Turcare or Not Tour Care That is the Question

There is a tradition in my family to prepare in advance the Christmas morning meal.  We make it several weeks ahead and freeze it, then set it out on Christmas Eve and let it thaw.  In the morning you throw it in the oven and let it cook for about an hour then serve it piping hot!  We eat it with great gusto while trying not to burn the roof of our mouths.  That is why cold whole cranberry sauce is served along with it, sweet and tangy and soothing juxtaposed to the steaming, savory pork pie. Did I just say, PORK PIE?  That is the usual reaction I get when I first describe this dish to the uninitiated.  They are very skeptical and that is when the salesman in me comes to the fore.  

“Oh, it’s wonderful!” I say, clutching my chest, my eyes twinkling, filled with visions of pork pie dancing in my head.  They become more intrigued as I wax prosaic of this porcine pleasure.  And then I go in for the kill, “We are having it for breakfast Christmas morning!  You will love it!”  End of discussion.  There is no debate about alternatives to the menu, if you eat with me and mine on that blessed morn you will do as my family has done for at least five maybe six generations and eat Tourtière.  Or is it Turcare, or Tour Care?  

Tourtière is actually the original French spelling.  My great grandmother, Jesse Wheeler, was French, and since my family lives in Minnesota, which is right next to Canada, and the dish is a tradition for French-Canadians, and legend has it that her parents immigrated there then settled further south in balmy Minneapolis, that this is the genesis of the dish for our family.  My great grandmother was also a Catholic, and traditionally Christmas Eve was a day of abstinence.  But after Midnight Mass one could dive into an early morning meat pie and let the feast begin!  

I have a decoupaged cutting board, that my Aunt Virginia made, with a recipe on it written in my great grandmother’s hand that has the spelling written as Tour Care.  This is undoubtably a bastardization of the original pronunciation from French to English.  But, in the recipe I copied from my mother, the spelling is Turcare.  Which is it…. who cares?!  A pork pie by any other name would still be as delicious. 

Another anomalous thing about this recipe are the ambiguous directions.  The word ‘about’ is used frequently, as in ‘about’ 3 cups, and ‘about’ the size of a walnut, and ‘about’ ¾ cup, ‘about’ 1 tablespoon, ‘about’ 40 minutes, etc. etc.  Then there is the inexact phrase, ‘as much water you need for it to make two pies, either more or less water and if that isn’t enough for two pies add a little flour and water.’  What?!  Well, to say the least it’s a little unclear.  That is why you need an experienced cook to show you the way.  Otherwise, you could easily end up with a watery mess or a baked brick. 

That is why this year I invited my son and his wife over to my house, two weeks before Christmas, so I could teach them how to make Turcare.  I taught them the way my mother taught me, and one day they will teach their unborn son who is expected in June …cause that’s what families do.

Crust of one pie:
2 cups flour
½ cup shortening, cold
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp baking powder
½ cup, plus more if needed, ice water
Make bottom crust, rolling a little thicker than usual, and place in a deep-dish pie pan. Pour in filling. Roll out top crust. Make air vents. Bake 375 for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is light brown.

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Filling:
2 lbs. lean pork coarsely ground
½ of a small grated onion, (about the size of a walnut)
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp ground sage
About ¾ cup flour
1 ½ to 2 cups boiling water

Put meat, onion and seasonings in large pot over a low burner. Stir until it starts to sizzle. Slowly add water, a half cup at a time, so as not to get the meat too watery. The meat will become waterier as it cooks, so don’t use too much water at first.

Stir the meat mixture until it is bubbly and no longer pink. Slowly add the flour, making sure the mixture doesn’t become too thick. You want it to just hold together. Put in pie shell.
Let the pie cool after it is initially baked. Double wrap with foil and freeze.

Remove from freezer the night before serving to thaw. In the morning heat the oven to 300 and cook the pie for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Serve with cranberry sauce and grapefruit halves with a maraschino cherry in the center. I also offer Christmas cookies and Stollen.

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