POUTINE CHALLENGE 2009
It’s everyone’s greatest pleasure and deepest regret. Whether you order in or stumble down the street, everyone at Bishop’s has experienced Quebec’s delicacy. This is why it has become a Campus tradition to gather once a year to rate all that Lennoxville and Sherbrooke has to offer in terms of fries, gravy and cheese curds. A panel of eight hungry and willing judges gathered around a table of nine hopefully delicious poutines to deliberate over their colour, cheese ratio, fry condition, smell, and presentation. After hours taste testing and critiquing, our stomachs couldn’t handle even looking at any more.
THE WINNERS
#1 Capitaine Grec
By Your Girlfriend
Do you remember your first time? I do. I remember how the steam rose and met with my face as I first opened the box… that hot, delicious smell of French perfection. The Captain was a gentle lover, and so satisfied was I that I returned for more, again and again, until my body swelled and my mind truly began to believe that there was no other that could ever make me this happy again.
That was three years ago, during frosh week of my first year. My first taste was a life-changing experience, and Captain Grec’s poutine has been a good friend to me during my stay here at Bishop’s. The delicious brown sauce, crispy fries, and the squeak of the cheese curds between my teeth … when I step through the doors of Grec’s at the end of a long drunken night, I swear I can hear the voice of the lord, and he’s welcoming me home.
#2 Village Grec
By The Armchair Eater
22 minutes after ordering, a large poutine arrived at the door. It was warm and messy like a poutine should be. The regular meat gravy is tasty and familiar, no doubt a big draw for loyal followers. Last year’s winner was still my favourite; the gravy was considerably less salty that many of the other options. There was a good ratio of fries to cheese and gravy, and it was all around delicious.
Recently, I’ve heard many people saying that they only hit up Village if the line at Capitaine is too long. While the Capitain may have edged out Village in this year’s competition, make sure you give it a fair shot at being your number one!
#3 ChicKing
By Professor X
I know, the name sounds like a cash register.
Third place was another Sherbrooke entry. This is a poutine for patient control-freaks.
Let me explain.
This is a B-B-Q sauce-based poutine that comes from a local franchise. Order from the store on King Est. and practice your French. The secret to ordering good take out poutine is asking for the “sauce apart” (only, deny the last “t”, say sauce ah parrrr).
It will probably take about 20 minutes for the order to arrive. One suggestion while you are waiting is to pour a nice bourbon, set the oven to 310 degrees F, put on “London Calling” and light that Cuban you’ve been saving.
Our order showed up at the promised time. This one has crinkle-cut fries so it’s almost like you’ve made it yourself from frozen. Good cheese ratio and the nicely varied curds were not melted. Sauce on the side and there’s a little utensil packet. Ordering a grande poutine gets you enough sauce to make it as juicy as you want.
This is also a chance to add a few of your own ingredients and make some local favorites:
Galvaude: chicken and peas
Dalton: roast beef and peas
Quebecoise: pepperoni and mushrooms
Add the sauce, give it about 10 minutes in the hot oven, and there you have it. Poutine your way. This is more of a Sunday afternoon kind of poutine and it makes you feel like you actually cooked a meal.
THE NOT WINNERS
Valentine
By Lindsay Lojan
Annually disappointing, Valentine’s poutine remained unlikeable this year. This dish, wrapped in plastic and not fantastic, looks greasier than that guy who just left while your roommate was in the shower. It smells like him too.
Because this poutine is so greasy, the fries slide right down, no sticky fries here. Unfortunately, the cheese arrives in a pseudo-melted state, so the squeak just isn’t there. The gravy is darker than other gravies, and doesn’t have a distinct flavour, it does have the ability to evenly coat fries in a questionable slime. The texture of this poutine is mushy, so if you don’t have teeth, this might be for you; the rest of us can enjoy any other selection.
There is a silver lining to this grease ball, it is delicious cold. In fact, upon a cold tasting, Valentine’s was more delicious than any other poutine. That, perhaps, is the raison d’etre for all the slick, this is a poutine you can come back to, even if the seconds are just as sloppy.
Valentine can be brought home for a mere $5.41 and, not surprisingly, comes with the smallest package.
Pizza Mivan
By Joshua Brownsauce
Friday November 6th was not a good Friday. It was The Good Friday at the Poutine Challenge HQ in New Jerusalem, where the blaspheming heathens from Pizza Mivan flogged my Mouth Messiah with their salty, fried whips.
Yes, our taste buds got a good crucifying that fateful night. We never did reach a definite conclusion on the identity of this mysterious sauce, but we are certain that it was Not Gravy. And the curds… oh, the curds. Why, Mivan? Curds are small, and occasionally strung together in the melting process; they do not sit atop one’s poutine like a blanket of coagulated awful.
Mivan, Mivan, why have you forsaken me?!
