I had only one day remaining in Montreal to complete my culinary research on poutine, the unofficial food of Quebec. After a moderately successful exploration of the city's famed Underground I found myself near Mache! It had been recommended to me as a place that served poutine, along with other comfort food like burgers, shepherd's pie and mac and cheese. To get into the clean, little restaurant I had to go down about 4 steps and as I entered I read the menu written on the large blackboard on the far wall. And there it was! Poutine Classique...just what I was looking for.
The waitress looked a little incredulous when I told her I had traveled from Pennsylvania just to try poutine but she gladly took my order and soon returned with a silver bowl filled to the brim with fries covered with a deep and flavorful brown gravy sprinkled with squeaky fresh cheese curds. C'est manifique! I took my time and savored every bite. This was the real deal, unadorned and unadulterated, just what poutine was supposed to be, and all for $6.95 Canadian. I would have licked the bowl clean but thought better of it due to the image I might cast of the other North Americans. After all, I was a guest in a foreign country.
Tomorrow: Poutine Homard at Garde Manger
No comments:
Post a Comment