Skip to main content

Have You Heard This One? Five Americans Walk Into Canada...


Today’s blog entry will not be endorsed by the American Heart Association or Michelle Obama.



Just so you know.



The common thread between this post and the last one is gravy.  I used to think it was strictly an American thing, and that we had a fetish for covering our food with a starchy, meaty sauce.



But nope, turns out Canada’s been riding (and rocking) the gravy train for way longer than we have...but they do it with a lot more panache and pride than we do.



When Brent and the kids were visiting a couple of weeks ago, we decided to take a trip into Canada.  Why?  Because it was less than an hour away.  And because it’s a different country.  Miles became kilometers, the price of gas per gallon became the price per liter, Spanish translation of English signage became French translation.  Also, on two separate occasions we saw parents on bikes hauling their small children in wagon-looking contraptions...a sight you’d never see in safety-law-laden America.



Among other things, Canada is the original home of poutine.  Or, as Brent spells it: puteen.  Poutine is a slap-you-in-your-mouth, straight up heart attack...but it’s okay, because you know exactly what you’re signing up for.  Hell, when you got a dish in front of you that goes like this: French fries, cheese curds, gravy, and whatever special topping you’ve dreamed up, you just know you’re about to die from cholesterol overload.  And it’s totally cool, because you’re freaking owning it. 



We drove past Smoke’s Poutinerie (a freaking cool name for a place that sells poutine) as we were looking for another place to eat in Sault Ste. Marie.  Thankfully, my husband and kids are all good-natured, culinary-minded folk, and were willing to take chance.  It was a very successful gamble.



The base foundation of the poutine dishes at Smoke’s is French fries, cheese curds, and gravy.  Then, a plethora of add-on choices were available.  Kirby tried the special of the day: Samosa Poutine.  I had the Pulled Pork Poutine.  Brent went with the Nacho Poutine.  Spencer did a Bacon-Chili Poutine, and Elliot rocked a Bacon Cheeseburger Poutine.


My Pulled Pork
Kirby's Samosa
Spencer's Bacon-Chili Thing

Yeah. You’re seeing the pattern here, right? Not heart-healthy fare.  But...you already know that going in.  No delusions equals no guilt.  Well, maybe, a smidge of guilt, but you’re on vacation so who cares?



I’m surprised, honestly, that poutine is not a little more popular here in the US.  It’s got everything we love in excess...fries, gravy, and cheese.   

Indeed.
I’d consider open a poutine restaurant in my hometown, but I’m pretty sure it would not be Blue Zones-endorsed.  And Mrs. Obama would not like it at all.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For You!

I'm torn.  It's 8:40 p.m. here.  I know that I have roughly one hour of wakefulness left before I collapse onto my pillow for the night. My new term of classes start tomorrow.  My backpack is ready to go.  So is my leftover-lunch.  So is my breakfast smoothie.  All important emails has been sent.  I'm caught up on Facebook news. Hm.  How does one spend their last hour of energy before beginning the roller coaster ride of a new term? By watching Downton Abbey, Season 1 again...natch.  Now that there's no more DA until next January, I must watch the old episodes again for that fix.  And that, up until about twn minutes ago, was exactly what I'd planned on doing. Until I popped in here for moment to check on things.  And by things, I mean my "Stats".  And actually, by that, I mean my "Audience".  And I was shocked to see that in the last 24 hours, there have been more looks here at Be Food from France than from the US...
1 comment
Read more

My Week...No Idea What It May Mean

Remember I'd finished reading Gary Taubes's "Why We Get Fat" over a week ago?  Turns out that meat could be good and bread could be bad?  Well, I needed more info.  So, I skimmed Dr. Arthur Agatston's South Beach for some information and then I bookmarked Nutrition Data for handy reference. And after all that, I still had no real idea of what exactly I should be eating.  But, to do nothing still makes me part of the problem... I finally decided to limit my carbohydrate intake to under 100 daily.  Also, I wanted to steer clear of foods high on the glycemic index (high in sugars, even natural ones).  Usually, foods high in carbs are high on the glycemic index...but then you get something like carrots, which are good for you, but high in carbs.  Crazy... Monday's weigh-in was 132.6 lbs.  Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal and a half cup of blueberries - 34g carbs.  And just like that, one-third of my carbs were used up for the day.  And...
3 comments
Read more

New Year's Solutions

I've never been a fan of resolutions at this time of year.  Usually, a resolution is what a person makes to "solve" an old recurring problem ( this year, I really am going to quit smoking, eat better, or stop reading Nicholas Sparks novels, etc. ). And usually, a resolution is vague.  As in, I'm going to get healthy!  But, I have no real plan of action of how to do it!! Despite my cynicism about making NY Resolutions, I do feel the need every end-of-year to come to make some kind of decisions about the year ahead - plans, goals, visions, etc.  2013 has been the year of indecision and immobility.  For me, anyway.  2014 will very likely be the year of movement...it's been looming on the horizon now for some time. I'm not much of a planner...I never really have been.  I've just sort of let things fall into my lap...and well, things have worked out okay for me, most of the time.  Professionally speaking, that is.  But now, I've been having ...
1 comment
Read more