Drummondville claims ownership of poutine in new tourism campaign
Dish of fries, cheese curds and gravy savoured in New York, Tokyo and Panama City
The City of Drummondville has launched an official tourism campaign in which it claims ownership of Quebec's most famous fast-food dish.
The ad shows Frédéric Bastien Forrest, a local personality, offering poutine to people in cities around the world — and touting his home city.
Yet the origins of the combination of fries, gravy and cheese curds is highly contested.
Many towns have claimed to be the inventor of the dish but it is widely accepted that it all began in Warwick, Que.
According to legend, a customer walked into Warwick's Le Café Idéal in 1957 and asked its owner, Fernand Lachance, to throw in some cheese curds with his fries.
Lachance used the Quebec slang "poutine" to describe the dish.
The town of Warwick is about 45 minutes from Drummondville.
The campaign, complete with website and ads, is playing on French television stations.
Using the hashtag #viveDMV, the site highlights all the city has to offer.
Drummondville, pop. 71,852, is about 100 km northeast of Montreal.