Poutine is this:
(french fries, cheese curds, gravy)
I'm going to just quote what I wrote in LiveJournal way back in the days that I worked in Montreal:
"If Quebec was an independent nation and had a national food, it would undoubtedly be poutine. It is, without a doubt, one of the most heart-unhealthy foodstuffs I've seen commonly eaten. Fries/chips and fresh cheese curd, covered in thick, brown gravy. Nobody is entirely sure of where it was invented, or how. I'm slightly more interested in why somone would do this, though.
In any event, artery-clogging or not, the stuff's ubiquitous. It's sold in all kinds of places, from nice restaurants (which undoubtedly use hand-cut gourmet potatoes cooked in extra-virgin olive oil) to La Belle Province, a Quebec fast-food place chain that's all over the place; there are at least 3 within a 10 minute walk of my hotel.
I wonder how it is that people in the province of Quebec don't all drop dead of heart problems in their early 30s."
