“Look, there’s no such thing as a bad poutine. They’re all good in their own heart. The secret which I think really determines a great poutine from a mediocre one, per se, is the cheese. The cheese curds coincidentally come from my home area of the Eastern Townships. It’s fresh, it’s clean, and you know it’s good when it’s nice and squeaky when you’re chewing on it.

So some places put some mozzarella or different types of cheeses or not fresh cheeses. That’s just unacceptable when you’re making a poutine. The second is the St. Hubert sauce, that classic brown sauce. That is definitely open to a bit more flavor. You could add Indian spices to it. You could add Italian spices. And so that one you have a little bit more leeway. But there’s not much leeway for the cheese. And of course the last and most important ingredient is the French fries. And they need to be thick, greasy, and chewy. Not too crunchy, not too soft. They gotta be just perfect.”