New Delhi: A popular Canadian restaurant chain has dropped one of its signature dishes from the food menu over the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Reason: the dish was named after the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
According to a report by news agency AFP, Frites Alors! will now serve "The Vladimir" with a different name. The name change of the dish aims to “denigrate” Putin, the restaurant said.
The Canadian delicacy of fries topped with cheese curds and gravy is referred to as ‘poutine’, a word that sounds similar to the Russian president’s last name. The restaurant had played up this similarity to call its dish “The Vladimir”. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, while the origin of the word ‘poutine’ is unclear, it may have come from a Quebecois slang word meaning "mess”.
Russia Ukraine Conflict | Full Coverage
It’s ‘La Volodymyr’ Now
The AFP report said the restaurant has now changed the name of the dish to "La Volodymyr" — after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"We're also denigrating Putin a bit by changing the name to that of Ukraine's president," Yannick de Groote of the restaurant chain was quoted as saying.
The owners of Frites Alors! are apolitical and jokesters, he added.
Frites Alors! has more than a dozen outlets in Canada’s Quebec province, and a few in France. Its dishes usually poke fun at famous people, the report said. One such dish is named L'eau a la Bush — a mix of mouthwatering in French and George W. Bush, the former US president.
‘The Vladimir’ had been on the restaurant’s menu since 2012 when Putin was re-elected as the president of Russia.
"When people realized that Putin was dropping bombs (on Ukraine), at that point we decided to make the menu change," de Groote was quoted as saying.