Plate 02 of 10

Tourtière

The Christmas Eve pie of Quebec. Coarsely ground pork and veal simmered with onion, celery and the quatre-épices, cinnamon, clove, allspice and nutmeg, then bound with hot mashed potato and chilled cold before it goes into a lard-and-butter pastry that shatters on the fork.

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 50 min
Serves: 8 wedges, from a deep 23 cm pie dish
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A deep golden double-crust meat pie with a crimped edge and steam vents, one wedge cut out to show the firm, moist spiced pork filling inside.

Across Quebec, le Réveillon ends around a steaming tourtière. Families come in from midnight mass out of the freezing wind and cut wedges of golden meat pie at long wooden tables. The pie goes back centuries to the French settlers of the Saint Lawrence and is named after the round earthenware dish it was baked in.

The filling is coarsely ground pork shoulder and veal simmered with onion, garlic and celery, bound with mashed potato, and scented with the quatre-épices of cinnamon, clove, allspice and nutmeg plus dried summer savory. The crust is cold lard and butter, baked to a burnished gold that shatters on the fork.

Ingredients

Pastry
400 gUnbleached plain flour, sifted
150 gLeaf lard, chilled hard and cut into 1 cm cubes
60 gUnsalted butter, frozen and grated
6 gFine sea salt
120 mlIce-cold water with 1 tsp cider vinegar
Filling
700 gPork shoulder, coarsely ground with about 25 percent fat
400 gGround veal shoulder, or lean ground beef chuck
300 gYellow onions, minced fine
3 clovesGarlic, minced to a paste
2 stalksCelery with leaves, minced fine
300 mlBeef or chicken stock
300 gRusset potatoes, boiled in salted water and mashed hot with a fork
4 gGround cinnamon
3 gGround cloves
3 gGround allspice
1 gFreshly grated nutmeg
4 gDried summer savoryor wild thyme
12 gFine sea salt
3 gFreshly ground black pepper
Glaze
1 largeEgg beaten with 15 ml milk

Two fats in the crust

Cold lard, with its higher melting point, coats the gluten and keeps the crust short. Grated frozen butter carries water that flashes to steam at 200 °C and pushes the sheets apart into flakes. Together they give the biscuit-crisp shatter.

Mashed potato is the binder

Stirred hot into the simmered meat, the potato starch absorbs the free juices and fat and turns the mix into a cohesive filling. Without it the juices boil out through the vents and the meat comes out dry.

Fill it cold

Warm meat melts the lard in the raw pastry and the bottom goes soggy. The filling rests in the fridge for two hours before assembly.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt seasons the pork and veal and the pastry. Fat is leaf lard and butter in the crust and rendered shoulder in the filling. Acid comes at the table, from green tomato chow-chow or cranberry relish. Heat is the clove, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper and garlic. Umami is browned pork and veal, reduced stock and potato starch.

Equipment

Deep 23 cm glass or ceramic pie dish
Pastry blender and box grater
6-quart Dutch oven
Baking steel or heavy sheet, preheated on the lowest rack
Rolling pin

A glass dish lets you check that the bottom crust has browned before the pie comes out. The traditional vessel is the round glazed earthenware dish the pie is named after.

