La Poutine Week
StatusActive
GenreFood festival, food tour and competition
FrequencyAnnually, 1–7 February
Inaugurated1 February 2013 (2013-02-01)
Founders
  • Na'eem Adam
  • Thierry Rassam
Most recent1–14 February 2022
Next event1–14 February 2023
Participants700 restaurants
Attendance325,000
ActivityCreating and consuming poutine
Organized byPeople Mover Technologies
Websitewww.lapoutineweek.com

La Poutine Week is an annual food festival which celebrates poutine, a Québécois dish of french fries, cheddar cheese curds and brown gravy, which is popular throughout Canada and has spread internationally. It is the world's largest poutine festival, with over 700 restaurants serving poutines to more than 350,000 customers. The festival has been held 1–7 February, with double-sized 1–14 February editions beginning in 2022.

Background and organization

La Poutine Week was conceived by marketing entrepreneur Na'eem Adam and lawyer Thierry Rassam.[1] They were introduced by friends at a restaurant where they had a spirited debate about who made Montreal's best hamburger. Adam was then writing a food blog[2] and brought the question to his readers to seek more opinions.[3] Adam and Thierry developed upon the interest to launch the first Le Burger Week food festival in September 2012,[2][4] to let the public decide.[5] Building on the success of Le Burger Week,[6] Adam and Thierry used the same model to launch La Poutine Week[5] in February 2013.[7][1] They founded the company People Mover Technologies to organize both festivals.[3][a]

La Poutine Week is held annually, 1–7 February.[9] The dates were chosen to help attract winter customers[10] when restaurants entered a slow business period between New Year's and Valentine's Day.[2] Participating restaurants create a signature poutine,[11] priced at no more than $10.[7][12][b] Restaurants in each city or region compete for Favourite Poutine, decided by an online vote from the eating public, and the Jury Prize, Health Prize, Most Original Poutine[4][13] and Most Outrageous Poutine.[14][c] Judges for each city receive La Poutine Week merchandise and a cash stipend.[15] According to Adam, the festival grew naturally, with restaurants eager to take part.[5]

The first La Poutine Week was held in Montreal in 2013, with 30 restaurants participating.[16][10] The following year, the festival expanded to Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto, with about 100 restaurants in total.[7] In 2015, over 120 restaurants took part, with Sherbrooke, Quebec, added as a competing city and international participation in Brooklyn, New York, and Wollongong, Australia.[1][13][10][17] In 2016, the international contingent expanded with additional restaurants in Australia and the United States, as well as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, and New Zealand.[4][18] In 2018, the festival comprised 240 restaurants across nine Canadian cities, adding Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg.[19] Also that year, Winnipeg overtook Montreal with in excess of 80 participating restaurants.[11]

The decentralized nature and social media aspects of La Poutine Week (and its sister festivals) effectively protected it during the COVID-19 pandemic, in comparison to traditional food festivals which physically attract attendees together into a large crowd.[8] In 2021, with sponsorship from Montreal-based multinational dairy Saputo Inc., entry fees were waived or greatly reduced, encouraging more restaurants to take part, while SkipTheDishes provided free delivery which was essential in areas with curfews or dine-in restrictions. Some restaurants also developed packaging that allowed customers to assemble their poutine on arrival, preserving the dynamics of the contrasting ingredients.[16][20] 700 restaurants across 8 Canadian provinces participated in La Poutine Week 2021,[21][14] and Montreal reclaimed top position with over 120 restaurants.[22] Some 350,000 customers took part,[6] making it the largest poutine festival in the world.[14] One dollar from each poutine sold was donated to charities, such as Anorexie et Boulimie Québec (ANEB).[8][6][23]

For its tenth year, La Poutine Week has been scheduled for 1 to 14 February 2022. The double-sized edition is intended to allow the eating public opportunity to try more poutines from the large number of participating restaurants.[24]

Dishes

Restaurants are free to create any kind of poutine for the festival.[16] According to Adam, the popular poutines in Montreal are those which perfect the core ingredients of french fries, cheddar cheese curds and brown gravy, while in the "poutine diaspora" it has been more about reinventing the dish.[7] Some chefs take inspiration with a combination of carbs, cheese and sauce, while others distance themselves further with solid, semisolid and liquid elements.[2] Many will create fusions with other cuisines, and there are often vegetarian, breakfast and dessert poutines.[25][24][26][27][28][29][23]

