This week's episode of The Sporkful podcast is up! Listen through the player or iTunes/Podcasts app. (And please subscribe!)
**Warning: This week’s show is not for kids. My interview contains mature subject matter and bad words.
There's an invasion afoot.
Canadian food is flooding across America's northern border, led by poutine -- Quebec's beloved melange of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy.
Sure poutine looks harmless -- and actually pretty delicious:
But some would argue that poutine is taking jobs from hard-working American cheese fries. (Donald Trump, why aren't you on this?!)
This week on The Sporkful, we learn more about poutine and other Canadian foods with our native guides, Calgary-born, Montreal-educated comic Ophira Eisenberg:
...and renowned Toronto-based chef Matty Matheson -- a death metal rocker turned culinary maestro:
These days Ophira (above) lives in New York, where she hosts the NPR game show Ask Me Another and The Moth's New York StorySLAMs. But she still has strong opinions about poutine.
"You are supposed to come to point in your evening where you are very drunk and you look at the person you are with and you go, 'should we have sex or should we have poutine?'" she tells Dan in this week's episode. "The answer is always poutine."
And Matty has a successful restaurant in Toronto, Parts & Labour, and he hosts a successful food show on Vice MUNCHIES, Keep it Canada. Like Ophira, he's a proud Canadian.
"When my grandfather retired from being a Mountie he opened up a curling rink," he says in this week's show. "I'm Canadian as f**k!"
When they met Dan live on stage at Taste Talks in Brooklyn, they argued the merits of Montreal bagels (below) vs. their NYC cousins and discussed the best way to smuggle maple butter across the U.S.-Canada border.
And, of course, they also debated the best time, place, and way to eat poutine. Will Matty and Ophira convince Dan that poutine isn't just all-American cheese fries dressed up in gravy?
And will Dan sell these two proud Canadians on his way of eating poutine (below):
Listen in to the full episode to hear how our exploration of Canadian food and culture shakes out. And stay vigilant, America.
This week's episode of The Sporkful podcast is up! Listen through the player or iTunes/Podcasts app. (And please subscribe!)
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Music in this episode from Black Label Music:
- "Can You Dig It" by Cullen Fitzpatrick
- "Fresh Air" by Erick Anderson
- "Hound Dog" by Jason Mickelson
Photos and video: FlickrCC/Alex Indigo, FlickrCC/Magalie L'Abbé, Dan Pashman, Anya Garrett (courtesy of Ophira Eisenberg), and courtesy of Matty Matheson