Method

Make and chill the pastry1 hr
Whisk the flour and salt. Cut in the chilled lard with a pastry blender to pea-sized crumbs. Add the grated frozen butter and toss lightly. Drizzle in the ice water and vinegar, tossing with a fork until the dough just comes together. Do not knead. Divide into two discs, 60 percent for the base and 40 percent for the lid, wrap, and chill 1 hour.
Mix flour and salt; cut cold lard into pea-sized crumbs. Toss in frozen grated butter. Fork-mix ice water with 1 teaspoon cider vinegar just until combined; do not knead. Divide 60 percent base, 40 percent lid; wrap and chill 1 hour.
Simmer the spiced filling40 min
In the Dutch oven combine the pork, veal, onions, celery and garlic, pour in the stock, and stir over medium heat, breaking up the meat. Bring to a gentle boil. Stir in the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, savory, pepper and salt. Lower the heat, cover partially, and simmer 40 minutes, stirring now and then.
Combine pork, veal, onions, celery, garlic and stock over medium heat, breaking up meat. Bring to a gentle boil; add cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, savory, pepper and salt. Lower heat, partially cover and simmer 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bind with potato and chill2 hr
Uncover and stir the hot mashed potato into the meat. The starch will absorb the juices and fat into a thick, cohesive filling. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Spread on a shallow dish, cool, and refrigerate at least 2 hours until cold and set.
Uncover and stir the hot mashed potato into the meat. The starch will absorb the juices and fat into a thick, cohesive filling. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Spread on a shallow dish, cool, and refrigerate at least 2 hours until cold and set.
Roll and line the dish10 min
Heat the oven to 200 °C with a baking steel on the lowest rack. Roll the larger disc into a 30 cm circle about 3 mm thick and ease it into the dish, pressing it flush without stretching. Keep chilled.
Heat the oven to 200 °C with a baking steel on the lowest rack. Roll the larger disc into a 30 cm circle about 3 mm thick and ease it into the dish, pressing it flush without stretching. Keep chilled.
Fill, seal and glaze10 min
Spoon in the cold filling and smooth it flat. Roll the lid to 25 cm. Brush the rim of the base with cold water, lay the lid over, trim the overhang to 1.5 cm, fold it under and crimp firmly. Cut three steam vents in the centre and brush with the egg glaze.
Fill with cold meat; level. Roll lid to 25 cm. Wet base rim with cold water, cover, trim overhang to 1.5 cm, fold under and crimp. Cut three central vents; brush with egg beaten with 15 ml milk.
Bake and rest50 min
Set the dish directly on the hot steel. Bake at 200 °C for 25 minutes, then lower to 180 °C and bake 25 minutes more until the crust is deep golden-chestnut and the centre reads 74 °C. Rest on a rack 20 minutes before cutting.
Set the dish directly on the hot steel. Bake at 200 °C for 25 minutes, then lower to 180 °C and bake 25 minutes more until the crust is deep golden-chestnut and the centre reads 74 °C. Rest on a rack 20 minutes before cutting.
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Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: deep golden-amber pastry with a glossy egg sheen and steam puffing from the vents; the filling firm and moist when cut.
- Auditory: a dry, shattering crunch as the knife goes through the lid.
- Olfactory: clove and cinnamon, toasted lard pastry, sweet simmered pork and summer savory.
Look for glossy golden-amber pastry, steam escaping vents and firm moist filling. The lid should crunch cleanly when cut; expect clove, cinnamon, toasted pastry, pork and savory aromas.

Storing it

Tourtière freezes very well unbaked. Freeze solid in its dish, wrap in foil, and bake from frozen at 190 °C for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Soggy, greasy bottom crust.: Warm filling melted the lard in the raw dough. The filling must be fridge-cold before assembly.
Dry meat and juices boiling out of the vents.: No potato. The mashed potato binds the fat and juices; do not skip it.
Tough pastry.: The dough was kneaded. Work fast with cold hands and chill it well.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Ground veal	Ground beef chuck, 80/20, or ground venison	One-to-one. Chuck gives the same rich moisture
Leaf lard	Unsalted butter or vegetable shortening	One-to-one. Butter is richer; lard gives the flakiest snap
Summer savory	Dried thyme with a pinch of marjoram	One-to-one. Matches the peppery herbal profile

Scaling

Half

Bake in four 10 cm mini pie tins at 200 °C for 30 minutes.

Double

Double the ingredients and bake two full pies side by side on preheated sheets.

What to serve it with

Green tomato chow-chow, the spiced French-Canadian relish
Tart cranberry relish with orange zest and maple
Quebec ice cider, or a glass of caribou, red wine fortified with rye and maple

Questions

What is the Lac-Saint-Jean tourtière?

A heavy deep-dish pie of cubed game and cubed potato baked for six hours. This is the Montreal style, with ground spiced pork and veal and mashed potato in a standard crust.

What is summer savory?

Sarriette, a peppery wild herb fundamental to Quebec cooking. Dried thyme with a little marjoram is the closest substitute.

Can it be frozen?

Yes, unbaked. Freeze it solid in the dish, wrap in foil, and bake from frozen at 190 °C for about 1 hour 15 minutes.