My very first poutine outside Canada

Who would have thought that I would, one day, have a poutine outside of Canada, in USA none-the-less? I went to the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, ND and the fried curd stand was selling poutine - obviously for the Canadian tourists like myself, as well as for those looking to try new foods. If you have never had deep fried curds before, they are quite similar to mozzarella sticks, cheesy, battered and fried. Fried curds are generally greasy as heck, so a few will taste like heaven, but a whole bunch will give you a bad heartburn, but food that's bad for you tastes oh so good! 


The curd stand used their fried curds as part of the poutine, which is a first for me, I've never had fried curds ON a poutine! The fact that it uses curds instead of shredded cheese is still serious brownie points.


The fries are the standard not-quite-shoestring-not-quite-steakcut fries that you can get at your local Supermarket's freezer section, pretty bland. The gravy is light, minimal but is a nice sauce with a bit of beefiness to it, as well as a slight spice to it, while light, it really works for this.


Last of all, the curds - deep fried curds. I've had poutines with curds, shredded cheese, cheese sauce and now, curds - but deep fried! The curds have a very noticeable amount of squeak, so it's obviously fresher than curds you generally get at a poutinerie, fast food joint, pub or diner. The curds are greasy and salty the more you eat the poutine, but hey.. you don't really notice the deep fried aspect of the fries, except for a crunchy texture while biting.


Overall, put it all together - this actually is a solid poutine. It cost $8 but considering it was my first meal of the day, and while pretty small portion, it was incredibly filling. The fries were the downside, but combined with the fried curds and gravy - it actually works pretty well. 


I also got to snack on mini donuts and pulled pork sandwiches while down there, I wish I snacked on more different foods, but money doesn't grow on trees and I really didn't want bad heartburn, which happens every time I go to the States.

I'll be going to ND State Fair next year, so I hope it makes an appearance again!


Vive la poutine!