The latest issue of Portland magazine bemoans the lack of a French-Canadian restaurant in the city.
Everyone knows poutine, the retro pile-up of french fries, gravy, and cheese curds. The hearty Canadian treat has rocketed into the wider foodie-sphere and can be found all around Portland, including in a few fancy iterations like the East Ender’s lobster poutine and Duckfat’s silken version with local cheese curds and duck gravy. But where is the rest of traditional Franco-American or Acadian cuisine?
Ok, what do they mean by Acadian?
New Orleans cuisine is often defined as Acadian as that’s where many of the deported Acaians ended up, but Cajun is also Acadian in ancestry and indeed may be the purest form of it today. I really want a superb Cajun restaurant!
Even French-Canadian is anything but monolithic as poutine is largely a Quebec province affair and ployes come from the St. John valley as they’re originally Breton in origin.