I only eat it occasionally, but that is because it is not as available as one would hope. It is nice to see they have adopted it in BC though.
Poutine is a French dish, and not just Quebecois, but Acadian as well. There are regional differences in toppings, but your choice of beef and mushrooms is weird (to me!) haha! <3
The basic dish is chips with squeaky cheese curds and gravy. The cheese curds are the most important part. They have to be super squeaky. They are not squeaky unless they are fresh and to be fresh they need to be young curds made in Quebec.
So yes, it is possible to be a poutine snob.
In the maritime provinces, and Newfoundland and Labrador, there are a few different styles. The Newfoundlander type often has turkey dressing and mushy peas on top. That variety is pretty good.
I should have guessed the French origin by the spelling of poutine with the e in the end. I now wonder if it can be found in France too. I'm going there in September so I will keep an eye out. I certainly didn't know that the cheese curds are the most important element. I thought that maybe the gravy is the hero of the dish. I personally enjoyed the cheese curds, they tasted like Mozzarella to me. I would love to try poutine with turkey and mushy peas! Is there a seafood variety as well?
I don't think you will find it in France unless they have co-opted the dish over there. It is said the dish originated in Quebec in the 1950s.
The cheese curds are a white cheddar, which I think might be the last type of cheese found in a French dish. :-P
The one with turkey dressing isn't with the turkey meat, just the bread that was stuffed inside it.
I can't find quite the right picture of it but this is pretty close:
Turkey dressing and Turkey gravy seems always available in Newfoundland as they have a popular dish called Jiggs Dinner.
Jiggs dinner has everything. Turkey, dressing, potato, turnip, carrot, cabbage, corned beef, gravy, mustard pickles, and it must be seasoned with summer savoury.
The poutine would be left overs.
I have seen lobster poutine, but that would only be when there are so many lobsters around you need to think up new ways to eat it---or for tourists. :-D