CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: Poutine History And Quebec Identity

Paragraph A

Few dishes are as closely tied to Quebec as poutine, a heaping plate of french fries and fresh cheese curds covered in hot brown gravy. Yet for a food so famous, its origins are surprisingly unclear. Several towns in the Centre-du-Québec region claim to be its birthplace. The best-known story places its invention in Warwick in the late 1950s, when a customer asked a restaurant owner to toss a handful of curds into a bag of fries. The owner reportedly warned that the result would be “une maudite poutine,” a terrible mess. Drummondville, meanwhile, credits a local restaurateur who says he was the first to pour gravy over the combination in the 1960s. Neither claim has ever been proven, and the friendly rivalry has become part of the dish’s charm.

Paragraph B

Although the recipe looks simple, Quebecers are strict about what makes a real poutine. The cheese curds must be fresh, ideally made the same day, so that they keep their mild flavour and the rubbery squeak they make against the teeth. Curds that have been refrigerated lose that texture and are considered second-rate. The fries should be thick-cut and crisp enough to stand up to the sauce, and the gravy must be hot enough to soften the curds slightly without melting them completely. Many restaurants guard their gravy recipes closely, and regulars will travel across town for a version they prefer.

Paragraph C

For much of its history, poutine was not something Quebecers boasted about. It was sold mainly at roadside snack bars and hockey arenas, and it was often treated as a cheap, greasy joke, even within the province. Some people avoided ordering it in front of visitors. Few restaurants outside the province bothered to put it on their menus at all. That began to change in the early 2000s, when well-known Montreal chefs started serving upscale versions topped with ingredients such as foie gras, lobster or braised short rib. Festivals devoted to the dish soon followed, and today Drummondville hosts an annual celebration that draws thousands of visitors each summer.

Paragraph D

As poutine has spread across Canada and beyond, a new debate has emerged about who it belongs to. Fast-food chains now sell it from Vancouver to Halifax, and it is often promoted abroad as Canada’s national dish. Some Quebec writers and scholars object to this label, arguing that a food once used to mock Quebecers has been adopted by the rest of the country without recognition of its roots. Others see its popularity as a compliment and point out that dishes have always travelled across borders. Either way, poutine has become a symbol of something larger than a late-night snack: a question of identity and of who gets to tell a culture’s story.