Black Truffle Poutine
- Annemarie Bolduc
- Jul 5, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
When fresh cheese curds and black truffle once met in my little Aussie kitchen, this rare poutine, also called my “Mission Impossible”, was finally accomplished!
Homemade truffle poutine… ho.my.god. I was lucky enough to improvise, photograph and taste this one. It happened on a sunny winter day during my first poutine photo session. Québec cheese curds are nearly impossible to find outside our belle province, so this was a rare chance I couldn’t miss. For this shot, we had just returned from a two-hour drive to try a new artisan fromagerie that happened to serve poutine. The curds were refrigerated, so the “squeakiness” was gone (they’re at their best at room temperature within 24 hours), but it was still the closest I’ve found so far in Australia.
Photography and "Mission Impossible Poutine" creation © Bottle and Brush Studio 2018
If you are in Québec, the cheese is not rare or expensive… but a freshly hunted truffle
definitely is. Black Perigord truffle doesn’t tolerate the coldest North American winters and would normally be imported from France. Some varieties are now cultivated in Québec, but this is still new. Here in the Snowy Valleys, truffles are grown locally and available in season. Both fresh truffles and cheese curds have very short lives, so having both on the same day felt truly special.
RECIPE
The recipe itself is simple once you’ve secured the truffle and cheese curds: top them over hot French fries and gravy. The real secret to a proper Québec-style poutine, though, is making all three components from scratch. You’ll find the full methods for French fries, gravy and homemade cheese curds in my Poutinology post and in my cookbook Québec Kitchen Abroad.
This dish was also published in ABC Organic Gardener Magazine issue #142 Winter 2023.
