Ah, the poutine. Canada’s traditional dish is so tasty and iconic, it has transcended international borders.
The meal goes through variations domestically, especially during poutine festivals where restaurants try to add all sorts of ingredients to form a new poutine interpretation.
But you won’t hear too many counterarguments that the best poutine is the original trifecta: fries, cheese curds, and gravy.
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Around the world, however, several countries have added a certain homemade flair to make the poutine their own. Greece uses feta cheese and local spices, Vietnamese poutine adds kimchi, and our American pals just can’t grasp the proper cheese.
It’s not easy being greasy.
If you’re a poutine fan and want to expand your greasy knowledge to the rest of the world, here’s what Canada’s iconic dish looks like across the land.
All of the land.
And you know what? Some countries may be on to something…
Vietnam
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In Vietnam, poutine is traditionally put together with pulled pork and kimchi.
We’re listening…
Greece
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In Greece, they make āfeta fries,ā a variation of the Quebec staple. They typically use potato wedges, sprinkled with feta cheese, garlic, and parsley for garnish.
United States
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Our neighbours to the south have a couple of poutine variations. They have both “disco fries” and “chili cheese fries,” as the American poutine rival.
Disco fries are topped with melted cheddar cheese, as opposed to cheese curds, and a beef or chicken gravy, as opposed to the thick and tangy poutine sauce.
Chili cheese fries are made with either french fries or potato wedges, layers of cheddar (or American) cheese, chili, and often jalapenos and/or green onions.
One big no-no with poutine in Canada: by definition, it’s made with fries ā no wedges!
Nice try, USA. But we do it better.
Germany
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Germany has good fries and its cheese curds are pretty up to par with Canada, the only caveat is they don’t use gravy as we do.
German poutines typically have more of a Ranch-like dressing.
Come on, Germany. The gravy is a must-have.
United Kingdom
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Poutines are relatively new to the United Kingdom after becoming popular at street food festivals around 2012.
The UK version has fries (chips), cheese, and gravy but traditionally goes a little heavier on adding chicken and pulled pork, garnished with green onions (or chives) and sour cream.
Mexico
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Mexican-style poutine is made with fries (obviously), queso, sour cream, guacamole, and shredded meat, usually beef.
And yes, we’re biased. But the ol’ tried-and-true trio of fries, curds, and gravy works just fine for us.