IBM supercomputer Watson helped a team of chefs create five new poutines for free taste-testing during La Poutine Week 2015 in Toronto and Montreal. It analyzed the demographics and popular cuisines of the cities and drew from a database of tens of thousands of recipes to create fusion pairings for each city.[1]

Reception

Susan Semenak of the Montreal Gazette described La Poutine Week as "Montreal's greasiest festival"[17] and a "grease and gravy marathon".[30] Tiffany Le of the McGill Tribune called it the best winter undertaking for foodies.[26] Rita Demontis of the Toronto Sun called the dishes "wild and wonderful ... with every known food group playing a role."[14]

Impact

The festival has helped restaurants to stay open and boost sales during difficult periods.[14][20] The festival also raises morale and triggers rehiring to meet the increased demand.[8] According to organizers, some restaurants have had their best week of business during the festival or ran out of food to serve.[31] Dairies experience increased curd sales for La Poutine Week and raise curd production in anticipation of the festival.[32]

While celebrating poutine, organizers have made an effort to communicate that it is not an everyday food.[d] In addition to the juried prize for the Healthiest Poutine,[4] gym memberships and other health-related prizes have been given to those who register votes[31] and funds have been donated to health-related charities.[8][6][23]

The success of Le Burger Week and La Poutine Week led to the launch of Le Pizza Week in May 2021. Adam and Thierry had earlier held back due to the number of other pizza festivals, but during the pandemic they received a number of requests from restaurants and understood that there was demand.[8][34][35]

