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Poutine Place, San Antonio


Lexy

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22 hours ago, Xena said:

No Nana, I never in my life (teenage or otherwise) ate French fries with gravy. So Mtnmama raise a valid point: doesn't the gravy make the fries soggy? CG, how would you reheat such a mixture of fries, cheese and gravy?

Toaster oven works best. Because even though gravy-soaked fries are indeed soggy, they simply become a carrier for the gravy and cheese, and you probably won't notice.

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It's all beginning to make sense. :P

Canada's Poutine versus US Chili Cheese Fries!!!

(I admit I have never eaten poutine before. But then I remembered our gross-sounding, but occasionally delicious mess of a dish, so only thought it fair to mention. Time for an international cook-off!)

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Travis, also made me think of Chili Cheese Fries, which i love.  But also of French Fry Po-Boys from New Orleans, where they use roast beef gravy on fries (order it dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayo).  Guess that i, too, am gonna have to try Poutine.  

  

 

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I was there again for take-out. Saw a friend, a Canadian, who told me she was there to try the poutine. When it arrived, she looked concerned. She showed me the little cubes of white cheese sprinkled over the dish. She seemed in shock. The cheese is supposed to be melted, she told me. Someone mentioned the little cubes of unmelted cheese here on this thread, too. So maybe poutine lovers should be alerted to this and ask to have the cheese melted, if that's your preference. My take-out order arrived just as my friend started on her poutine, so I don't know her final judgment of it.

Lexy

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Since they will never get curds, they do what they can. The mozz they use is very tasty. I am not a big fan of this dish, but I do know what it should be. I made sure they put the cheese on before the hot gravy, so that the cheese will melt, and it did. There were, yes, loose cubes scattered around, and they would be better served by putting thin slices of the cheese on top so that it doesn't roll off. However, a few minutes into my meal, the cheese had melted anyway, lost as it was among the very hot fries. And being a customer, and a first-timer at that, I was not about to rush in to tell them how to do it (having already thrown my weight around by asking about the fry-cheese-gravy order).

This is not a gourmet dish; this is French-Canadian junk food. No need to be shocked. A more proper reaction might have been to storm out, complaining about the lack of curds...

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Now, CG, this was not a storm-out kind of happening. But if you're used to a favorite junk food served a certain way and love it that way, you have to think a moment when the dish arrives--expecting one thing and seeing something else. She looked shocked to me--ok, mildly surprised, puzzled, perturbed--but I'm pretty sure she pulled herself together and had a pleasant version of an old-time favorite. She's like that.  Probably just ordered another beer. :)

Lexy

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I do agree with you. My comment was a thinly-veiled attack on grumpy people, of which there seem to be many these days, who--when Mexico turns out not to be like "up north"--come out with the most unexpected reactions. And I do have a feeling that once she dug in, all would have ended well.

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On December 2, 2016 at 1:41 PM, daisy2013 said:

They do not have the right type of cheese down here.  Why even try a make believe dish.   I will wait til we go up north, oh it is so delicious.  Not healthy but soul satisfying

If you couldn't saying anything nice why did you have to comment.. 

You haven't tried the food there..  The owner try's very hard with what he's got. The right cheese is just about impossible to obtain in Mexico..

No doubt the owner ( who is a very gracious host by the way) is glad such a negative person as yourself doesn't frequent his establishment.. 

I for one will be glad when you go back up north for poutine,, and no doubt you will  find something negative to say about that.

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On 12/2/2016 at 1:41 PM, daisy2013 said:

They do not have the right type of cheese down here.  Why even try a make believe dish.   I will wait til we go up north, oh it is so delicious.  Not healthy but soul satisfying

"They do not have the right type of cheese" is not the negative part. "Why even try a make believe dish" is. Hard working people are attempting to approximate a favorite dish. If you stomp on them (apparently without even trying it) and discourage others from trying it then at least own your snarky negativity.

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Lets look at the science behind this. Canadian poutine is made with cheddar cheese curds- orange cheese. In no way are these an aged cheddar - it is milk dyed orange, then a cheddar starter. Therefore it is very close to mozzarella - a fresh cheese. Real cheddar is taken from the curds into molds, and aged appropriately, further developing that cheddar taste. If the store wanted authentic, which would only be viable if they had a chain, or franchises, it would be easy for them to contract orange cheddar cheese curds. They would also contract Marie Piper potatoes, which are the best in the world for fries, Russets are a second choice. It would give them an advantage over the competition, but in a blind taste test, it would all come down to the gravy and choice of potato to make the fries, and the choice of the grease they chose to fry them in.

