My holiday recipe: Let the smell of fresh-baked tourtière fill your home (2024)

FAQs

What does tourtière mean in English? ›

Tourtière is a meat pie that can be a combination of beef, pork, or veal, as well as potatoes and other vegetables, and seasoned with spices.

It gets its name from the tourte, which is what it was originally made from.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.

Meat pie is primarily made of ground meat (pork, beef or veal) and aromatics (onion, garlic, spices, etc.). In Saguenay–Lac‑Saint‑Jean and Charlevoix, however, “real” tourtière is a lot heartier than meat pie and contains other meats (such as game) and potatoes that have been simmered in stock.

As the breadcrumbs and the broth help add moisture to this recipe, added fat is an unwanted quantity that tends to make the tourtiere fall apart when cutting and also is just not very pleasant.

Historical records of Quebec tourtière, which was likely named for the copper and tin pans the pies are baked in, date back to the 17th century. But hearty pies of the sort have been around for as long as humans have thought to combine pastry with meat.

Traditionally, Tourtière is served with roasted vegetables or a light frisseé salad. An assortment of pickled foods is always delicious; pickled beets, spicy carrots, gherkins or pickled onions. Many enjoy a tomato-based chutney but most… just break out the ketchup.

At Christmas time, there is no dish more quintessentially Canadian than tourtière. Tourtière is a double-crusted meat pie made from ground pork, veal or beef, and flavoured with generous additions of herbs, or combinations of herbs and spices, depending on the recipe and region.

Tourtière is a traditional part of winter celebrations in Quebec –Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. There are lots of recipes out there for the meat pies with regional Quebec variations.

Traditional French Canadian tourtière (meat pie), served on Revéillon (Christmas Eve). The Allrecipes Test Kitchen staff are a team of culinary pros who make and vet recipes using only equipment you'd find in a home kitchen.

"cottage pie" if it is made with beef. If it is made with. lamb it is usually called "shepherd's pie" (because a.

Do you eat a meat pie with a fork or spoon? ›

Use your spoon to scoop up and gobble down that delectable mince and tomato sauce filling.

Freshly Baked

If your Tourtiere is already baked, please store it in the fridge. For best results, the pie should be consumed within 4 days of purchase. To warm, place on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 350°F.

For best results, freeze your Tourtière after assembling and before baking. When ready to enjoy, cook from frozen, brushing the top with the egg wash before putting it in the oven. Baking time will be a longer from frozen. Cooked tourtière may be frozen for 4 months or so.

Allow your pie to bake for the entire recommended period.

People often pull their pie too soon out of fear that it will burn. This leads to runny pie because it prevents the filling from thickening. Check the recommended cooking time, and set a timer.

Tourtières have a rich history in Quebec: the deep, flaky pie shell filled with chunks of wild game and potatoes dates back centuries ago, introduced during the colonization by French settlers.

The reason mincemeat is called meat is because that's exactly what it used to be: most often mutton, but also beef, rabbit, pork or game. Mince pies were first served in the early middle ages, and the pies were quite sizeable, filled with a mixture of finely minced meat, chopped up fruit and a preserving liquid.