Christmas en Croute

[Dove]

Well, it's 3 years since this article was posted, but I just read it today and enjoyed it thoroughly. I want to mention that my mother's tourtiere was always made with ground up leftover roast pork and that's how I make it, too. The seasoning is the same as yours. I think it's the French Canadian equivalent of roast beef hash. My mother always made her pastry with lard, never vegetable shortening. Her father's family came to Quebec in the 17th century and her father was the cook in the hotel that he owned in northern Ontario, near the Quebec border. I might try making it with raw pork to see how it tastes.

I grew up in Northern Ontario and it sure was cold. I remember the northern lights which we saw in brief snatches because of the weather, and the snow plowed so high that we all had to shovel a path from the street to our front doors. That was over 60 years ago and my mother always said that it wasn't as cold as it used to be and there wasn't as much snow. But it was plenty cold for me!

Many thanks for writing this article.

[LindaK]

What an appropriate story for these frigid December days at year's end 2009. I missed this when it first appeared but am thankful that it was bumped up again. Beautiful writing, Maggie.

Tourtiere has always been one of the great culinary mysteries/temptations for many of us here in the U.S. It reads like a delicious way to harden one's arteries tout de suite.

[maggiethecat]

I'm so touched by the recent replies. Thanks, all.

The very best part of Christmas Eve this year was (again) coaching my daughter through her Los Angeles Tourtiere. She called so often I answered the phone "Tourtiere Hotline!" and I don't have caller ID. I'm delighted to report that this year's LA tourtiere was spectacular -- we shared a peek via video chat. In fact, it looked better than mine. (She had three guests for dinner and the whole thing went. Her sweet but picky six year old niece ate two pieces.) So the Tourtiere heritage continues...

I love hearing about all the variations!

[technogypsy]

Wow. We are making ours for New Year's this year and I've got to try that crust. I use a pretty traditional crust recipe and don't normally see any problems with color/flakiness but this is really different.

I already got the venison, feral hog, and buffalo thawing and after this, I can't wait.

[maggiethecat]

I was going through some picture files today and discovered that I'd taken a photo of this year's tourtiere and trimmimgs.