Dear Ikea,

To celebrate the great relationship between Sweden and Canada, may we suggest a new dish be served in Ikea restaurants to mark Canada Day (July 1, 2010)? It is a fusion of Swedish foods already on the menu and cheese curds from Quebec, producing a tasty interpretation of a Canadian dish.

Take the classic köttbullar (swedish meatballs with cream cauce) with a side of fries.

Swedish meatballs with cream sauce and fries
Add cheese curds from La Fromagerie Les Folies Bergeres, purchased at Herb and Spice (1310 Wellington Street W.). And, you will have the Ikea poutine:

Swedish Meatball Poutine

This concept was originally described to us by Ottawa's David Hicks (@ALL_CAPS) who makes the poutine with freshly cut Belgian-style fries (Ikea's are slightly battered, resembling fries served at KFC and Costco). The one above, we made directly in the Pinecrest Ikea's restaurant (2685 Iris Street) in Ottawa.

We think it would be a big hit!

Sincerely,
Jenn & Don

Update: For those of you who don't know, Jenn and I are participating in organizing a C'est Bon Cooking Poutine Crawl, a walking tour tasting of poutine, in downtown Ottawa. The event will be a fundraiser for Isabelle Rivard (@spoonsie), who aims to cycle from Vancouver, BC to Austin, Tx (4300 km) and raise $10,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. We already have 2 restaurants on board. Stay tuned for details and a contest for a pair of tickets.

Update 2: The mild-tasting cream gravy went well with the fresh cheese curds and fries. Unfortunately, it was not warm enough to melt the curds. The meat balls and fries took on the milky, slightly sharp, and fatty flavours well. As per Marcus' comment, we neglected to ask for any lingonberry sauce, something sweet and tart that would have cut the richness. Next time!

Particulars:
Pinecrest Shopping Center
2685 Iris Street
1 (866) 875-4532



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