17 Comfort Foods For Deep Winter

Washington, DC – October 31, 2014: Les Canadiens – Latke ‘Poutine’, Onion Gravy, Farmers Cheese, photographed at DGS Delicatessen in Washington, DC. (Photo by Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

5. Poutine

Poutine is so great that it’s acquired mythical god-like status. Seriously, mention poutine in the right group of people and their eyes will glaze over as they are transported back to the last, magical time they ate the stuff. Maybe it was in a Canadian homeland somewhere, eaten while strolling through the streets of Montreal. Perhaps it was somewhere in the United States, where Americans have started to catch on to the wonder of poutine.

At any rate, poutine is great. If you somehow haven’t heard of it, poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds, topped with a light brown gravy. In its earliest food-related form, it dates back to 1982. That said, most people claim that it originated in rural Quebec sometime in the late 1950s.

The fries are usually medium-thick (no shoestring fries here). Poutine cheese curds are cooked, then allowed to cure for a bit to get a nice tangy flavor. Finally, the gravy is a simple, thin gravy made with some sort of meat. While it’s not completely watery, poutine gravy needs to be just thin enough to filter down through the layers of fries and curds. Of course, you can also make a vegetarian gravy.

Recipe: Authentic Canadian Poutine (Half Baked Harvest)

Healthier variation: Oof, this is another recipe that is based in its own inherent unhealthiness. Gravy and cheese and fried things, am I right? Anyway, try oven-baking your fries. I bet you can also find some light cheese curds in your grocery store.