Poutine Is Legit Being Removed From Menus In France & Canada ‘Cos It Sounds Too Much Like Putin

poutine-putin

Protestors around the world have rightly taken a stand against Russian president Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine but what we couldn’t see coming was that the French-Canadian dish poutine would also become a target.

The Russian leader’s surname and the delicacy of fries, cheese curds and hot chicken gravy are pronounced the same. The French decided to pronounce Putin this way because if it was pronounced the way it was spelt in their language it would be poo-tahn, which sounds the same as “putain”, meaning “fuck”.

To some this similarity means this delicious snack has simply got to go.

Yes, people have literally threatened restaurants for putting poutine on the menu and yes, restaurants are actually temporarily renaming it.

The first problem here is that people need to stop complimenting Putin by likening him to the gooey, crispy, chickeny treat at all.

The Quebec restaurant that claims to be the birthplace of poutine, Le Roy Jucep, said although the dish was created in the 1950s it would be distancing itself from its title and instead describe itself as “the inventor of the fries-cheese-gravy”.

The fries-cheese-gravy??? 

Mais c’est ridicule.

“Dear clients, tonight the Jucep team decided to temporarily retire the word P**tine from its trademark in order to express, in its own way, its profound dismay over the situation in Ukraine,” it wrote on Facebook in a since deleted post, reported by the Guardian.

Maison de la Poutine in Paris and Toulouse also said it had received insults and threats over its name which it defended on Twitter.

“Our dish was born in Quebec in the 1950s. And the stories to tell its origin are numerous. But one thing is certain: poutine was created by passionate cooks who wanted to bring joy and comfort to their customers,”  it tweeted.

“The House of Poutine has worked since its first day to perpetuate these values and today brings its most sincere support to the Ukrainian people who are courageously fighting for their freedom against the tyrannical Russian regime.”

I understand maybe hearing people ordering it might be triggering if you’ve just fled Ukraine or you have loved ones there, but I’m guessing it’s more common to see his actual name splashed across your social media than the name of a soggy potato dish. And if you want to support Ukraine I think there might be better ways to do it than changing your menu.

I’m confused and hungry and I’m angry that Putin and people on Twitter did this to me.

Fuck it! I’m going to go order some fries-cheese-gravy.

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