Tourtière is the meat pie of Quebec, and its roots go back to New France, when settlers adapted the pies of home to the meat and spices they could find. The name may come from the tourtière, the deep dish it was baked in, or from the tourte, the passenger pigeon that once filled it; historians are still politely disagreeing. Today it is filled with finely minced pork, often with some beef or veal, and spiced with the warm notes of cinnamon, clove and allspice that give it a flavor unlike any other meat pie.

It belongs above all to the réveillon, the feast after midnight mass on Christmas Eve, but Quebec families eat it all winter and every family's recipe is, naturally, the only correct one. A little mashed potato in the filling binds it so that slices hold their shape. Serve it with a sharp fruit ketchup or relish, and it makes a fine Montreal race day dinner even in late May.

The spiced meat filling

Ingredients

• 1 medium russet potato
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 lb (450 g) ground pork
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground beef or ground veal
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried summer savory
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) chicken or beef stock

Assembling and baking

Ingredients

• 2 sheets refrigerated rolled pie crust or homemade double crust pastry
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) milk

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