The mark of a truly enjoyable, greasy, unhealthy, guilt-ridden meal, is that the next time you’re hungry, you want that same thing again. Except it’s not even 6 hours later. And you haven’t even washed the grease off from the first go round. Mmmmm, good.
My friends, I had such a meal Wednesday night. We went to Potato Champion on the corner of SE Hawthorne and SE 12th. They open at 8 pm. They close at 3 am. It’s a fry cart. All they serve are french fries. With all different kinds of ketchup and sauces. They also serve poutine. Which are fries with cheese curds topped chicken gravy.
I know the cheese curd thing is off-putting. Because you don’t really know what it is, really. Is anything called a “curd” really meant to go in your mouth? But it tasted like a soft Muenster cheese and melted like mozzarella. And it was all melty and mixed in with yummy homemade fries and chicken gravy.
It short: A delight. A greasy, 3000 calorie, fat-laden delight. Everything about my first poutine experience was great. Perhaps a smidge too much salt. But I don’t personally add salt to anything.
Furthermore, this meal was an extra treat for me because it was the food of my ancestors, The French Canadians. They know their potatoes! And grease! Except when I was a kid, we had a different kind. The kind I remember were little balls of ground pork in a shell of gelatinous, starchy potato that was wrapped in cheesecloth and boiled. Yum.
Okay, so when I say “I” had this, I really mean my french-speaking Grampa and my dad. There are different kind of poutines for different regions in the Northeast. There is a whole WORLD of poutines out there! You can read about one man’s noble, courageous, heroic attempt to find poutines in Portland here. And here.
I will remember the Night Of My First Poutine with great fondness. And my arteries wanted more for lunch the next day. This is why I’ve gained 10 pounds since moving to Portland.
Amy K
on Aug 29th, 2008
@ 9:03 AM:
Poutines! Yummy! One of the few things I miss about eating meat
The poutines that you ate (the fries w/ cheese curds) sound better 
Do they have rappe’ too?
Heather
on Aug 29th, 2008
@ 9:43 AM:
Amy K! They have a veggie version of poutines too! They thought of everything!
Meredith
on Aug 29th, 2008
@ 2:47 PM:
Those originals WERE nasty. And boiled. And grampa and dad would encourage us to eat that mushy ball of mess.
DonG
on Aug 31st, 2008
@ 12:49 PM:
Just add a little ketchup Mmmm.
My Omnivore’s Hundred
on Sep 1st, 2008
@ 11:20 AM:
[...] 57. Dirty gin martini 58. Beer above 8% ABV This is too easy. 59. Poutine Potato Champion makes a good poutine. 60. Carob chips 61. S’mores 62. Sweetbreads 63. Kaolin I don’t eat dirt. 64. Currywurst [...]