Burger King Poutine Review: Canada's National Dish
To top off the Canada fries scene, we visited Burger King, to judge the competition against McDonald’s dominion internationally. However, upon discovering that Burger King served poutine which is not sold in the United States, the internationally exclusive poutine immediately became the centerpoint of our visit to the chain. Poutine is a Canadian dish consisting of french fries, cheese, and gravy, similar to disco fries. Since being first made in the fifties, they have evolved to become a proud symbol of Canadian culture, hence the reason to review Burger King’s version to a classic and national dish.
Before we proceed with our review, it may be important to talk a bit more about the significance of the poutine. Originating in rural Quebec in the late 1950s, poutine is made of French fries topped with fresh, squeaky cheddar cheese curds and warm brown gravy. It holds deep cultural significance as Quebec's definitive regional comfort food and has evolved into Canada's most recognizable national dish. Fast-food chains across Canada serve poutine primarily because it acts as an essential localization strategy, demonstrating respect for Canadian food preferences, while seamlessly leveraging an existing menu item. We were excited because it is rare that fried potatoes - the obsession of this blog - is recognized as a central dish that represents a nation.
Texture (6/10)
The fries were quite crunchy and crispy in the beginning, since the poutine was received in a heap contained inside a box, the top of the poutine had a light airyness in the inside, which made a few well rounded bites. However, while making our way deeper and eating the fries on the bottom of the stack, the fries became deflated, crushed almost, while being soggy and thin. This is due to the gravy and debris that would have been sitting on the fries as we ate off the top layers. We are not sure how better the texture of poutines should or could be. But the gravy absolutely makes the fries on the bottom a mush.
Flavor (6/10)
The flavor began with an salty (almost too salty) pitch from the gravy, which was actually felt when tasting despite it dripping off and over the fries when picked up. The salty gravy was accompanied by savory, gooey cheese curds that came out nice and hot, melting and embedding the cheese flavor into the liquid gravy. Although both the gravy and cheese blended well for the poutine, the gravy was a little too salty, which also emphasized that the fries themselves were not very flavorful, as the potato flavor that should normally be felt with eating a french fry was missing, being overpowered by the gravy’s saltiness. We honestly belief this was not the original design of the recipe and hypothesize that this particular batch was either over-concentrated or been boiling too long. We do believe that the beef flavor of the gracy was perfect for the potatoes and could imagine what a perfect poutine might have been.
Shape (4/10)
The poutine’s fries were nothing special, being the general shape and size of a finger and being as thick as one as well. These fries, unlike crinkle cut or other special shaped fries, were not actually made with the intended use of being able to hold the gravy or cheese better, being regular average fries. With the fries' initial shape not differing from any other regular fry, the fries stuffed at the bottom of the poutine were actually soggy, like said earlier. Along with being soggy came poor structure, and a shriveled soaked shape that was not pleasant to consume!
Presentation (5/10)
The poutine came in a rectangular box, similar to the ones used to hold burgers and other fast food items. This box held a surprisingly large amount of fries, which was piled inside, turning the inside of the box nearly into a surface comparable to that of a French onion soup. Although the cardboard of the box would be good to hold the fries normally, the gravy and liquid elements simply came to stab the poutine’s grading once again. The bottom of the box was hot, very hot, when carrying the poutine, and just like the soggy and mush fries at the bottom, the bottom cardboard of the box became just as wet and moist with layers of gravy hydrating the surface. We believe there needs to be a better way to package the poutine, rather than make it a shared afterthought.
Experience (6/10)
Despite the drawbacks, this Burger King poutine actually ended up being one of the better decorated fries we have reviewed, Burger King taking a beloved Canadian dish and recreating it faithfully, even on a wide scale. The fries were also of great value, with there being nearly twice as many fries than what McDonald’s gives out with their large fries recently. We are somewhat giving Burger King a benefit of doubt on the extreme saltiness of the gravy as there is no way the original recipe could have been that.
Texture | 6 |
Flavor | 6 |
Shape | 4 |
Presentation | 5 |
Experience | 6 |
Overall | 5.4 / 10 |
Conclusion
Overall, Burger King has succeeded in creating an adequate representation of Canadian poutine, making the gravy and cheese flavors pop with their fries. And while being such a big corporation, they have done well in paying homage to the Canadian culture. However, the drawbacks of Burger King’s rendition of poutine are practical, with the bottom fries becoming moist and the carton being so as well, the real vex to this poutine were problems with how the poutine is as a dish itself, not to the way it was cooked or how it tasted.
Comments