What do you do when your late-night poutine order shows up… with a handful of Viagra at the bottom of the bag?
In this episode, we unpack one of the strangest food-adjacent crimes in Canadian history — a 2015 drug ring run out of an ordinary Québec poutine shop, where delivery drivers quietly offered cannabis, magic mushrooms, and pharmaceuticals alongside fries, gravy, and cheese curds.
But the story doesn’t start with the drug bust. To understand why this crime became an instant legend, we trace the tale back centuries — to the Indigenous nations along the St. Lawrence River, the arrival of the French in the 1500s, and the birth of a new identity that still defines Québec today.
We explore:
how French settlers became “Québécois,”
why Québec still sees itself as a nation within a nation,
how Indigenous history shaped the region long before colonization,
and how one messy comfort dish became a cultural symbol.
Then we settle the biggest question of all:
Where did poutine really come from?
Hear the three famous origin stories — Warwick’s “damn mess,” Drummondville’s first menu listing, and Victoriaville’s DIY fries-and-curds ritual — and how gravy eventually joined the party.
It’s crime, colonization, cuisine, and comfort food — all wrapped into one warm, chaotic bowl.
Primary Keywordspoutine historyQuébec historyQuébec culturepoutine origin storiespoutine crimefood crimesCanadian true crimeCanadian history podcastIndigenous history CanadaNew France historyDrug ring poutine storyWarwick Québec poutineDrummondville poutineVictoriaville poutine originsFrench colonization Canadapoutine documentary podcastcomfort food history podcast
(You can add all of these to Spotify/Apple show notes or hide them below a “More” fold.)
Eater Montréal summary of the 2015 case:
https://montreal.eater.com/2015/3/27/8300031/quebec-police-bust-restaurant-delivery-drug-ring
Overview of New France:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-france
Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759):
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/plains-of-abraham
Québec identity, culture, and history:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec
Indigenous peoples of the St. Lawrence region:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-peoples
CBC history of poutine:
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/a-cheesy-history-of-poutine
Warwick origin story / Fernand Lachance:
https://www.lesproducteursdelaitduquebec.qc.ca/en/blog/history-poutine/
Drummondville claim / Jean-Paul Roy:
https://www.lapresse.ca/vivre/cuisine/201904/19/01-5222567-jean-paul-roy-pere-de-la-poutine.php
Victoriaville DIY roots (VICE article):
https://www.vice.com/en/article/8q89aa/who-really-invented-poutine
