Tourtière (French pronunciation:[tuʁtjɛʁ], Quebec French:[tuʁt͡sjaɛ̯ʁ]) is a French Canadianmeat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec, usually made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes. Wild game is sometimes used.[1] It is a traditional part of the Christmas réveillon and New Year's Eve meal in Quebec.[2][3] It is also popular in New Brunswick, and is sold in grocery stores across the rest of Canada all year long. It gets its name from the tourte, which is what it was originally made from. Though the name "tourtière" is derived from its filling, the tourte—the French name for the passenger pigeon that is now extinct in North America—was historically used as its filling before the 20th century.[4]
There is no one correct filling; the meat depends on what is regionally available. In coastal areas, fish such as salmon is commonly used, whereas pork, beef, rabbit and game are often included inland. The name derives from the vessel in which it was originally cooked, a tourtière.[6][7][8]: 63
During the 18th century, "sea pie" became popular among French and British colonists, and it seems to be "the direct forerunner of the tourtière of Lac-Saint-Jean".[9]
Tourtière has been called "an example of 'the cuisine of the occupied,' food that is French by way of the British, who took Quebec in 1759."[10]
Types of tourtière
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Eastern Quebec
The tourtières of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area and Eastern Quebec are slow-cooked deep-dish meat pies made with potatoes and various meats (often including wild game or turkey) cut into small cubes.[11]
Elsewhere in Quebec and the rest of Canada, this variety of tourtière is sometimes referred to, in French and in English, as Tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean or tourtière saguenéenne to distinguish it from the varieties of tourtière with ground meat.
In the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area, however, the varieties of tourtière with ground meat are typically referred to as "pâté à la viande" ("meat pie"), while the name "tourtière" is reserved exclusively for their local variety.
Tourtière in Montreal is made with finely ground pork only (which can be hard to find as the meat is often ground too coarsely elsewhere). Water is added to the meat after browning, and cinnamon and cloves give it a distinctive flavour. Many people use ketchup as a condiment, though the tourtière is also often eaten with maple syrup or molasses, or cranberry preserves.
Although it is less popular than the original tourtière and the tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean, this version can also be commonly found throughout Canada and its surrounding areas.
Acadian tourtière, or pâté à la viande (pâté is casserole or pie), is a pork pie that may also contain chicken, hare and beef.[12] Pâté à la viande varies from region to region in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In Petit-Rocher and Campbellton the dish is prepared in small pie plates and known as petits cochons (little pigs).[12]
^Dojny, Brooke (1999). New England Home Cooking: 350 recipes from town and country, land and sea, hearth and home. Boston: Harvard Common Press. p. 186. ISBN9781558327573.
^"Tourtière". Cook's Info. 2010-03-12. Retrieved 11 September 2012.