The Quebec-originating Canadian dish of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy is poutine.
Poutine is built from three components: hot French fries, fresh cheese curds, and brown gravy. The heat softens the curds without fully melting them, creating the signature squeaky, chewy texture. Restaurants and food trucks may add pulled pork, smoked meat, mushrooms, sausage, or other toppings, but those are variations on the classic combination.
The dish emerged in rural Quebec during the 1950s, although several towns and restaurants have competing claims about its exact birthplace. One widely repeated story connects it to a 1957 request at a Warwick, Quebec, restaurant to combine fries and cheese curds, followed by the addition of gravy. The word poutine itself has older Quebec French associations with potato dishes and messy mixtures.
Poutine is often mistaken for ordinary loaded fries, but fresh cheese curds distinguish it. It later spread across Canada and became a familiar feature of diners, fast-food menus, festivals, and late-night street-food service.