This French Canadian tourtière is the taste of the holidays for many Quebecers. A flavourful beef and pork filling wrapped in a flaky pâte brisée pie crust, how can anyone go wrong?
ONE THING ABOUT FRENCH CANADIAN TOURTIÈRE
There’s a region in Québec that’s a couple of hundred kilometres north of the famous St. Lawrence River, up the Saguenay River, called Lac St-Jean. I have family who live there and if they hear someone call a meat pie that isn’t from Lac St-Jean a tourtière, they are quick to disparage it.
There are tourtière recipes out there that are branded as Lac St-Jean style, but really, everyone’s recipes are so different that it’s hard for me to understand what makes that a tourtière, and my tourtière a meat pie.
By the way, here’s some food history for you. The name tourtière comes from the cooking dish these pies used to be prepared in, and the dish itself is of French origin.
Oh, and just so you know, this is not a tourtière from Lac St-Jean, nor is it in that style. It’s a French Canadian tourtière. The family can flay me later.