6 ways to make poutine even more Canadian

Add one Canadian classic to another, and you get a national dish of epic proportions. Whether you layer peameal bacon under your other poutine ingredients, add it to the gravy or simply serve pieces on top, there’s no doubt that peameal’s briny, salty flavour will have you singing “O Canada” when you’re finished.

Invented in 1969 by the Calgary Inn’s bartender Walter Chell, the Caesar is the most popular mixed drink in the country — even though folks outside Canada look at us a little funny when they hear we enjoy a cocktail based on clams. Never mind — a Caesar’s tangy fire is a perfect foil to the richness of poutine. And hey, if you eat a butter tart for dessert, you’ll have achieved a hat trick of Canadian cuisine.

Beer-based gravy is dark and rich — and what better way to up the CanCon than to use a good Canadian beer. We’d recommend a stout or porter, like McAuslan’s St. Ambroise oatmeal stout or Propeller Brewery’s London-style porter. You can boost the Canadian-ness of your gravy even further by substituting maple syrup for the brown sugar in the recipe below — or just adding a splash of maple syrup at the end of cooking. Check out this beer onion gravy recipe.

Folks in the west know that pierogis, although they originated in central Europe, Ukraine and Russia, are now as much a part of Canadian cuisine as Nanaimo bars. So why not use them to make poutine? While you can use boiled pierogi, fried ones approximate french fries best. Choose potato- and cheese-stuffed pierogi to mimic the flavours of poutine — or, you know, get adventurous and use ones stuffed with sauerkraut.

On the east coast, once you’ve had the standard boiled lobster dipped in butter, why not get a little creative and make lobster poutine? You can simply add lobster meat to traditional poutine or, if you want to up the ante a little, use melted butter instead of gravy. Even better? Make a lobster gravy. (Here's a recipe.)

Tim Hortons premiered Timbit poutine at the Canadian National Exhibition in 2015, but you can easily make your own. Instead of fries, use Timbits (Tim Hortons used birthday cake ones, but we prefer sour cream glazed), then add marshmallows or small spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, then top them with either hot fudge or hot caramel. Eat your ooey-gooey dessert with a double-double on the side.