People are conflating poutine, the potato-and-gravy dish, with Putin

The French restaurant Maison de la Poutine, with areas in Paris and Toulouse, this weekend stated it had been subjected to insulting calls “and even threats” by folks apparently complicated the title of its signature dish — generally referred to as the nationwide dish of Canada — with the title of the more and more remoted Russian chief.

In a message to prospects posted on its social media channels, the firm famous that its signature dish was invented in Quebec in the Nineteen Fifties, with numerous tales surrounding its origins. “But one thing is certain: poutine was created by passionate cooks who wanted to bring joy and comfort to their customers,” the publish acknowledged.

“La Maison de la Poutine has worked since its first day to carry on these values and today brings its most sincere support to the Ukrainian people who are courageously fighting for their freedom, against the tyrannical Russian regime,” it continued.

The mix-up appears to have been prompted by the French spelling of the Russian chief’s title (as in a current tweet by French President Emmanuel Macron during which he described a dialog with “Président Poutine.”)

Despite any similarities, the two aren’t linked: The origins of the title of the fries-and-gravy dish are murky, with some attributing it to a Quebecois slang phrase which means “mess” and others to a riff on “pouding,” the French phrase for pudding.

The French chain’s missive adopted one other by a Canadian eatery, Le Roy Jucep, which claims to be the restaurant the place the dish was invented. On Feb. 24, the eatery reportedly posted a message on Facebook saying it was renaming its most well-known dish “la frite fromage sauce,” as an “expression of dismay” at the invasion of Ukraine. The publish reportedly was quickly deleted and changed with one other, now taken down, claiming that the diner had gotten phone threats.

Some on social media have made enjoyable of the confusion, with one publish utilizing photos of Canadian rapper Drake to clear up the matter.

And it isn’t the first time that the title of a meals merchandise tripped folks up: In the early months of the international pandemic, folks had been looking out on-line for “beer virus” and “Corona beer virus” — an obvious conflation of the names of the Mexican brew and the lethal bug. (And it’s not food-related, however then there are these poor people who are really named “Kovid.”)