Soon you’ll be able to get poutine by post for all your chips, cheese and gravy needs

Our hearts sank when Blue Caribou announced a week ago that they would not be re-opening their poutine shack in the Arndale Market.

After all, Canada’s national dish of French fries, squeaky fresh cheese curds and gravy is the ultimate comfort food – and nobody does it better than Blue Caribou, which was founded by Graham Gartside-Bernier, from Bolton, and his partner Vincent Bernier, from Québec.

But it’s not the last we’ll see of Blue Caribou. The pair have just announced that they will soon be launching a meal kit, so hungry fans can make the perfect poutine at home.

“We spent a lot of time together in Montréal and when we moved to Manchester, really missed the dish,” said Graham when we asked him about the pair’s love of poutine last year.

“You couldn’t find a truly authentic version of it anywhere. We set out to create it ourselves and it took two years of searching before we found the right cheese curds to make the dish complete.

“We knew that if we didn’t get all of the key components right, we would never hear the end of it from any true Québecer who really understands the dish and the place it has in French-Canadian culture.”

The pair perfected the dish, as proved by the lengthy queues for their chips, cheese curd and gravy combos as well as their Montréal-style hot dogs, hot chicken dipped sandwiches and craft beers from Québec.

Now, they’re putting together the final touches to the meal kits, which will come with instructions for “how to cook your poutine just the way that we do,” says Graham.

The kits can be delivered nationwide, and there will be vegetarian and vegan versions as well as a meat one.

Keep an eye on their social media for when the kits go live – you won’t want to miss this one!