Burger Joints, Poutine and Variety Stores
Common Sights and Tastes in Canada
May 19, 2008: It is a cloudy cool day here in Paris. I want to venture out and take a road trip but at $1.25/liter (abt. $5.00/gal), it is just getting too expensive. So, I am finishing up some of my other pages. One page I really wanted to do was about some places in Canada that are common everywhere, but that we don't really see much in the States. Mom and Pop shops for burgers/fries and variety stores are everywhere. They are small businesses in a big chain world.
When Solomon and Andrew were visiting back in April, we ventured out to Hamilton to try out Hutch's on the Beach, an old Mom and Pop Diner located on the beach of Lake Ontario. I had heard of their famous Fish and Chips (chips are fries served with fish....they are called fries when served with burgers). So, we visited there one evening after work. The shopis literally a stone's throw from Lake Ontario and there are views of the lake from the windows of the diner.
Sol and Andrew pose with a smile...check out the old fashioned neon sign
Some views of the inside of Hutch's
They have "Hamburg" and "Cheese Burg" as well as Fish and Chips
And the food: Fish and Chips; our big tray; and my GREAT photo of the yummy looking bacon cheese burger
They have an old milk machine (I haven't seen one of these in years)
Carolyn, Debbie and Jen pose with me by the menu
Playing on Lake Ontario right behind Hutch's
Diners like Hutch's are not too common anymore, but more common are what I am calling "Roadside Burger Joints". These are little shops built into old trailers, buses and trucks, or whatever else they can manage to make it from. They have propane tanks hooked up to the grills and make their burgers, fries, hot dogs, pogos (what we call corn dogs) and Poutine. These places sometimes also do fish and chips. They usually have some sort of picnic table set up outside
Above are samples of some of these burger joints
Typical signs advertising their goodies (I have no idea what a wiggler dog is!)
I have visited a couple of these to try them out. Last week I dropped by one here in Paris. It was a nice experience....
I visited Barber's Fries and was greeted by Greg...quite a character
I ordered a bacon cheeseburger...they make them with burgers and peameal (back bacon).
Greg cooks up the Onion Rings made from real onions.
I also was told by Greg that I would miss out if I did not try the Poutine. I had never tried it, but had heard of it.
Poutine is a concoction of fresh cut fries, melted cheese curds and a thick savory brown gravy. It was apparently invented by accident. According to a number of histories, Fernand Lachance from Warwick, Quebec made the first one. A CTV article on the web says the following "Lachance's contribution can be traced back to the restaurant Lutin Qui Rit back in September 1957. That was where Lachance met a trucker with a special request. "I wanted fries, but I saw cheese curds on the counter. I asked Fernand to mix them together," Eddy Lanaisse told CTV News, recalling his encounter with Lachance almost 50 years ago. Lachance warned that the take-away order of french fries and cheese would likely be too difficult to eat. It was dubbed a "poutine," taking the French slang for mess. But the mess was tasty, and the dish was a hit."
Another restaurateur claims to be the actual inventor of poutine as it is served today. Jean-Paul Roy, the owner of Roy le Jucep in Montreal, was apparently the one who began to add the thick and tasty gravy to the fries and cheese. According to the History of Poutine page, "Jean-Paul Roy, also claims the title of "The Inventor of Poutine", dating his claim in 1964. Jucep's claim stems from having made a potato sauce, which he was slathering on fries sold in his restaurant. He also sold bags of cheddar cheese curds - which are sold widely in the region, bought as a handy, portable snack - which he noticed customers were adding to his fries and sauce. Soon after, he made the combination a regular menu item."
Either way, the dish is popular all over Canada. I went into KFC a few weeks ago and it was on their menu. It is also on the menus of other fast food places in Canada. But the best places to get it are in these little roadside burger joints.
Taking my first bite of Poutine - a Canadian treat
On an entirely different note, there are the Variety Stores. These too are little Mom and Pop shops that sell sodas, ice cream, cigarettes, chips, and a variety of other items. Many have ATMs. They are a type of convenience mart, similar to 7-11, Circle K, Mac's, etc., but are not associated with chains and typically don't sell gas. They can be found near neighborhoods or on main drags. I had no place else to really show these but on this page. Here a couple examples.
The neighborhood variety store in Canada.
Back to Adventures in Southern Ontario Page