Poutine has popped up here and there in Beijing over the past decade, whether at former Canuck-themed bar The Box or at Canada Day events by the Fairmont or Switch or, courtesy of some hockey fans, at The Irish Volunteer. Now a concerted effort is underway to spread this Canadian food favorite–a mix of fries, cheese curds and gravy–far and wide in China.
Canadian chef Jun Trinh at 4 Corners first made the cheese curds crucial for this dish a few years ago for Canada Day. (It takes about 10 liters of milk to make a kilo of curds, and they should ‘squeak’, kind of like a sneaker on a gym floor, when you chew them.) 4 Corners also includes homemade fries, gravy made using beef bones and chicken stock and, as a bonus, Montreal-style smoked meat that is cured in-house.
Now 4 Corners is selling its curds, gravy and meat beyond its own doors, with Jing-A Taproom the first to stock some in Beijing. Henry Trammell, who handles sales and marketing, also says the first shipment of poutine ingredients will soon head to Shenzhen, with plans to expand to other cities. If all goes to plan, we should see soon see poutine everywhere from Peking to Pizhou.
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