Tourtières

Tourtière is a Quebecois meat pie, typically made with ground pork and potatoes. As a folk recipe, there are a ton of variations, so your grandmere may have made it differently than someone else’s grandmere. Some have ground beef, ground veal, or even venison. The meat is usually spiced with “warm” spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, mixed with mashed potatoes and onions, and baked in a double-crust pie. It’s commonly made as a Christmas or New Year’s meal. It can be served warm or cold, but I like it warm.

These tourtières came from A&J King Bakery in Salem. They had a puff pastry crust, which is not as typical as standard rolled pie crust. I’ve made it a couple of times myself and like to use a hot-water pie crust recipe, which holds up pretty well to the meat filling. Even here in New England, people don’t know about tourtière unless they grew up in a French Canadian family. I grew up in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, which has a very large French Canadian population, and was completely unaware of the dish until well into adulthood. But it is delicious and any home cook could make a decent one, I am sure.