WordsByNowak

A couple weeks back I wrote about how Burger King had recently introduced a poutine-like menu item to its Brazilian outlets. Well, it turns out the burger chain (which, by the way, is owned by Brazilians) isn’t just expanding poutine to other countries - it’s also adding new concoctions right here in Canada.

Just about a month ago, Burger King added two new kinds of poutine to its menu, bringing its total to three. As you can see from the photo below, there’s Angry Poutine and Poutine with Bacon.

Regular readers know that this sort of stuff can’t happen without me checking it out. Call it research.

So I hit the nearest Burger King the other day and was immediately faced with a dilemma: which of the new poutines to eat? Both looked really good in the photos.

“Angry Poutine” was the more intriguing of the two, mostly because eating poutine makes me the opposite of angry. Obviously, it fits in with the chain’s spicy line of “Angry” products, but still.

In any event, Angry Poutine it was. It had the hallmarks of regular poutine - fries, cheese curds and gravy - but it also came topped with onion rings, a spicy “Angry sauce” and jalapenos. I’m not big on spicy foods, but the meal was good nonetheless. The sauce had a little sweetness to it, which counteracted some of the sizzle from the jalapenos. Would I eat it again? Sure, but not before I try the bacon one first.

If you’re considering trying either, you’d better hurry because the chain says they’re only being offered for a limited time. Of course, that’s what they all say - KFC’s Double Down was only supposed to be around for a little while and we know how that turned out.

And if you’re hankering for more poutine advice, my two picks are the following. For plain old basic poutine, my favourite is New York Fries. For the fully loaded kind, I like the Nacho Grande Poutine at Smoke’s. The best poutine I’ve ever had was at Fionn MacCool’s pub on the Esplanade here in Toronto, where they use Guinness in their gravy. Mmmmm… Guinness gravy…

I can proudly report that I’ve accomplished two missions in the past few days. One, I did have lunch with New York Fries founder Jay Gould. Two, I did try one of his chain’s latest creations, the Braised Beef Poutine. Both happened separately, although our lunch - at a South Street Burger Co. restaurant - did include a side of fries.

I’ll have more on our lunch soon as I think there’s a good story in what we talked about. In the meantime, let’s talk about the Braised Beef Poutine. It was… interesting tasting. As I mentioned the other day, it’s one of two new poutines being served up by New York Fries in additional to the traditional kind, which is fries, cheese curds and gravy. The Braised Beef Poutine features some tasty Angus beef that’s been marinated in a red wine sauce, along with some carrots, onions and mushrooms. I haven’t yet tried the other new one, Butter Chicken Poutine, but will of course report back when I do.

The beef version was good but a little too wine-y tasting for me. I’m a big fan of poutine and do occasionally eat New York Fries’ traditional serving, so I’m already partial to how they do it. But I’m not sure if I’d have the Braised Beef again.

I’ve had similar reactions to many of the different kinds served up at Smoke’s Poutinerie, which is a fast-growing new chain in Ontario. I’ve tried a number of different versions there, from the Peppercorn Chicken Poutine to the Nacho Grande Poutine, yet I always find myself going back to the basic kind. The only exception to that is the Pulled Pork Poutine, which I only recently tried. It’s freaking amazing!

Now I know that many non-Canadians are probably reading this and thinking, “What the hell is he blabbering on about?” But make no mistake - poutine is coming for you! A Canadian recently opened up M Poutinerie in Munich, which is apparently the first poutine shop in Europe.

As for the U.S., it’s only a matter of time. This is, after all, one of the unhealthiest foods around, which would seem to be tailor made for American appetites!