Tourtiere - a family tradition for Christmas


My paternal grandfather was from French Canadian descent. He married my grandma who was very very Italian. We had some weird mix of foods sometimes at dinners, but it was because they were into honoring traditions, which I adore them for.

Every Christmas, grandma would cook up a traditional French Canadian meat pie, called tourtiere. Grandma pronounced it "tootcare", but that is clearly not the French pronunciation. Maybe she picked it up from the way we kids would say it as children. In any case, my siblings adored it, though I never liked it and still don't eat it. But I am pretty sure that when and if I have a family of my own, I will be making it for them. And so it goes...

Since grandma's passing, my sister Evelyn has taken up the mantle of making it for our family holiday gatherings, and the recipe she uses is from memory from Grandma. It still isn't quite perfect in its implementation, and needs more tweaking. But if you Google for "tourtiere recipe", you will find many more examples of this traditional French Canadian dish to cross-reference to find the perfect balance for your palate. Recipe behind the cut.


3 lbs ground pork shoulder
2 large russet potatoes
1 large yellow onion
1 to 1 1/2 tbl. Summer Savory (roughly)
2 tsp. Salt (roughly)
1/2 tsp. Pepper (roughly)
Pie crust (separate recipe)


Dice onion.
Combine pork onion, summer savory, salt and pepper.
Cook on medium to high heat for 10 min.
Reduce heat and cook for an additional 30 min

Meanwhile......
Pre-heat oven to 375
Prepare pie crust and pre-bake the bottom crust
Peel potatoes and cut them into small cubes
Boil until tender but not soft
Strain then add to pork mixture
Cook for an additional 15 to 20 min

Strain off about 50% of the liquid and place in the pie crust.
Place top crust on pie and vent the top crust.

Bake for 30 min or until top crust is fully cooked and browned.

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