Canada Speciality Dish Tourtière

Speciality Dish - Canada

Tourtière

Information about Canadian Tourtière plus Tourtière Recipes

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This dish hails from Quebec and whilst traditionally served on Christmas Eve, it is now eaten at all times. It’s basically a meat pie made of minced pork and beef. According to our research, tourtières were originally made with tourterelles or tourtes, which are a type of small pigeon whose seasonal migration to parts of Canada made them a cheap source of food in the early days. However they became almost extinct and so were replaced by other meat or fowl fillings. It is natural to assume that the recipe got its name from these birds, however it is also likely that the deep dish in which the birds were originally cooked called Tourtières also played a part in the naming of the recipe.

Today other variations include hare, duck, veal and chicken plus various additional flavourings such as garlic, mustard, herbs and vegetables. Also some use cubed meat rather than minced meat. Ready made tourtières can now be found in markets and grocery stores throughout the year.

Below are three versions of this recipe but do experiment to make your own family version of this Canadian speciality.

Happy cooking!

Pork and Beef Tourtière      HT MC Canadian 80mins

Pork and Potato Tourtière     HT MC Canadian 80mins

Tourtière du Saguenay     HT MC Canadian 200mins

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