I guess poutine should be explained for any of you who have never heard of it. It’s a specialty of Quebec, although I’d argue that Toronto has taken a really decent stab at it over the last few years, with dedicated poutine counters popping up evenly over its downtown core. It’s essentially this:
…cheese curds
and killer gravy…
…on perfectly fried french fries.
Now, if you’ve had poutine in Toronto, you know there are a number of places that offer up satisfying non-beef gravy options, usually a mushroom gravy. And sometimes those gravies are so good that they’re the only gravy on offer. But though I make mushroom gravies and think they are best for some things, this tamari gravy is some of the best poutine gravy I’ve ever had, and I’m reaching back to my beef gravy-worshiping days when I say this. A salty beef gravy on french fries was my high school cafeteria lunch for years (eternally grateful for my quick metabolism back then) so I’m speaking from ample experience, but this tamari gravy is perfect here. It’s not my recipe, and I don’t tweak it one bit because there’s no need.
This is a trashy sandwich and it belongs on trashy, white sandwich bread. I did dress it up with Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper, because what doesn’t benefit from a sprinkling of that? Best paired with high-fructose, all-bad-for-you cola to wash it down. Bonus points if you spill lots of rum into it before sipping.
This story and the recipe that goes with it can be found in “SANDWICHED”, ISSUE 005 of Le Sauce Magazine! Please get it here: http://www.lesauce.com/app