From the time chef Dan Lindberg was a child, he has been an innovator in the kitchen. “I helped my grandmother cook our family’s meals,” Lindberg said, “but one afternoon, I didn’t like what she was preparing, so I snuck in a bit of dish soap. The dinner was inedible, so we sent out for pizza.”

There were consequences, of course, some form of punishment being one, but another was his career choice. Having cooked in the Pacific Northwest and more locally at the high-end Hugo’s in Portland, Dan Lindberg has found a home at Foulmouthed Brewing Company in the Knightsville neighborhood of South Portland.

On his menu is the popular dish, Poutine, a dish invented in the 1950s in Quebec. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Poutine was served in snack bars and diners throughout the dairy-rich section of Centre du Quebec, where cheese curds were plentiful. Although several eateries claim to have “invented” Poutine, the end result—salty French fries topped with hot, brown gravy floating with melty cheese curds—has become a darling of Americans too.

“Poutine has turned out to be one of our most popular dishes,” Julia Dilger said, co-owner with her husband Craig, of Foulmouthed Brewing. “That, and our nachos, and grilled cheese sandwich.” Asked if she knew that Poutine was Canadian, Julia said, “I did, but I’m from New Jersey, and down there we had a version of it we called ‘Disco Fries’.”

Foulmouthed Brewing celebrated its first anniversary this past June. Julia Dilger gave up her teaching career and her husband Craig traded in his work as a photographer to “follow their bliss” and open a brewpub. “We thought at first we would rent out the kitchen to someone who would provide our food, but we finally decided we needed to have some oversight and control over that aspect of the business,” Julia Dilger said. “That’s when we asked our friend Dan Lindberg if he would be interested in running it.”

As for the brewery, Julia and Craig hired Craig’s homebrew partner Bill Boguski to take over as brewmaster. Craig had been homebrewing for years, while doing one-day stints at Smuttynose Brewing Co., Oxbow Brewing Co. and Marshall Wharf Brewing Co. until he became head brewer at Lively Brewing Co. At Foulmouthed, brewing tends to be a collaboration. Chef Dan  “helped figure out just how much basil to put into a basil saison we brewed that was the winner of a local homebrew competition,”  Julia Dilger said. “And Dan had an idea to brew a Gose made with kosho, a Japanese paste made of yuzu, salt and chili peppers.”

Back in the kitchen, Dan makes the Poutine in three steps. First he simmers pork bones with aromatics like onion, garlic, carrot, celery and herbs for four hours.  From the resulting stock, the gravy is made with a bacon-fat roux and more spices. Potato “batons,” as Dan calls them, are cut from Norwis or Russet potatoes, soaked in ice water, frozen overnight, then fried as needed. Cheese curds are from Maine’s own Pineland Farms.

“We recommend pairing it with Ice Scraper, our barrel-aged barley wine or Vanilla Cream Stout, our stout-aged with vanilla, which we describe this way:

British Maris Otter malts provide the base of this smooth, roasty stout. Oats, flaked barley and lactose make it delightfully creamy and a touch of vanilla rounds it out.

Enjoy the perfect winter comfort food “mess” created by the Quebecois. Merci!

— Text: Kate Cone, author of What’s Brewing in New England: A Guide to Brewpubs and Craft Breweries, published by Down East Books. She cooks with beer frequently at her home in Waterville, Maine.