28 thoughts on “Canadian Pork Pie – Tourti”

  1. And it was damn fine pork pie, too. I’ve already put in my request for birthday pork pie. Who needs cake when you can have pork?

  3. Hey Robert,
    Nah, she’s only made it twice now. Doesn’t the stock make it a tad runnier? The gravy really held it together, especially when you sliced it. Oh man, it was so good. I’d eat it pretty much any way you made it.

  4. The pie crust recipe is from Susan G. Purdy’s book, too. If anyone ever is lucky enough to meet this author of As Easy As Pie, give her a big hug and squeeze for me. Her recipes are AWESOME!

  5. Indeed, this recipe really appeals to me. My mother was Canadian from Montreal. I bet she would have known about this wonderful meal. This is the kind of kitchen activity that takes a whole day for non-cooking types like me. Maybe two whole days. One day for gathering all the ingredients and then, “voila” – “prepare'” !
    These are the pork pies famous in all the British stories. Boys and girls running home from school on a bitterly cold afternoon, breathing in the wind of the savory aroma from delicious pork pies baking!
    People! If you had these for your Christmas dinner, you dined like royalty!

  6. Thanks for the recipe. My Grandmother used to make a pie simmilar to this. I remember going to her house as a small boy and eating it at her kitchen counter just as my Dad did as a boy also. We have been trying to duplicate it for 35 years as she took the recipe with her. This is very close and the texture of the potatoes is exact, however hers did not have cinnamon.Its amazing how you can remember the taste exactly even though you havent tasted it in over 25 years. I guess thats why some of us live to eat instead of eating to live. I will keep working it until I get it exact…..maybe. Also try it with Heinz Chili Sauce. It may sound odd but it is the way i like it. Thanks again Tim

  7. Hey Tim,
    Thanks for stopping by. We’ve made this one several times, even grinding our own pork. I can believe you’d remember the taste after all those years, it IS that good and savory.
    Keep up the good work, we’re in this together.
    Biggles

  8. In our neck of the woods (Rhode Island) we have transplanted Acadians who make a very different pork pie. Ours has no gravy, more meat and much less potato. The secret spice in our neck of the woods seems to be ground cloves, although the recipe on my site uses Bell’s Seasoning, which tastes wonderful.
    Thanks for the crust recipe, too. I can’t wait to try it!

  9. I grew up in RI (Woonsocket – about as french-canadian as you can get) and was taught to make meat pie with ground beef or pork and mashed potatoes ground..really mushed…together. Seasoned with salt/pepper, clove, nutmeg, and a dash of cinnamon. We cheat by using pillsbury pie crust when in a hurry. I live in CA now and always look forward to visting family at home so I can get my meat pie and gaggers (NY Style Wieners) fix.

  10. Hey Leslie,
    Ya know, even when you cheat and use a premade pie crust, these meat pies are fricken outstanding. They’re so wonderful, so nice, so perfect. Even during the summer they serve up for a nice meal. I say, bring it on!
    Biggles

  11. I made this and it was very close to my Dad’s and Memmer’s recipe . My Mother was born in Woonsocket RI (Martineau) and my Father was born in Montreal and his family brought this recipe to Florida. It is a Christmas staple food and will be passed on to my kids.

  12. While living in mistasssini QUE in the fifties and sixties I learned to make this pie , from a french canadian nurse who worked there. , after mass on Christmas Eve we had the big dinnner and of course pork pie was one of the main dish, I have made it each year since those days and it would not be Christmas without it. my kids and grand-kids now look forward to it each year , this year my 18 yr old gran- daughter came to learn the tricks lol, have a wonderful Christmas.

  13. My mom has been making this for years based on a family recipe. The trick for her seemed to be figuring out what was in ‘Bell’s Seasoning’. We don’t add potatoes, but I may experiment. Definitely cinnamon, nutmeg. I think she also uses Thyme, Sage, poultry seasoning, Rosemary, and Marjoram. She also told me that they used to use bacon lard in the pie crust.

  14. My mother was from Montreal. She was a sweetheart for making this traditional dish for us as kids. As we grew up, she got more into the convenience foods. Fortunately, she passed on this fabulous recipe and I personally love it! like everyone said, it is a flavor that you cannot forget. My Italian husband compares it to shepherd pie – not even close buddy. If you are in Southern California, there is a place near Big Bear called a bit of Quebec. She serves this fantastic pie and the whole place is filled with the aroma of the perfectly spiced meat.

