While in Canada, I came across a comfort food that I have never heard of before, being an American. It's called Poutine and it was everywhere! Your basic poutine is french fries and cheese curds topped with hot brown gravy. The gravy can be either of the beef or chicken variety. The closest thing in America would be Disco Fries, which replaces the cheese curds with mozzarella. Some places in the states offer a dish called Gravy Fries, which comes close but no cigar!
Food stands like Smoke's Poutinerie offer different varieties of the poutine. Throughout Canada, you may be able to find the following versions of the poutine: smoked meat, pulled pork, veggie, breakfast, duck and dessert. If you are lucky enough to find a dessert poutine, it may include ice cream, syrup or chocolate. Some places offer poutines of an ethnic variety, such as Greek, Thai, Cajun and Italienne.
I remember people on the same cruise ship as mine recommending that I try the poutine. Smoke's Poutinerie, which was only a few feet from the ship, had an enormous line and a wide variety of this classic Canadian comfort food. Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to wait in such a large line so I figured I would try it at another eatery if I saw one on my excursion. Although I didn't find a place on my excursion, friends from the ship offered me a taste of theirs when I got back and I could definitely see why it is so popular!
