Canada — Poutine
Well done Canada. Chips, Cheese, Gravy.
Yes, that is as easy and as good as it sounds.
‘Cheese’ is a bit of a simplification. The correct ingredient is actually cheese curds. This is essentially a half way stage between milk and cheese. Curds are easily accessible in Canada, specifically Quebec where this dish originates, and the northern states of the US. In the UK we just make it into cheese, except for the one dairy I was able to source some from. Although I’ve seen people suggesting alternatives online such as pizza mozzarella or haloumi, they aren’t. Curds have a squeaky texture similar to haloumi but less rubbery and arent as creamy as mozzarella, it’s worth sourcing. Or just use cheddar, call it cheesy chips n gravy and pretend you’re from northern England, not Canada.
The gravy appears to be most commonly a thick beef gravy and the chips are American-style fries, thicker than French fries.
As the more astute of you may have noticed so far, all of these recipes are vegetarian. I will not be advertising this but may mention it if I think it throws up something interesting. Firstly, not all cheese is vegetarian and, by association, not all curds are vegetarian. One of the enzymes used in cheese making is rennet. This can be harvested (not sure that’s the right word!) from certain types of mushrooms or, in non-vegetarian cases, animal stomachs. Secondly, I said above that it is usually a beef gravy which is traditionally used in this recipe. In this instance, to try and make a it quick dish to prepare, as I feel it should be, I made the quickest gravy I know. I can post a recipe for a richer, beefier gravy if anyone wishes, feel free to leave a comment below. This dish took under 30 minutes to make.
Ingredients
Potatoes x 7 medium size, Vegetable Oil x 500ml, Cheese curds x 200g, Stock x 400ml, Gravy Browning, Arrowroot Powder
Notes on ingredients:
Not all potatoes were created equal, especially when it comes to chipping, roasting, mashing etc. Different varieties have different textures and work better or worse depending on application. For chips I’d recommend Maris Piper or King Edwards. Most packets say what they’re best for and a decent veg supplier would definitely help you out here. Arrowroot powder. It’s basically flour but gives a clear sauce when used as a thickener as opposed to cloudy like standard plain flour. Due to the current quarantining, flour is difficult to get hold of so I used this. It’s more commonly used in pastry and patisserie to thicken glazes etc. but works in excatly the same way.
Method
I peeled the potatoes but one could scrub them and leave the skins on. Potato Potaaaarrrto. Cut into chip shapes. If you don’t know what chip shapes are, there’s a picture above, also, stay away from the hot oil, let an adult do it. Try and get the chips of a vaguely similar size so that they cook at a similar rate. I don’t own a chip fryer so did it in a pan but if you have one, use it. I filled a large saucepan about 1/3 with vegetable oil and left on a medium heat for about 5 minutes. They key to chips is to fry them twice. Numbers vary but it’s usually around 300F for 5 mins and 400F for 5 mins. I have a thermometer but it had run out of batteries so I went freestyle. I put one chip in for 5 mins and tested it was soft and fluffy on the inside and not browning on the outside. This is a good way to test the oil. After 5 mins they should look like picture 2. I then cranked the heat up to 11 (my hob was installed by Spinal Tap) and waited another few minutes. I did the same canary-in-the-mine-solo-chip-test and after another 5 minutes the canary/chip was nicely browned. In went the rest of them and 5 minutes later they were back out and onto kitchen paper to drain.
Whilst the chips are doing their thing, get the stock up to the boil and add gravy browning until happy with the colour. Thicken the sauce using the arrowroot. This is best done by making a paste by gradually adding water to about 2 tblsp of powder or flour. Add this into the stock and it will thicken up.
Pile it all on a plate however you see fit.
There’s no doubt this is delicious… if you like chips, cheese and gravy.
Personally, I think it’s all a bit heavy and needs some acid somewhere. Sorry!
