So, I googled pountine and apparently there is actually a "founder" of this crap. Here he is in all his glory:
He is listed as the "Pountine Founder".
'Mr. Poutine' remembered for inventing an icon
CTV.ca News Staff
The legendary Quebec creator of the calorie-packed, fast food favourite poutine, Fernand Lachance, died on Saturday at the age of 86.
Lachance may have died of pulmonary disease, but that can't spoil his fans' taste for the artery-clogging legacy he left to Quebec cuisine.
Residents at the Warwick, Quebec nursing home where the restaurateur spent his final days paid him tribute this week -- with their own to their on fries, cheese curds, and gravy in his honour.
"He was a legend. People all over the world came to see the inventor of poutine," said resident Jeanine Vaudreuil.
Lachance's contribution can be traced back to the restaurant Lutin Qui Rit back in September 1957. That was where Lachance met a trucker with a special request.
"I wanted fries, but I saw cheese curds on the counter. I asked Fernand to mix them together," Eddy Lanaisse told CTV News, recalling his encounter with Lachance almost 50 years ago.
Lachance warned that the take-away order of french fries and cheese likely be too difficult to eat. It was dubbed a "poutine," taking the slang for mess.
But the mess was tasty, and the dish was a hit.
In the 47 years since then, the concoction has grown from a Quebec peculiarity into an important part of Canada's unique cultural identity.
So much so, that when troops from Val Cartier, Quebec arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, poutine was added to the menu to make them feel more at home.
Typically made with fries, cheese curds and a healthy ladle of thick gravy, the native Quebecois declicacy can now be found everywhere from greasy spoon diners to fast food chains including KFC, Burger King, and A&W.
There are variations like "Italian poutine" served with meat sauce and cheese curds, and "Chinese poutine" which is topped with both meat and barbecue sauces.
The original version contained no gravy and cost 35 cents. Lachance hiked the price to 60 cents when he realized in 1964 that adding the sauce melted the cheese and could be served on plates.
While numerous cooks in Quebec have claimed to be the inventor of poutine, Lachance has always maintained that others copied him.
Now, the town he called home is looking for a way to commemorate the world-famous culinary invention.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1076633168163_72042368/?hub=CTVNewsAt11