Burning question: What the heck is poutine?

From Wikipedia:

"Poutine (Quebec French pronunciation ˈputsɪn (help·info)) is a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy and sometimes additional ingredients. [1] It is a quintessential Canadian comfort food, especially in Quebec.
Poutine is a fast food staple in many parts of Canada; it is sold by many fast food chains (such as New York Fries, Harvey's, Ed's Subs[2]) in most provinces, in small "greasy spoon" type diners ( commonly known as "casse-croûtes" in Quebec) and pubs, as well as by roadside chip wagons. International chains like McDonald's,[3] A&W,[4] KFC and Burger King[5] also sell mass-produced poutine across Canada. Popular Quebec restaurants that serve poutine include Chez Ashton (Quebec City), La Banquise (Montreal), Lafleur Restaurants, Franx Supreme [6], La Belle Province, Le Petit Québec and Dic Ann's Hamburgers. Along with fries and pizza, poutine is a very common dish sold and eaten in high school cafeterias in various parts of Canada."

I did not try poutine. But I saw signs for it all over Montreal. I wondered and now I know. I would've wiki'd it there on the street but verizon is not welcome in the french province. Sigh.

I wonder what the equivilent American comfort food would be. Any thoughts?