Get ready for le Temps des Fêtes.

December 2019

By Rhea Côté Robbins

Beyond the Pork Pie: “Mom used to make us tire sur la neige—maple taffy made with snow. It was a wonderful part of winter and holidays.”—Priscilla Morin, Sanford.

Traditional Franco-American Christmas celebrations never lack delicious food. It’s time to bring out the china, polish the silver, and set the table—Réveillon is nearly here.

Celebrated on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, the starring role of Réveillon is the tourtière. Recipes for tourtière vary between families and their geographical backgrounds. Some say the pie’s name comes from its baking dish—tourtière. A Little Canadian Cookbook suggests the pies were once filled with tourtes—passenger pigeons—now extinct. Today, they’re usually stuffed with ground pork or beef. Vegetarians versions are out there, too. Some cooks may take extra pains to adjust the texture, such as finely grinding the roast. Mashed potatoes, onions, and the chef’s choice of spices round out the recipe. Whatever the fillings, they’re all baked into a flaky double crust. Some serve the tourtière with green ketchup.

“My Grandmother would never dream of a Christmas dinner without scalloped potatoes and pork pie.”—Hallie Powers, Harpswell

The sweet delicacy of the Réveillon is the Bûche de Noël, or Yule Log. Once upon a time, in Europe’s Iron Age, a burnt log offering was given in recognition of the end of the winter. The onset of Christianity supported baking a cake instead to mark Christmas. The cake is a chocolate roll with cream filling coated with chocolate frosting and decorations like marzipan mushrooms, leaves, and stems to resemble the Yule Log of yore.

Christmas Day feasting begins with breakfast, which is often leftover tourtière topped with a fried egg. After opening the presents it’s time to whip out the eggnog—homemade with real cream and eggs (and a splash of rum for the adults). Christmas dinner centers around the decorated table with fine foods prepared from traditional recipes: turkey with dressing, capon or ham, riced potatoes, green beans, squash, peas, and homemade English muffin bread. Take your pick of dessert pies: chocolate cream, lemon meringue, pumpkin, apple, raspberry, and mincemeat. Classic Christmas cookies are decorated with frosting and colored sugar. Christmas candies, homemade, are temptingly near everyone’s reach. But a Franco-American Christmas without tourtière is impossible.

“Tourtières were made by both sides of my family. We’d get home from midnight mass and Mom would already have a meat pie ready for the oven. I didn’t really like the taste of it, so I covered my slice with ketchup.”—Janice Hill, Brunswick

“My French-Canadian side hasn’t passed down much from their heritage. My grandmother was a young bride when she came to America from Saskatchewan, and my grandfather didn’t approve of her heritage. She wasn’t even allowed to speak French in front of their children. Perhaps I’ll adopt some new traditions!” —Carlene Varney Iverson, Topsham