from TogakureOjonin's link:

In New Brunswick, there is an earlier traditional Acadian dish known as poutine râpée, which is completely different from the "poutine québécoise". The Acadian poutine is a ball of grated and mashed potato, salted, filled with pork in the centre, and boiled. The result is a moist greyish ball about the size of a baseball. It is commonly eaten with salt and pepper or brown sugar. It is believed to have originated from the German Klöße, prepared by early German settlers who lived among the Acadians. Many other dishes, similar or not, are known by the same name.

Wow, it is indeed a small world. We have something called Raspeballer that would be the equivalent. It could be as the encyclopedia suggest an imported German dish.
It should be pronounced with Hoch Deutsch "R's"...