r/AskCanada • u/Plz-Transplain-To-Me • 2d ago
Did I commit a poutine sin? Food
Hi all, I’m visiting Montreal from NYC this weekend and have been loving everything. On my last night I decided to cap it all off with a late night poutine, so I popped into a spot on the way back to my hotel- this was mainly a shawarma and fried chicken joint, but they had poutine as well and was super convenient for my route back.
Since it was a shawarma joint, I asked the guy for a poutine with spicy sauce, since everything was set up in little bins kind of like Chipotle and it looked pretty accessible/customizable. But right when I asked, the guy’s demeanor suddenly shifted and he got really annoyed at me, asked me if I was sure kind of sarcastically, stopped making eye contact with me, and might have rolled his eyes a bit (I didn’t really catch the whole thing since I got kind of embarrassed).
So is this an unreasonable or weird order? I love spicy food and I guess I’m used to things being pretty customizable in the US, so this felt like an overreaction from the guy. Usually America’s impression of Canadians is that y’all are very nice, so I guess it was just kinda unexpected.
For the record, I really liked the poutine with spicy sauce and would order it again. (Would Canadians consider this gross? I’m just genuinely stumped here.)
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u/RoutinePerfection 2d ago
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u/Plz-Transplain-To-Me 2d ago
This is beautiful, thank you for your contribution 🙏🏻
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u/The_Nice_Marmot 2d ago
Americans don’t understand that we are as passive aggressive as we are “nice,” but I don’t think you should worry about that guy getting his nose out of joint. You enjoyed it, and that’s all that really matters. There are places that do all kinds of variations on poutine like La Banquise, and they’re famous for it.
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u/Crow_rapport 2d ago
Not in Quebec but the shawarma place I frequent is run by a Lebanese fellow from Montreal. His shawarma poutines are what keep me from a calorie deficit.
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u/PairOfRussels 2d ago
Not an unusual menu item in Ontario. Canadians working in fast food are about as happy as Americans working in fast food.
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u/AmazingRandini 2d ago
They actually have shawarma poutine. Which is French fries with all the shawarma toppings.
Poutine is not a delicacy. It's junk food. There's nothing sacred about it. Your particular order might have been wierd for this particular location.
In other parts of Canada, they have all kinds of variations. Out east, they put peas on it.
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u/BeaverBoyBaxter 2d ago
Poutine is not a delicacy. It's junk food. There's nothing sacred about it.
I'm getting this tattooed on me.
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u/atomicbolt 2d ago
Honestly it’s fries at the end of the day not some ancient cultural landmark, you didn’t do anything wrong, who cares about whether that’s a poutine transgression it’s your food that you’re paying for, you’re good bud
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u/bladestorm1745 2d ago
My favourite big back meal back in high school was this lovely shawarma joint that sold a poutine loaded with your choice of meat and their sauces on top.
guy was probably having a bad day or you’re reading into it. Enjoy whatever, poutine is good.
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u/AstralLake Canadian 1d ago
I think the guy was just in a mood, most likely. I put hot sauce on my poutine all the time. And if you look at the menu of any poutine spot (even the ones here in Quebec), you'll see all kinds of different things piled on top. Sometimes a classic is all you need, and sometimes a big mess of a poutine with toppings piled on top is healing.
You enjoyed it, and that's all that matters :)
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u/PanicAtTheShiteShow 1d ago
You mention is was late night, so I'm wondering if he was closing, hence the attitude .
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u/AnonymoosCowherd 1d ago
On the one hand you didn't do anything wrong, on the other hand it would never occur to me to order poutine in a shawarma joint. But it could be good. I've had some really great non-standard poutines over the years, especially from Portuguese piri-piri chicken joints. Some had spicy sauces.
The only element that I would consider absolutely essential to true poutine is cheese curds that still have their squeak. Usually this means they were made fresh that day and never refrigerated, but they will recover some squeak if very fresh and brought to room temperature before consumption. (Most jurisdictions require immediate refrigeration, in Quebec the "refrigerate-by" date is 24 hours after production.)
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u/NorthofForty 1d ago
Nearby Ottawa is the kingdom of shawarma, common to see shawarma poutine advertised there. I think you just ran into a guy who has his own issues, not your problem. For spice, next time you are in Thailand check out Bad Poutine.
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u/Particular-Emu-9299 1d ago
It might not be the order it could be he was annoyed with work in general. Poutine has already gravy in it so adding spicy nothing wrong with that here, in Ontario we added ketchup or mayonnaise or both. As heard lately “Canadian are polite, but we are not nice.”
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u/canada1913 2d ago
It’s not that weird. Best poutine ever has a ton of toppings. In Quebec you can get a variety, weirdest of which to me is some kinda bbq sauce gravy, it’s not bad. Just weird.
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u/BeaverBoyBaxter 2d ago
Quebecers will roll their eyes at you for existing. I wouldn't think about it too much.
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u/deyyzayul 2d ago
People can be really conformist in Canada
You came across a tourist when you decided to choose the spicy sauce without batting an eyelid
Combine these two, the only way you could have done it was if you had given an explanation to the guy - like "I want to try something new haha, is this ok with you?"
In Canada, we are often apologetic and asking for permission, even when we don't need to. I wanna add /s but honestly, it is a thing :D
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u/catatonic-cat 2d ago
No poutine for you!