Worst Blog Ever

It's poutine Jim, but not as we know it.

So a couple of days ago, Kristie and I broke one of our 30 day challenges. That challenge was to not eat out for the month of September, and we barely made it two weeks, and then we broke down and ate out.

What could have caused us to break with our 30 day challenge? Did our fridge go on the fritz and all the food spoiled? Or perhaps someone came into our house and stole every morsel akin to The Grinch:

“He took the Who’s feast, he took the Who pudding, he took the roast beast. He cleaned out that ice box as quick as a flash. Why, the Grinch even took their last can of Who hash.”

Alas, no. The thing that made us break our vow, was a vile little temptress called POUTINE!

For those who don't know, poutine is a French Canadian dish that consists of Fries, Gravy and cheese curds. It is pretty much a coronary served in an aluminium pie plate, and it is something that, until very recently, didn't exist here in NZ.

We recently came back from a trip to Canada, where we managed to squeeze in one day where we could partake in our greasy trip down memory lane, and it was fantastic. After that, we resigned to a poutine fast for the next two years, until we came back to Canada for another visit.

But what should Kristie and I spy, during a walk to a movie theatre in the heart of down-town Wellington? A sign advertising poutine at a Cajun restaurant called Sweet Mother's Kitchen! What? Poutine in NZ? Surely the world had gone all topsy-turvy. Surely it must be a spelling error, or some Canadian residing here in NZ thought it would be funny to give other Canadians false hope, and hence defaced the sign. But no, upon entering the restaurant, we found that it was indeed poutine.

It was getting quite late the day we saw the sign, and we weren't hungry at all, but upon speaking to the waiter, we found that it was not a regular menu item, and he wasn't sure how long it would continue to be available. Well, there's no way in hell that I'm missing out on limited-time poutine! So the next day, we put aside our 30 day challenge, and decided to partake in gravy heaven.

Now, we've had some experiences in the past where a Canadian dish was attempted by Kiwis, and they have been hit and miss. Pumpkin pie...swing and a miss. Nanaimo bars...home run! And now, poutine...it was a solid second base hit.

It wasn't traditional poutine in a couple of ways. First, the gravy wasn't the same at all; this gravy was cajun sausage gravy; tasty, but not traditional French Canadian brown and water. Secondly, cheese curds don't seem to exist here in NZ. Which is strange as their dairy industry is such a big part of the economy here. So instead of cheese curds, it was melted cheese. It tasted really good, and if given the chance, I'd have it again, but it was more of a gourmet poutine than it was Canada's national food...after Tim Horton's donuts, that is.