Mmm, mmm… tourtière

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/12/2021 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is going to be a difficult holiday season for us for many reasons. And I think it will be hard for many others.

So here is something different. A recipe from our home to yours. Even if you’re spending the holiday alone you can try to make this and hopefully enjoy the traditional aromas and flavours of this splendid dish.

My husband is French-Canadian and when he was growing up in rural Manitoba one of his family’s traditions was to have tourtière and bouillon at réveillon (the Christmas feast) on Christmas Eve after they went to midnight mass.

When the kids got home from mass, each was allowed to open one gift from Père Noël. There would also be Japanese oranges and all kinds of nuts that you would have to crack open with a nutcracker.

Rumour (and my husband’s brother) has it that some of the kids (not naming names) knew where the jolly old fellow had hidden some of the gifts. They may have even been given a good little shake.

The tourtières were made by his mom, who, by the way, is 99 and still going strong. When she was growing up in St. Pierre, she used to ride in a one-horse sleigh to mass.

Those were the days. One day in the frosty cold, the horse that was supposed to take the sleigh to school took off with the sleigh and without the kids. My husband says a farmer down the road saw the sleigh was empty and turned the wayward horse around so he could go back home.

And so the recipe for tourtière…

Unfortunately this is not her recipe but I hope it is somewhat close. It’s a recipe I have used for many Christmases when our kids gathered for Christmas morning.

 

Pastry for four crusts. (Two pies.)

 

1 pound ground pork

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon allspice

Pinch of cloves

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs or

2 potatoes, mashed

Put all ingredients except for bread crumbs or potatoes  into an extra large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 20 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add potatoes or breadcrumbs and stir. Let cool a bit.

Fill 2 pie crusts with mixture. Wet edges of the crust. Cover with pastry and crimp edges to seal. Cut a few slits in top crusts.

Bake in oven at 375 or 350 for one hour until browned. Cut into about eight delicious wedges and serve.

We used to serve this with mashed potatoes and gravy and you certainly don’t have to serve tourtière only on Christmas morning. Many now serve it whenever.

Next year I will try to showcase another traditional Christmas recipe from another culture. In the meantime, bon appétit!

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noël.

 

Cheryl Girard is a community correspondent for West Kildonan.