I had the pleasure of talking to Executive Chef Heinrich Meesen from the Hôtel Château Laurier Québec this past Thursday. He is responsible for the food at La Maison Du Quebec pavilion, here in Vancouver for the Olympics. It was a very insightful talk to help YouCook and our readers understand a little more about Quebec culture and Quebec food.

Luckily for us, the base of Quebec cooking is, of course, French cooking. The care and art of raising animals, vegetables, producing cheese, breads and preparing food all came from France, which is the first step to delicious cooking. As Chef Meesen describes it, Quebec cuisine is French cuisine with a twist. The twist is uusing local meats and produce such as local wild meats: deer, wild boar and caribou. Actually, Green Ketchup was invented in Quebec. It’s made from green unripe tomatoes. Green tomatoes are plentiful in Quebec because of the harsh winters and shorter growing seasons, so what better way to make use of these tomatoes but to add vinegar and sugar and make Ketchup Vert.

Another Quebec twist to French food is the pairing of Cloudberry (Chicotai) with Foie Gras. Cloudberry is a fruit that is very similar to the yellow raspberry found in the north coast of Quebec. Its taste is similar to honey or apples and they grow in swamps ready for picking in mid July to August. Sailors and the Natives picked these to prevent scurvy since they are rich in vitamin C. Cloudberries can be made into a jam and perfectly compliments Foie Gras.

Nothing is more symbolic of Canada than Maple Syrup and there is plenty of this in Quebec.

I was able to taste Fudge maple cupcake, maple syrup snow taffy, and maple cotton candy, which were all delicious. Another tree that is getting popular to eat is Cedar (or spruce) jelly.

One of our few national dishes that is being spread around the world is Poutine, and of course, this also comes from Quebec! I’ve been around the world and have had poutine in different provinces and cities but they’re never as good as the poutine in Montreal so I asked Chef Meesen about what the secret is. There are so many factors that go into the perfect poutine.

• “The cheese has to go Squeak Squeak”
  Huh? Yes, that was our reaction as well! What the Chef means is that the cheese curds have to be very fresh. The cheese curds never be refrigerated or frozen. When you chew it, the sound that the cheese makes in your mouth while you’re chewing should be “Squeak squeak” – the opposite of mushy/soft cheese. Well, this requirement cuts out making authentic poutine everywhere else around the world where anybody buys packaged cheese. La Maison Du Quebec will be getting a fresh cheese curd shipment on TUESDAY (Tomorrow), so be sure to drop by for some authentic poutine!!
• The Gravy
  Unfortunately after he told us what is in the gravy, I will reserve poutine as a once in a year culinary treat. Skip this point if you are trying to be healthy and want to be oblivious to what goes into the best poutine. Alright, well, the gravy is a meat gravy. However it has to be thick! It has to be thick enough to not soak the fries but serve as a coat around fries. So how do you get this thickness? Well, honestly it is half sauce and half fat. Yup…FAT. Now you know that when in search for the perfect poutine, if the gravy is soaking the fries, it does not have enough fat in it!
• The Fries
  The perfect fries for poutine are fresh thick large white potatoes. When potatoes are freshly picked, they have a high starch content and are good for mashed potatoes or stringy potatoes – you don’t want these potatoes. When potatoes sit too long, they have very little starch content and become very hard. Quebec poutine uses 1-2 week old white potatoes (perfect to get at the supermarkets) which has a middle balanced starch content. The fries must be thick cut to absorb the deep fried oil and not break down when the sauce is put on.

There you have it, the secret to Canada’s signature dish, Poutine!

The heavy starch dishes in Quebec represent how the people deal with the cold weather in Quebec. One dish that is very common in Quebec is a ragout of pork meatballs. Luckily for us, Chef Heinrich Meesen is sharing the recipe for his Grandma’s meat balls with us!!

If you are in Vancouver right now, be sure to check out La Maison Du Quebec for the culinary offerings (as well as all the live music performances!) You are in good hands to appreciate Quebec food here! The house is hard to miss, especially at night when it glows along the seawall beside BC Place. The venue is beautiful and the live shows of acrobatics and music have been spectacular.