A Paris restaurant has spoken out about its signature poutine dish - which apparently many angry customers thought was named after Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Le Maison de la Poutine - which translates to 'the House of Poutine' - tweeted on Friday that they had been receiving "calls of insults and even threats" due to its name and popular menu item, The Independent reports.
Poutine is a French-Canadian dish composed of fries topped with cheese curds and a gravy sauce. It's popular in both Canada and France and - most importantly - involves absolutely no relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin or his recent military invasion of Ukraine.
According to a translation by The Guardian, the restaurant tweeted a passionate defense of poutine, writing: "Our dish was born in Quebec in the 1950s. And the stories to tell its origin are numerous. But one thing is certain: poutine was created by passionate cooks who wanted to bring joy and comfort to their customers."
The eatery went on to express their support for the Ukrainian people. "The House of Poutine has worked since its first day to perpetuate 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," read their statement.
Meanwhile, Le Maison de la Poutine isn't the only restaurant to face controversy over the unfortunately-named dish.
According to The Guardian, one Quebec-based diner even decided to rename their poutine-style dishes in order to distance themselves from the Russian President's name.
Le Roy Jucep - which claims to have invented poutine in the 1950s - has pivoted to instead refer to itself as "the inventor of the fries-cheese-gravy". A little more on the nose.
"Dear clients, Tonight the Jucep team decided to temporarily retire the word P**tine from its trademark in order to express, in its own way, its profound dismay over the situation in Ukraine," the diner wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post.
The name 'poutine' is widely believed to come from the French-Canadian pronunciation of the English word 'pudding', in reference to the hot mushy meal.
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