Poutine Gravy

Poutine gravy is its own thing and it is not a beef gravy. Quebec chip vans build it from a mix of beef and chicken stock so it stays light enough to soak into chips without turning them into porridge, and there is always a note of acidity to stand up to the salty cheese curds. Getting the thickness right matters more than anything else here.

Ingredients

Makes about 600ml, enough for four generous portions of chips

• 40g (1½oz) butter
• 1 small onion very finely chopped
• 30g (1oz) plain flour
• 350ml (12fl oz) hot beef stock
• 350ml (12fl oz) hot chicken stock
• 1 tbsp cornflour slaked in 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp cider vinegar or malt vinegar, added at the very end
• 1 tsp tomato purée for colour and a little sweetness
• salt and black pepper to taste

Kit

• Heavy saucepan
• Balloon whisk
• Small bowl
• Sieve

Method

1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat and add the finely chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook for six to eight minutes until soft and just beginning to catch gold at the edges, stirring so it does not burn.

2. Scatter in the flour and whisk it into the butter and onion. Cook for three to four minutes, stirring constantly, until the paste turns a proper light brown. This is browner than a British roux and it is what gives poutine gravy its colour.

3. Stir in the tomato purée and cook it for thirty seconds, which takes the raw edge off it, then start adding the mixed hot stocks a ladle at a time, whisking each one smooth before the next.

4. Once all the stock is in, add the Worcestershire sauce and bring the pan to a steady simmer. Cook for twelve to fifteen minutes so the onion breaks down completely and the flour taste disappears.

5. Push the whole lot through a sieve into a clean pan, pressing the onion through with the back of a ladle. Poutine gravy should be perfectly smooth, and this step is what gets you there.

6. Bring it back to a simmer and whisk in the slaked cornflour. Cook for another two minutes. You are aiming for a gravy that coats a chip and then slides off slowly, not one that sits on it like custard.

7. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cider vinegar. Taste and season with salt and plenty of black pepper. The vinegar goes in last so it keeps its sharpness.

8. Pour it hot over chips and cheese curds and eat immediately, before the curds fully melt. They should squeak.

Tips worth knowing

• Consistency is everything. Too thin and it runs to the bottom of the bowl, too thick and it glues the chips together. Dip a chip in before you serve and adjust with stock or another minute of simmering.
• The gravy has to be properly hot to soften the cheese curds without melting them to strings. Pour it on the moment it comes off the heat.
• Cheese curds are hard to find in the UK. Halloumi cut into cubes is the wrong flavour, but fresh mozzarella pearls or a mild white Cheshire broken into lumps come closer to the squeak and the salt.
• If you have no chicken stock, use all beef but water it down by a quarter. Straight beef stock makes the gravy too heavy for this job.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge and freezes for three months. The cornflour makes it a little gluey once frozen and reheated, so whisk in a splash of stock and simmer for two minutes to bring the texture back.

Questions people ask