Poutine: Canadian, American, and otherwise

We’re very interested in creative cuisine — a world in which we find high levels of innovation without much intellectual property. Recipes are, for reasons we explain here, not covered by copyright. And chefs engage in a lot of copying and “tweaking” of other chefs’ dishes. Which helps to make this a world of wonderful food. Here’s an example that one of us (Sprigman) enjoyed a couple of weeks ago at a restaurant called “The Glass Haus Kitchen” in Charlottesville, Virginia. Poutine (pictured above) is a famous (and famously unhealthy) dish from Quebec. In its traditional form, it’s made with french fries covered in veal gravy and topped liberally with cheese curds. Sounds disgusting, but take my word for it — it’s one of the world’s great late-night foods. And something I didn’t believe could be improved.

Until I had the “American Poutine” at the Glass Haus. The chef, Ian Boden, has taken the Montreal standard to a new level. In place of french fries, he uses crispy fried potato slices. And instead of cheese curds, Boden uses cubes of halloumi soaked in harissa.  The dish is topped with shredded lamb and a rich lamb gravy.

Boden’s American Poutine is recognizably poutine. But upscaled.

We’ll be eating more of it.