Gravy Bowl 2018 — Candy Eats YYC

I was invited to attend the Gravy Bowl Battle this year hosted by Karen Richards of Poutine with a Purpose. Calgary has a yearly Poutine Week and partners up with Mealshare to provide a meal to a youth in need. Participating restaurants comes up with a poutine creation that is available for purchase at their restaurant for that week. Every time someone orders that poutine, $1 goes back to Mealshare which is enough to provide one meal!

I got into Poutine Week when they used to do Poutine Crawls, where participants hop onto a party school bus and go to six different restaurants to try their poutines. At the end, we all vote for the best one and the restaurant gets a trophy!

Unfortunately Poutine Crawl doesn't happen anymore but there's the Gravy Bowl Battle! Where eight teams made up of a local restaurant, local brewery and a Calgary Stampeder creates the ultimate poutine. The winner will be decided by three judges, Dan Clapson from Globe and Mail, Linda Garson Editor of Culinaire and Beer Guys YYC.

Common Crown Poutine - hopped wheat ale, brined roast chicken, green peas, smoked bacon, ale-brined Quebec cheese curds, spent grain and ale gravy, crisp cabbage — **Common Crown Poutine** - hopped wheat ale, brined roast chicken, green peas, smoked bacon, ale-brined Quebec cheese curds, spent grain and ale gravy, crisp cabbage

First up was the Common Crown Poutine made by The Guild and Charlie Power featuring Common Crown Brewery's Hopped Wheat Ale. The spent grain and ale gravy was super flavourful and went great with the melty Quebec cheese curds (my friends favourite).

Second up was the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" Poutine by The Nash and Rob Maver featuring Tool Shed Brewery's Red Rage Ale. This was my favourite poutine of the night, I mean what can go wrong with fried chicken? The acidic hot sauce gave a kick to the poutine and was nicely balanced. This poutine was the runner up!

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" Poutine - fried chicken, cheese curds, Tool Shed red Rage hot sauce, brown butter gravy — **"If it ain't broke don't fix it" Poutine** - fried chicken, cheese curds, Tool Shed red Rage hot sauce, brown butter gravy

K-Pop Poutine - twice cooked fries, Korean style chorizo, brie gravy, Brewsters Hawaiian Coconut Porter, gochujang ketchup — **K-Pop Poutine** - twice cooked fries, Korean style chorizo, brie gravy, Brewsters Hawaiian Coconut Porter, gochujang ketchup

Third was the K-Pop Poutine made by Raw Bar and Alex Singleton featuring Brewster's Hawaiian Coconut Porter. At first when I tasted the brie gravy it was a grainy. But the poutine comes together once you get a little bit of everything. The Korean style chorizo had lots of flavour with little hints of ginger and it complimented with the gochujang ketchup. I didn't get any hints of the Hawaiian Coconut Porter in the poutine.

Fourth up was the Applewood Smoked Russet Wedges made by Belle BBQ and DeVone Claybrooks featuring Wild Rose Brewery's Crude Stout Gravy (third place!). They had my favourite fry of the night, fluffy inside and crispy outside. The poutine has chunks of Belle BBQ's smoked brisket and cherry tomato halves to freshen up the dish. I was excited to get some truffle on the poutine but mine missed the aioli squirt.

Applewood Smoked Russet Wedges - Caramelized Onions, Cheese Curds, Wild Rose Crude Stout Gravy, Belle Smoked Brisket, Truffle Aioli, Perfect Poached Egg — **Applewood Smoked Russet Wedges** - Caramelized Onions, Cheese Curds, Wild Rose Crude Stout Gravy, Belle Smoked Brisket, Truffle Aioli, Perfect Poached Egg

Lamb Braised Poutine - MARKET Smoked Bocconcini, Duck Confit, Last Best Black Lager Gravy — **Lamb Braised Poutine** - MARKET Smoked Bocconcini, Duck Confit, Last Best Black Lager Gravy

Fifth poutine was the Lamb Braised Poutine made by MARKET and Bo Levi Mitchell featuring Last Best Brewing and Distillery's Black Lager. Immediately you can smell the aroma of lamb in the poutine but I didn't get any smoke from the cheese. By now, we were dreading the last four poutines. Even though the portions were small, we were stuffed!

Pocha Poutine - Gochujang wagyu hot dogs, beer battered cheese curds, fried egg, oxtail beer gravy, seaweed, green onions, kennebec fries — **Pocha Poutine** - Gochujang wagyu hot dogs, beer battered cheese curds, fried egg, oxtail beer gravy, seaweed, green onions, kennebec fries

Sixth poutine was the Pocha Poutine made by Anju and Quinn Smith featuring Banded Peak Brewing's beer. Anju's poutine won the battle as Clapson described that the gochujang hot dogs took him back to Montreal when he ate poutine.

Seventh poutine was the Braised Beef Poutine made by Home and Away and Adam Thibault featuring Half Hitch Brewing's Pale Ale. This poutine had strong hints of red peppers and sourness from the chimichurri.

Braised Beef Poutine - braised Heritage Angus beef brisket, house cut fries, cheese curds, Half Hitch pale ale infused beef gravy, roasted red peppers, crispy fried onions, chimmichurri sauce — **Braised Beef Poutine** - braised Heritage Angus beef brisket, house cut fries, cheese curds, Half Hitch pale ale infused beef gravy, roasted red peppers, crispy fried onions, chimmichurri sauce

Lost In The Woods Poutine -Alberta cold-pressed canola oil frites, Alberta cheese curds, pickled romanesco, Dandy Brewery mushroom gravy, crispy onion. — **Lost In The Woods Poutine** -Alberta cold-pressed canola oil frites, Alberta cheese curds, pickled romanesco, Dandy Brewery mushroom gravy, crispy onion.

Eighth poutine was Lost in the Woods Poutine made by Brasserie Kensington and Rene Parades featuring The Dandy Brewing Company's beer. This poutine was last year's Gravy Bowl Battle winner and I can taste why. It's a vegetarian poutine with a decadent mushroom gravy and pickled romanescos. This poutine was also one of my favourites!

Last but not least was the ninth poutine, Dry Aged Steakhouse Poutine made by Last Best Brewing and Distiller y and Deron Mayo featuring beer from Annex Ale Projects. It had a delicious fried oyster mushroom and Tiger blue cheese. Their fry was also another favourite of the night, it was almost like deep fried mashed potato sticks.

What are you waiting for, Poutine Week ends on the 28th! Take advantage of the sunny weather and enjoy a beer on the patio with a poutine.