QUEBEC-RESEARCH-L Archives

Archiver > QUEBEC-RESEARCH > 2010-11 > 1290986939


From: Gary Boivin <>
Subject: Re: [Q-R] Difference between Tourtiere and Meat Pie
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 16:28:59 -0700
References: <17DC3AF81D1F4085942FB8E0584587FE@SJ><4CE88C33.2040901@videotron.ca>
In-Reply-To: <4CE88C33.2040901@videotron.ca>


French style Meat Pie/Tourtière has animal flesh (meat) while
English/American Meat Pie is made from fruits.

It was quite a shock to my wife when she ordered "Meat Pie" is a
restaurant --- she didn't eat it.



On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 8:04 PM, Mona Andrée Rainville
<> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I've been asked to explain the difference between tourtière and meat
> pie....
>
> Hum...
>
> Well, both contain pretty much the same ingredients, more or less.  And
> both tend to be called tourtière around Christmas time.
>
> But where the meat filling that goes into a meat pie is already cooked,
> the meat filling that goes into a real tourtière is uncooked and needs
> to cook a long time with the pastry. Originally, tourtières were made
> with tourtes, a kind of pigeon now extinct because of uncontrolled
> hunting practices. Porc and veal were substituted for the tourte and
> here we are.
>
> Over the years, with mothers often having to work outside the home, meat
> pies have become more popular than traditional tourtières, and now if
> you ask around you, most people will describe a meat pie when you ask
> about tourtière. Meat pies are called "pâté à la viande" in French. Not
> tourtière.
>
> Don't get me wrong, it is all good. But meat pies were essentially an
> English import, whereas tourtières are French.
>
> Good night,
>
> Mona
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For the list web page, goto:
> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~unclefred/main.htm
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message
>

This thread: