Poutine: Quebecois or Canadian?

(Originally aired: Jan. 30, 2018) Guest: Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, Food Systems Graduate Student, University of Vermont All the Canada travel guides say you have to eat poutine when you visit. And they’re totally right. It’s a bowl of crispy fries, first of all, topped with gooey cheese curd and hot gravy. It’s pretty straightforward and so good. But lately, poutine has become a sore point for some in Quebec, which is the French region of Canada where the dish originated. Chefs across Canada have embraced poutine as a gourmet treat and many now claim it as their own, ignoring the fact that, for decades, poutine was looked down on as a symbol of Quebec’s lack of sophistication. Quebec native Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet says this is cultural appropriation and he sparked heated debate when he published a study making that claim in the journal Cuizine.