Food History: French Canada’s Savoury Delicacies

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This Thanksgiving, I walked into my family home and was welcomed with the smell of traditional French Canadian cuisine. Warm spices and sweetened root vegetables transported me back to old Canada, where my mother’s family settled nearly two centuries ago. This week, I dive into the world of food history through the lens of my cultural background: French Canada.

Canada’s long history is one of multiculturalism, reflected through various cultural influences in foods. Early French colonizers brought rich dishes of butter and meat to New France, some of which are still enjoyed in French Canadian communities today. Every family has their unique flaky-crusted meat pie recipe with various spices and ground meats, generational secrets passed only by word of mouth. My family typically blends beef, pork and hare as a filling, but I won’t divulge any more by the strict request of my great-grandmother.

traditional tortière, hotels.com

North American Indigenous influences are strong in traditional French Canadian foods, representing early French Canadian and Indigenous relations. Beans, a hearty supplement, are stewed in sweet, sticky gravy or salty soups. Maple syrup is preferred over any other sweetener, perhaps except for dark molasses poured over thin buckwheat crepes. Salmon, served dried, smoked or fresh, is a delicacy in many French Canadian homes.

A frigid and temperamental climate forced Canadians to rely on root vegetables. Beets, turnips, potatoes and carrots are a staple of traditional Canadian cuisine. Their preparation can be varied; my personal favourite is pickled. Preparing for long winters would involve preserving vegetables through canning and pickling them in vinegar and spices. The result is flavourful and nutrient-full produce to sustain through the cold months. Pickled beets are still prevalent in French Canadian meals, often placed at the table with every meal.

traditional cretons pate, hotels.com

Heavy reliance on meat was also common in traditional French Canadian cooking. Preparing for the winter would also involve hunting, butchering and preserving meat. No part of the animal is left behind, with pork blood used to make Boudin noir, or blood sausage, and animal fat used to make Cretons, or pork paté.

Contemporary French Canadian food is hard to define, with authentic meals only consumed around the holidays. Poutine and Montreal smoked meat have taken the spotlight in modern French Canadian food, not that these recipes have turned their back on homely meals that came before them. At its base, they are still rich dishes of starch and fat, an ode to the ingredients of the past.

Looking at the table of meat pies, spiced turnips, and stewed pork hocks, I’m grateful for my family, who have upheld our cultural history through our traditional meals. How does your family celebrate your heritage? With that question to ponder, I leave you with my family’s recipe for Ragoût de pattes de cochon (stewed pork hock meatballs), passed down through generations on my maternal side.

Mémère Benoit’s ragoût de pattes de cochon

Ingredients

  • 3-4 pork hocks

  • 1 onion, whole

  • 3 lbs ground beef

  • 1 lbs ground pork

  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

  • 1 1/2 tsp clove

  • 3 tbsp cornstarch or Bisto gravy mix

  • Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Fill a large pot 3/4 way with water, and add the cleaned pork hocks and onion. Cook to boil, and reduce the temperature to medium-low. Cover, and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours. Once complete, remove the onion and hocks.

Mix the ground beef, pork, and spice in a bowl, and form golf-ball-sized meatballs with the mixture. Place the raw meatballs into the pork hock broth. Bring broth to a boil, and simmer for an hour.

Remove meat from the boiled hocks with a fork and add to the broth. Thicken the broth with a cornstarch slurry or some Bisto gravy mix. Serve with spiced molasses carrots, mashed potatoes and pickled beets.

Dalainey Gervais is a writer and artist from Toronto, ON. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Linguistics program and a student of Algonquin College’s Professional Writing program. Currently working in the non-profit sphere, she hopes to develop a career in environmental policy writing. In her free time, Dal enjoys writing, baking, and watching the latest crime documentary on Netflix.