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1 hour ago, CHILLIN said:

Lets look at the science behind this. Canadian poutine is made with cheddar cheese curds- orange cheese. In no way are these an aged cheddar - it is milk dyed orange, then a cheddar starter. Therefore it is very close to mozzarella - a fresh cheese. Real cheddar is taken from the curds into molds, and aged appropriately, further developing that cheddar taste. If the store wanted authentic, which would only be viable if they had a chain, or franchises, it would be easy for them to contract orange cheddar cheese curds. They would also contract Marie Piper potatoes, which are the best in the world for fries, Russets are a second choice. It would give them an advantage over the competition, but in a blind taste test, it would all come down to the gravy and choice of potato to make the fries, and the choice of the grease they chose to fry them in.

Whoa, dude, this is Mexico. Cheddar cheese producers? Marie Piper and russets? Competition? Not seriously. A little less Google and a little more local info, I think. Plus, there is such a thing as curd cheese, but AFAIK, curd is just the base for cheese, and is not cheese until it is made into cheese.

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On December 25, 2016 at 10:37 AM, daisy2013 said:

They still do not have the right type of cheese, nothing negative about that just the truth.

It wouldn't matter if they did have the right cheese.. Some people just wake up in the morning with negative thoughts in their head...

Puttiing a hard working Mexican down without even trying his restaurant is just plain sad..... 

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I have been making fresh curds for many, many years. Ever hear of paneer cheese. It is super easy to make (only two ingredients) and can be frozen. Also I am getting my Marie Piper and Russet Nugget seeds in January. That's right - potato seeds, not seed potatoes.

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/paneer-recipes-indian-paneer-recipes/

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You don't get me - I am all about helping young, local businesses getting ahead, maybe even going onto big, big things. Fresh curds are "squeaky" - there is no substitute, they have to be made once a week. The colouring or flavouring can be added - same powder as cheese  doodles.

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The standard of living here would go up a notch if we could get curds. I know nothing about the cheese business, other than buying it from a variety of cheesemakers in Ontario over the years, but if there is any way you can get somebody around here into making it, I would be very happy.

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30 minutes ago, ComputerGuy said:

The standard of living here would go up a notch if we could get curds. I know nothing about the cheese business, other than buying it from a variety of cheesemakers in Ontario over the years, but if there is any way you can get somebody around here into making it, I would be very happy.

I had never heard of poutine until moving here and subscribing to Shaw, thus watching show like "You've Got to Eat Here."  Honestly the sound of poutine does kind of turns my stomach but maybe I'd like it if I tried in.  There is a place in conia Santa Teresita in Guadalajara called "Puta Poutine."  I like the name.

Now I think the standard of living here would go up if Chillin would grow and sell russet potatoes so we could have decent baking potatoes.  I didn't even see any russets or russet-like potatoes for the holidays at Super Lake this year.

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I'm too lazy to be a farmer. I am trying to get a local farmer to grow these potatoes and the sub tropical rhubarb. I will help him to market them and get samples to restaurants, resorts, etc. The potatoes might take one season, each plant has its own unique genetic fingerprint. You let them grow, and the ones that adapt well to local conditions are the ones you keep seeds from for next year. Russets from the U.S. and Northern Mexico require a lot of chemicals and pesticides to keep them going because they are all identical clones - if one gets sick, they all get sick. These russets are nugget sized (like Yukon Golds), so I think they have a better chance not being in the ground so long.

As far as curds, you just need pasteurised whole milk, lemon or lime juice, and a thermometer. They have a fresh, concentrated milk flavour and those curry recipes are exceptionally good. The classic is Sagh - paneer chunks in a pureed, spicey spinach sauce. Paneer is low fat, so it doesn't melt as easily as normal matured cheese. Some people swear by drinking the leftover whey as well. It is still full of nutrients and zero fat. Our dogs used to love it.

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21 hours ago, CHILLIN said:

I'm too lazy to be a farmer. I am trying to get a local farmer to grow these potatoes and the sub tropical rhubarb. I will help him to market them and get samples to restaurants, resorts, etc. The potatoes might take one season, each plant has its own unique genetic fingerprint. You let them grow, and the ones that adapt well to local conditions are the ones you keep seeds from for next year. Russets from the U.S. and Northern Mexico require a lot of chemicals and pesticides to keep them going because they are all identical clones - if one gets sick, they all get sick. These russets are nugget sized (like Yukon Golds), so I think they have a better chance not being in the ground so long.

As far as curds, you just need pasteurised whole milk, lemon or lime juice, and a thermometer. They have a fresh, concentrated milk flavour and those curry recipes are exceptionally good. The classic is Sagh - paneer chunks in a pureed, spicey spinach sauce. Paneer is low fat, so it doesn't melt as easily as normal matured cheese. Some people swear by drinking the leftover whey as well. It is still full of nutrients and zero fat. Our dogs used to love it.

Nugget-sized russets are probably not going to be good baked potatoes :-(

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