McDonald’s
By Wendy Diamond
They were the loser of the group for many, many reasons. First of all, they don’t deliver, and who really wants to walk around the long and windy streets of Lennoxville for a poutine? Yeah, not us. Their presentation was poor, and for the price the size was terrible: $8.22 for two poutines that weren’t even equivalent to two medium McDonald’s fries. The cold, soggy fries were placed at the bottom of the plastic container, and all of the gravy pooled at the bottom. It’s enough to turn you right off when you’re waiting for over five minutes for the poutines when you see the workers rip the plastic bag and pour the rationed curds. The ratio of fries, gravy and curds wasn’t right. There were too many fries that seemed to just absorb the tasteless gravy, and the curds were gone after two bites. If you’re into consistency, this one wins. Everything is rationed, but it’s terrible. It’s all about corporate standards with McDonald’s.
NOTES & Other Options:
Stratos
While not “the King of Poutine” in Lennoxville, a reliable source reports Stratos is one of the most popular poutines in Sherbrooke, and deservedly so. Stratos is open unitl 3AM, but unfortunately delivery makes this one of the priciest poutines at $14.62.
Pizzaville
I give Pizzaville poutine a passing mark not in my top three but maybe in my top ten.
Pep
Neither winner nor loser, yet someone says: Yum x 8!!!
Valentine – $5.41 – Pick-up
McDonald’s – $8.33 – Pick-up
Restaurant Pep – 23 minutes
Village Grec – $8.50 – 22 minutes
Pizza Mivan – $8.00 – 34 minutes
Pizzeria Stratos – $16.00 – 17 minutes
Capitain Grec – $9.50 – 9 minutes
Pizzaville – $6.25 – Pick-up
Chicking – $14.00 – 42 minutes
Comments
By Kenny Sharp on January 9th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Reading this brings me back to the fall of 2001, sitting around one evening at our house on College Street, when someone posed a question about the peculiarities of life in Lennoxville. It went something like, “if you called an ambulance and Village Grec at the same time, which one would arrive at your door first?” This initially rhetorical question set the wheels in motion for the first of these poutine contests.
The idea of dialing 911 for pure entertainment was quickly dismissed, but a couple of bright young men (whom I will not identify because they both have good jobs, nice homes and lovely wives) took the idea and transformed it into the Amazing Race, in which six fast food establishments were simultaneously telephoned to see which would be the first to arrive at the steps of 18 College Street, AKA The Halfway House.
In the end, I vividly recall a Village Grec delivery man stepping through the makeshift finish line a mere 7 minutes after the call went out. He appeared confused by the festivities, which included several dozen cheering students, the theme song from Star Wars blasting through the window, and a very large bucket of styrofoam peanuts dumped on him from the roof. His tip was presented in an aluminum takeout container in the form of a medal, which he wore with great pride, at least until he got back to his car whereupon he tossed it on the seat and drove away.
A proud tradition was born. Two years later the contest was narrowed to include only poutine establishments, and beautiful gold trophies were awarded to the race winner (Village Grec) and the best poutine (also Village Grec). I hope that they are still proudly on display in the liquor cabinet; the last time I checked (Spring 2009), they still were.
Keep it up.
Kenny Sharp
By David Millard on January 9th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Yo campus readers.
If you take a look at a late September 2002 edition of the Campus, you will find an article written by D.Deacon, entitled “The Amazing Race.” This article was the first race/review of Lennoxville’s finest eateries. No, this pre-dates Captain Grec, but back then there was only enough room for one Grec in town. Nobody came close to beating the Village, as they delivered a $6 poutine in under 10 minutes. It was magical.
I’m glad the yearly review is still going. It is the job of the media to keep these institutions from becoming complacent.
Well done,
David Millard
By D. Deacon on January 13th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
For the record, the Poutine Challenge—also known as the Amazing Race—started in 2001 when a member of the Halfway House asked the question: “If you ordered grec and an ambulance, which would get to your door first?” The winner of the Amazing Race that year was the Village Grec with a delivery time of 7 minutes.
By Jamie Allison on January 21st, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I was there with Kenny and Dave that night. In fact I was the lucky guy who ordered the winning entry, despite Rick Lamanna’s insane claim that Au Roi du Coq Roti was the winner.
The above named gentlemen, and the gentleman I assume used the D. Deacon name, have gone on to do some great things with their lives and, like Kenny said, married some wonderful women. Still, you guys might be carrying on their greatest legacy. So good for you.
By Cathy Anderson on February 19th, 2010 at 10:27 am
Poutine, a dish consisting of primarily French fries topped with fresh cheese curd covered with brown gravy and other ingredients if you like, is surely mouth-watering. Poutine challenge is one of the most awaited event in the campus, specially by the judges. The winners of the poutine challenge is surely the best for the year. This post is great. It would be nice if photos of the poutine winners are shown, maybe during the next poutine challenge.