  15. Im not in a lovcation where i have enough kitchen space to make this wonderful recipe right now. Growing up in Manchester New Hampshire, I truly enjoyed this dish for years. I live in Lawrence Massachusetts now, and can’t find a store or diner that serves Pork Pie. Does anyone out here know of a location that sells or serves “true” Pork Pie?

  16. Oh, does this bring me back! My mother’s sister was the oldest girl in their generation and she made the pies every Christmas, lots of pork and veal, less potato, clove predominating, with the real old lard crusts, and the sound of “Un flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle” in the air. We had the heated discussion every year around the table about ketchup — I never used it myself, not even on the cold leftovers, but why would anyone desecrate that rich, spicy, aromatic hot pie right out of the oven with sugared tomato glop? Anyone but my brother — and we never wondered so much where we got him from as those meals.

  17. We were introduced to tourtiere in Kingston, Ontario, where we were privileged to live for several years. Now that we are back in the states, we have created our own tradition of celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving in October, with tourtiere as our main dish. We like to serve ours with a tart, homemade cranberry sauce.

  19. Many years ago, my former mother-in-law who was of French Canadian origins, taught me how to make this. I haven’t made it in many years but am going to attempt it again this holiday season for my two new step-daughters whose grandmother made it for them when they were children. What happy memories this conjures up….I can already smell the pies cooking in the oven. Thanks for the recipe…I remember the ingredients…but not the amounts. Merry Christmas, Nancy, formerly of CT, now in FL

  20. Mom made them for years now her first husbands fam was french canadian and she uses pork and beef ground in even measure and so the consistency is like bb’s or a little bigger. Her recipe is old and calls mainly for allspice cloves and cinnamon light on the last one. the recipe also calls for freezing in a snow bank ( no kidding which works well as it sets the pie prior to baking. her recipe calls for serving with choke cherry jelly Ughh but we have substituted cranberry sauce which seems to hold it on your fork. Oh yes and buttered mash potatoes.

  21. I have been making Tourtière (Quebec Meat Pie) for years based on my Dad’s recipe with a few embellishments of my own. I sure do not know how you can make only ONE pie…LOL. On the average, I probably make 15-25 pies every year (all at once, over a weekend). Folks anticipate them for gifts and for a few dear friends I even freeze and mail them. There are many versions of Tourtière and mine consist of Pork (I have a butcher ground pork roasts for me), Veal,and Ground Beef (lean). The majority of the dish is pork though (60/30/10). I use onions, peppers, mushrooms, scallions, and potatoes along with most of the standard seasonings.
    I will be making about 20 pies this weekend.
    They are great for breakfast (with eggs), and for an interesting flavor sensation serve the pie with green olives and bread/butter pickles.
    Glad to see the tradition is alive and well.

  22. I learned to love tourtiere while working in Laconia, NH and I was the grateful recipient of pies my collegues made…..each wanting to show case their own family tradition….I loved them all. The differences I could discern were a) some were thickened with a little mashed potato and others with bread crumbs and some….maybe not thickened. b)some were mostly seasoned with Bell Seasoning…rather like a traditional sage stuffing and others were seasoned with a clove, cinnamon, perhaps nutmeg? seasoning mix.
    c)some were just ground pork, some pork with a little beef and/or veal and/or ground turkey and one dear lady said in her family they always chopped up the turkey gizzards and giblets and added them….
    I just made my first tourtiere today and used my own hybred of the pies I have loved in the past…..except I didnt make my own crusts….I havent mastered that yet….but I know they need to be made with lard. 🙂

  23. Just a quick note of thanks… pork pies have been a staple of my family’s holidays, but my mom’s always made ’em, and neither her health nor her memory are what they used to be, and her recipe cards are suggestions at best. Used her balance of pork and beef (3 to 1) and most of your recipe… she’s eating a piece now and she’s delighted. As am I.

  24. I cannot access the recipe…and I can’t locate what I did with the one I printed. Your pork pie is the best…made it for three years now. Can you reprint this wonderful recipe? Thanks!

  25. I’d also like to add that this is the best pork pie EVER. My husband insists that I make your recipe every year. Sooooo good!