Jean-Paul Roy : I invented the "poutine"

Dish typically made in Québec, the "poutine" is now popular across Canada, in the United States and even in Europe.

This fast-food dish was invented in 1964 by a Drummondville-born citizen, Jean-Paul Roy.

Restaurant owner during 30 years, Jean-Paul Roy could not have achieved success in his business without the precious help of his wife, Fernande, who always supported him.

In 1956, the Roy Jucep, Jean-Paul Roy's restaurant, popularized the curb-service. The waitresses worked outdoors catering services to the clients. This practice was introduced long before A&W established the same service throughout Québec. Mr. Roy and his wife, Fernande, invented and commercialized the "poutine", a dish that was simply named "cheese, potatoes and sauce". Some 30 years later, certain countries imported curd cheese for the unique purpose of preparing the famous "poutine".

At age 16, I worked as a cook at the Montreal hotel Mont-Royal for 7 years. We were a group of 115 cooks , Roy says. I rubbed shoulders with the best and learned my trade. At 23 years old, I felt like coming back to Drummondville where my parents lived. I was also planning to marry Fernande. So I opened a fast-food restaurant in mid-town on Lindsay Street. I named it Le Roy de la patate. Then, in 1964, we moved our business on Boulevard Saint-Joseph where we opened what is known today as Le Roy Jucep.

After a while, we served the potatoes with a special sauce and this mixture became very popular. It was called "patate-sauce". This sauce was served in a different glass since we couldn't mix it with the potatoes because the containers were made of cardboard and became soaked. We then approached some companies that would produce "sauce-proof" containers, but the Québec manufacturers turned down our request. I finally found what I was looking for in Toronto. Competition being what it is, the Québec companies began to produce these containers to obtain their market share.

How much sauce did you sell ?

In the beginning, very little. We prepared two or four gallons per week. But eventually, we prepared 25 gallons of sauce and had to make two batches a week to meet the demand.

Why did you start using cheese on the "patate-sauce" ?

Well, we also sold small bags of curd cheese that we bought from a local cheese-dairy. The people would eat it with their main dish. We didn't sell a lot of bags of cheese. Then, three of my regular cutomers suggested that we put the cheese in the same plate with the "patate-sauce". At that time, we found that request rather strange. In fact, these people are the inventors of "la poutine".

But you were the one who put it on the market, weren't you ?

Yes. Realizing that more and more people ate their "patate-sauce" with curd cheese, we opted for marketing this new dish and it appeared on our menu. We then called it "fromage-patate-sauce". We were the only ones selling curd cheese with fried potatoes at the time.

Why did you name this dish "poutine" ?

For our waitresses, running in and out of the restaurant with their trays, the "fromage-patate-sauce" took too much time to write down. Many, many years ago, our grandmothers named "pouding" (pudding) any kind of mixture they would prepare. After much usage, the word sounded like "poutine". There was an inside joke about this word. We had a cook named Ti-Pout. The employees teased him by saying : Ti-Pout makes "Poutine" ! The word stuck so we decided to eliminate the three words "fromage-patate-sauce" and shorten it to "poutine" and that is what it is still called today.

Your restaurant must have known a booming expansion after commercialization of the "patate-sauce" and the "poutine" ?

Even if we had difficult moments, I had nothing to complain about. Fernande helped me a lot in this adventure. Without her support, I don't think we would've made it this far. In fact, it's not my success, but our success. I rarely worked less than 80 hours a week. Within 6 years, we grew from 0 to 15 employees because everything was working out so well. When I sold the restaurant in 1985, we had 35 full-time employees and 10 to 15 part-time employees.

When I first began, we were selling 400 bags of potatoes a year. When I left, we were selling 8 000 bags of potatoes annually, which is 20 times more. We have enlarged the premises three times. At the outset, we had only one counter for the customers. Then we installed 23 sitting-places. When we sold the business, we had 40 sitting-places and I think that today there are about 100 sitting-places. We had nothing to envy about McDonald's, Burger King or A&W.