Footnotes

Notes

  1. ^ Adam and Thierry created company People Mover Technologies to organize Le Burger Week. It subsequently organized La Poutine Week[3] and Le Pizza Week.[8]
  2. ^ Prices outside Canada may vary.
  3. ^ Most Outrageous Poutine has occasionally been awarded by judges for a dish which pushes the boundaries of excess, such as a large hamburger which contained a poutine.[5]
  4. ^ Writing for the New York Times, dietician Elaine Magee ranked poutine as the least-healthy french fry based dish.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Pelley, Lauren (2 February 2015). "Poutine inventions offer new wheys to eat your curds". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. pp. E1, E8. ProQuest 1650084755.
  2. ^ a b c d Haldane, Maeve (2 February 2017). "La Poutine Week plays around with a classic; From plantains to pork filet, restaurants push the boundaries". Montreal Gazette. p. C3. ProQuest 1864523449.
  3. ^ a b c Schwartz, Susan (1 September 2015). "Le Burger Week ready to tantalize taste buds; Dozens of restaurants offer custom-made creations for event". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec: Postmedia Network Inc. p. A16. ProQuest 1708736549.
  4. ^ a b c d Schwartz, Susan (27 January 2016). "Poutine Week is bigger than ever". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec: Postmedia Network Inc. p. C1. ProQuest 1760707666.
  5. ^ a b c d Brownstein, Bill (31 January 2018). "Load up the plate during La Poutine Week, but hold the guilt". Montreal Gazette. Postmedia Network Inc. ProQuest 1993039152. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "La Poutine Week is back Feb. 1 ... with a twist". The Suburban. Saint Laurent, Quebec. 24 January 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Henry, Michele (28 January 2014). "Would you like squid ink with your curds?: Montreal's La Poutine Week expands to Toronto for the first time, with surprising ingredients". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers. p. E1. ProQuest 1491994815. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "A Montreal-born, Canada-wide pizza party is imminent". Montreal Gazette. Postmedia Network. 27 April 2021. ProQuest 2519039498. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  9. ^ "La Poutine Week 2014". La Poutine Week. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  10. ^ a b c "Creative chefs offer their take on fries, curds and gravy during La Poutine Week". Toronto, Ontario. The Canadian Press. 27 January 2015. ProQuest 1649076642.
  11. ^ a b Lebar, Erin (3 January 2018). "A cheesy endeavour: La Poutine Week promotes small businesses and encourages creativity". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. ProQuest 2545601896. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  12. ^ Reid, Jenn (30 January 2015). "Three things to do in Toronto this weekend". Toronto Star. p. L4. ProQuest 1649051587.
  13. ^ a b "Plus de 120 restaurants, dont 45 à Montreal, participent à La Poutine Week" [More than 120 restaurants, 45 in Montreal, participate in La Poutine Week] (in French). Toronto, Ontario. The Canadian Press. 1 February 2015. ProQuest 1650910777.
  14. ^ a b c d e Demontis, Rita (27 January 2021). "National Poutine Week celebrates favourite food". Toronto Sun. Toronto, Ontario: Postmedia Network Inc. p. A31. ProQuest 2482359444. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  15. ^ "The Buzz". Winnipeg Free Press. 26 November 2019. ProQuest 2546262258.
  16. ^ a b c Thomas, Brodie (21 January 2021). "More than 50 Calgary restaurants slinging curds and gravy for La Poutine Week". Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta: Postmedia Network Inc. ProQuest 2479823016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  17. ^ a b Semenak, Susan (28 January 2015). "Chefs prepare for poutine fest". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. p. B3. ProQuest 1648844534.
  18. ^ "International – La Poutine Week". La Poutine Week. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  19. ^ Hum, Peter (30 January 2018). "Which Ottawa restaurant's special poutine looks most edible to you?". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario: Postmedia Network Inc. ProQuest 1992673449. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  20. ^ a b Wasney, Eva (1 February 2021). "All eyes on the fries for La Poutine Week: Record 108 local chefs to put spin on Québécois classic". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. p. 3. ProQuest 2484176188.
  21. ^ Hum, Peter (26 January 2021). "During a raging pandemic, La Poutine Week will make deliveries". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario: Postmedia Network Inc. p. A8. ProQuest 2481410715. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  22. ^ "La Poutine Week is on!". Cult MTL. Montreal, Quebec: Cult MTL Media Inc. 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  23. ^ a b c McLean, Hanna (27 January 2021). "La Poutine Week Calgary 2021 kicks off next week". Daily Hive. Buzz Connected Media Inc. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  24. ^ a b "La Poutine Week 2022". La Poutine Week. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  25. ^ "Beyond the Plate: Bird Bar's Kimberly Lallouz always seeks a challenge". Montreal Gazette. 30 January 2019. ProQuest 2173799549. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  26. ^ a b Le, Tiffany (10 February 2015). "Out on the Town: Montreal poutine week". McGill Tribune. Montreal, Quebec: Société de Publication de la Tribune. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  27. ^ Belfer, Hana (4 February 2021). "14 Decadent Poutines you NEED To Taste During Montreal's La Poutine Week 2021". MTL Blog. Montreal, Quebec: Narcity Media. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  28. ^ Lebar, Erin (31 January 2019). "So nice, they've done it twice". Winnipeg Free Press. ProQuest 2546214037.
  29. ^ William-Ross, Lindsay (27 January 2021). "Here are all the decadent poutines you can try in Metro Vancouver during La Poutine Week". New Westminster Record. Burnaby, British Columbia: Glacier Media Group. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  30. ^ Semenak, Susan (8 February 2015). "Backstage at La Banquise – because it's always poutine week there". Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec: Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  31. ^ a b "Annual 'La Poutine Week' is Back to Heat Things Up!" (PDF) (Press release). La Poutine Week. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  32. ^ Wasney, Eva (31 January 2020). "An ode to curds: La Poutine Week ooey gooey good". Winnipeg Free Press. p. D3. ProQuest 2348599211. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  33. ^ Nisker, Gabe (12 February 2019). "The best dishes at the seventh annual La Poutine Week". McGill Tribune. Montreal, Quebec: Société de Publication de la Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  34. ^ "La Pizza Week will have Calgarians voting for their favourite slice of pie". Calgary Herald. Postmedia Network Inc. 28 April 2021. ProQuest 2519473680. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  35. ^ Wasney, Eva (28 April 2021). "When the moon hits your eye, it must be La Pizza Week". Winnipeg Free Press. p. C1. ProQuest 2518885742. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
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