Being originally from Sunderland it was reassuring to find that one of the most popular dishes in Montreal consists of chips, gravy and cheese (curds). Now if only there was a Chinese curry sauce version too (possibly with a side of stotty cake) I think Montreal would be immediately twinned with the former leading shipbuilding town in the world.

The origin of Poutine is, as usual, uncertain but it appears that the dish became commonly know in the 1950s in Quebec. The origin of the name is even more uncertain. French-Canadian for “mushy mess” seems to be the most commonly agreed definition. It is now so popular that even McDonalds sells a version of it.

If you don’t fancy having you entire Recommended Daily Intake in one meal, then you can always try something else. Quebec (and therefore Montreal) has a slight geographic confusion and believes it is part of France so one thing you can get anywhere is a crepe:

You can get anything in a crepe. For instance, how about one of these: scrambled egg, cheese and ham; chocolate; thyme and marscapone cheese? There didn’t seem to be anyone offering a poutine crepe though - perhaps a gap in the market?

No trip to Montreal for someone from Great Britain can be considered complete without a visit to the Olympic swimming pool:

This is of course the venue for the 1976 Olympic Games where David Wilkie won the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in a world record time (2:15:11), beating John Hencken of the USA. Wilkie also took the silver in the 100m breaststroke (1:03:43) just behind Hencken. It’s worth remembering how impressive these times were. No swim hats or goggles and excessive facial hair were very much in play in those days and yet Wilkie’s time stood for 6 years! Interestingly the man who beat the record (Victor Davis) came from Canada (but not from Montreal although he did sadly die in a car accident in a Montreal suburb in 1989).

I was unable to find any evidence that Wilkie’s time was achieved on a diet of Poutine...