Have any business persons approached you with the intention of imitating your recipe ?

Yes. A few Montreal restaurant owners and people elsewhere in the province came to taste our popular dish. A few among them asked me for my sauce recipe but I didn't give it. Other Quebecers came to see me so we could negotiate the export of the "poutine". I told them if that's what they wanted they could very well do it themselves. I was more interested in doing business alone than going into partnership.
Another restaurant claims to be the initiator of the "poutine". What do you make of this statement ?
The others have the right to say what they please, but I know I was the first one to commercialize it. If the others want to believe they were the inventors, good for them, but this will not alter the facts.

Why have you decided to sell your business in 1985 ?

I had health problems. It was a very tough ordeal since I was paralyzed for two months. My wife had to take over the business and the work was very exhausting for her. In 1985, at the age of 53, I sold the restaurant at Fernande's request. I would've kept it if the decision had been mine. So, on account of my health, I had to quit practising my favorite hobbies golf and skiing. I'm satisfied with playing bridge now.

As a restaurant owner, I immensely enjoyed the public. I have always found the people to be enlightening and entertaining. The relationship with my employees has always been cordial. My manager and dishwasher were always treated as equals. Frankness, honesty and simplicity are my favorite mottoes.

Are you proud for having invented the "poutine" ?

I sure am. But I make no bones about it. Surely, the "poutine" is a success story.

No success for Jean-Paul Roy if it hadn't been for Fernande, his wife, who continually supported him.

In 1964, The Roy Jucep opened on Boulevard St-Joseph in Drummondville. Since then, the restaurant was revamped and the "poutine" is still the favorite dish.

In 1985, the restaurant was sold to Mr. Daniel Leblanc. The new proprietor took over and operates the business which is still flourishing.

The "poutine" and the folklore hit it off

Drummondville - What could the "poutine" and folklore have in common ? Well, Drummondville, where the "poutine" is king, boasts about the invention of "la poutine". But when the folklore banks on its fame to convince a Chinese girl to eat the "poutine" with chopsticks, the scene becomes hilarious.

Anyone who has lived in or around the Bois-Francs knows about the rivalry that opposes Drummondville to Victoriaville. Not only does each city claim the invention of "la poutine", they also claim that their "poutine" is the authentic one and the best. The debate is true, except that Daniel Leblanc, the new proprietor took the debate at heart and had his employees wear a t-shirt showing the following words : "We are the inventors of the poutine" !

The restaurant's reputation didn't fall into deaf ears. So much so that folklore fans visited the fast-food kiosk to test the "national dish". The highlight of the "poutine" sampling took place at noon at the Roy Jucep on Boulevard St-Joseph. Ten people were invited to attend this event. To emphasize the event, it was given television-coverage by the Sherbrooke TV station.

"Folklore artists from Poland, Moldevia, Spain, Mexico and China participated in the poutine sampling" says Gaston Langlais, a cheerful and good-humored folklore fan. A few artists were bewildered by this odd mixture. However, the eye-catching event was that of the little Chinese girl who was determined to eat her "poutine" with chopsticks ! I wasn't an easy task to do.

Talking about the origin of the "poutine" delights Daniel Leblanc for it's an occasion for him to boost his "poutine". "It's the authentic one", says Mr. Leblanc. It was invented in 1957 by Jean-Paul Roy. The latter operated a small snack-bar where workers would have breakfast on Saturday mornings. "The men ate their fries with sauce, accompanied by a bowl of cheese on the side. For lack of space, they would pour the cheese into the bowl. They finally asked Jean-Paul to serve all the ingredients together."
So, this is the story of the "poutine" ! What the story doesn't say though, is if Jean-Paul, the inventor of the "poutine", had known that one day this dish would have such a success, he certainly didn't foresee the chopsticks event.