in New Orleans including variations called Cajun poutine. Poutine spread to the United Kingdom, Korea and Russia, where it has been referred to as "Raspoutine". The first poutinerie in Paris, La Maison de la Poutine, opened in 2017 and quickly gained attention from mainstream media and gastronomers. Cultural aspects A cultural marker, poutine had long been Quebec's adored junk food before spreading across the rest of Canada and the United States. It had by then made inroads with food critics and established culinary circles, challenging its junk food status. Food critic Jacob Richler noted in 2012 that Canadian dishes are too similar to their European roots to be considered original, with the exception of poutine, which he credited as the country's most famous culinary creation. In May 2014, the word "poutine" was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of the English language. In 2007, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) declared the results of an online survey on the greatest Canadian inventions, in which poutine ranked at 10. Maclean's 2017 survey of "favourite iconic Canadian food" placed poutine first with 21% of respondents, ahead of maple syrup with 14%. By 2011, media outlets were reporting 11 April as National Poutine Day. In March 2016, poutine was served at the White House during the first state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Poutine has been a highlight of Canada Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square in London, England, for several years, and was a comfort food for the local community after the 2013 Lac-Megantic derailment. It was served at the inaugural Canadian Comedy Awards. The first poutine festival was held in Warwick, Quebec, in 1993. This annual event expanded to become the largest cheese festival in Canada. In 2014, it was moved to the larger town of Victoriaville. Montreal has hosted La Poutine Week, an annual festival, food tour, and competition held 1–7 February, since 2013. It spread across Canada and internationally, and by 2021 had become the largest poutine festival in the world, with over 700 restaurants serving more than 350,000 poutines. Poutine festivals are also held in Drummondville (since 2008), Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Quebec City and Sherbrooke. In the US, major festivals have been held in Chicago, Illinois, Manchester, New Hampshire, Knoxville, Tennessee, and in Rhode Island. Since 2010, the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFCE) has held a world poutine-eating championship sponsored by Toronto-based