Tim Hortons, now owned by the folks at Burger King, decided to have a little fun with Canada Day in the United States with a poutine donut. The best of poutine with the best of donut on Canada Day but not in Canada.
To my Canadian friends, feel joyous that you were spared this Frankenstein collaboration of Canadian stereotypes. The poutine donut brought to you by the same parent company that produces Mac n' Cheetos, macaroni and cheese with a dusting of Cheetos on the outside.
The Tim Hortons concoction was a honey dip donut "topped with potato wedges, gravy and cheese curds." Potato wedges isn't a good sign in a poutine though the Tim Hortons version was likely better than the sincere attempt at poutine at the Canada Day celebration I attended. The fries were steak fries not all that warm with a gravy that needed more love in the mix. There were jalapeno slices available as an option. NAFTA poutine?
Even a good poutine will not enhance a donut. The honey dip donut can use some flavour help but not from a poutine.
The donut promotion was limited to 5 restaurants in Ohio, Michigan, and New York. There wasn't too much damage, despite the "temptation" of a poutine donut. Tim Hortons would have been better off with a poutine special sans donut.
Another offer to the Americans was a Maple Bacon Iced Capp topped with maple-flavoured flakes and bacon bits. Maple works well in an already sweet drink. Bacon bits aren't too much of a help, but bacon helps most dishes in a breakfast kind of way.
The final offer to the American side was maple Timbits. The Timbits are the hole of the donut, similar to Munchkins at Dunkin' Donuts. Maple and donuts do speak to Canada. Tim Hortons is offering up the maple Timbits for the rest of July, but the chain should make this a permanent fixture on both sides of the border.
At the celebration I attended, they served a maple bacon shortbread sandwich. Maple bacon filling between a pair of thin shortbread cookies. That tasted so Canadian.
You could see Canadians eating maple Timbits. But no self-respecting Canadian would ever eat a poutine donut. To ask Americans to embrace a foreign concept that is foreign to foreigners is not a way to celebrate Canada Day 150. To make up for that mistake, we should get maple Timbits all around.
photos credit: Tim Hortons (first 2 photos); me
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