the whole curdled lot into cheesecloth or a stocking and put a weight on top for an hour (with a bowl underneath to retain the whey if you're so inclined)?

I could just try it for myself, but that'd be just chips and gravy with cheese, and it seems as though there's more of a mystique to poutine than that. Am I wrong?

That Star article is, yeah, pretty snotty poutine. Like I mentioned, fois gras?
I'll take that shack's poutine, plus you get to eat it outside, there's always a wack of pidgeons walking about begging [they don't care for the onion I offer from the snausage- picky] and watch folks stroll into the Canadian Tire store.

Wolfdog, 1 snausage and a poutine and I can't move. Never mind 2.
l'oiseau, That [image], is a poutine. That's loaded with curds. Nice./

Goo, are homemade curds appropriate? Are you kidding? That'd be the best. Whoa. If I buy a small bag of curds - it barely makes it home, I eat it on the way. I'm thinking homemade would save me walking and eating, heh. Is it that easy to make?
Curds aren't just cheese. Some fast food places offer 'poutine'. Melted cheddar [or worse, mozzarella] just doesn't cut it. No way.

From the blue, Patrick Watson [sans Patrick] speaking about what is really important to you - yep, poutine.

Yes, curds are that easy to make, leave them under the weight longer for drier curds - but from all the gushing about poutine I thought it must be a special type of curd. But I have no real comparison as I've never tried poutine (never been to Canadia), so I don't know!

Thanks for that info, goo. Curds are pricey, so if it's that easy to make, well then, I'm sold.

Now, if you make your own gravy — that'd be the fillet of poutine's.

I think the texture of homemade curds would be totally different from the traditional kind. Homemade ones are really soft and crumbly, even after pressing. The more industrial curds are firmer and squeaky, if I've got my facts straight. I've never made cheese as squeaky as squeaky cheese curds.

Yes, squeakiness is an essential quality for poutine curds.

That said, after smoking a joint, even oven-fries with reconstituted powdered gravy and shredded cheddar tastes delicious, if you need a hit. Trust me.

From what I've read up on cheese curds, it's the freshness which makes it squeaky. After 12 hrs it loses its freshness and after another 12, it's nothing but unusable cheese.

Hmmm - I will have to experiment with the home-made (I've never seen curds for sale here) and visit Canada for the true comparison. (Chips and gravy themselves are awesome; with good curds I imagine only more so). I can't wait!

OH MY GOD am I hungry.

I am sitting in a massive pool of drool. I've been reading up on cheese making and trying to figure out how soon it can be before I try making this at home.

I want this more than I've wanted another food in a long long long long long time.

Also I have a gingerbread house, a homemade present from my boss, sitting on my desk. I want that too, but am holding off.

Need to run and eat before I gnaw off my arm. It's only 11.30 am too!