Tyler Wright | Special to the Fitzhugh
Bonjour et bienvenue dans l'édition de cette semaine de Taste of Jasper. Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of Taste of Jasper.
One thing that stood out to me when I arrived in Jasper was the French influence throughout the town. 20.6 per cent is the number of the French population that makes up Canada with approximately 7.2 million Canadians speaking the language as their mother tongue.
I have been slowly trying to learn the French language over the years. Coming from southern rural Alberta, French was not as common however my interest to learn the language was always there and piqued again when I made the move to Jasper. Being a national language of our country, I have always felt it was my duty as a Canadian to learn French and study its culture that exists both in and outside of the Quebec border.
I reached out to the ACFA Régionale de Jasper to get an idea for a dish I could cook, and learn more about the Francophone community in town.
The French-Canadian Association of Alberta (ACFA) is an organization that has existed here in our province since 1926. ACFA was established to build the Alberta Francophone community within our province and create strong ties with the communities they call home.
Just like the chapter here in Jasper, the organization holds community events, learning courses and to showcase French pride and culture for both Francophone and Anglophones alike.
Guillaume Roy, regional director for ACFA Jasper, was kind enough to give me a rundown of what the organization does locally. It has existed here in our community for more than 20 years. They started out as a small get together and have since grown their numbers over the years. Roughly 10 per cent of Jasperites are French but that number could be larger if it were to include people who speak French at home but English while out and about. I learned about the upcoming French lesson courses that will take place in the new year with registration starting at the end of December.
Cabane à Sucre, or Sugar Shack is a yearly event that is put on by ACFA and sees their attendees enjoying a traditional dinner, francophone entertainment and classic French-Canadian confectionery. Including the famous tire d'érable, maple taffy that is traditionally dipped in snow.
My foray into cooking for this week’s article was a tourtière. A tourtière is a traditional meat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec. While not exclusive to the province, it is a dish served by generations of French Canadians families throughout Canada. Like many traditional recipes, there is no one correct way to make it as it varies by household. The filling can include minced pork, beef, or wild game and potatoes. It has always been a staple dish during réveillon de Noël and New Years.
Roy provided me with a tourtière recipe from a local resident and offered to translate or asked if I wanted to take the bet and translate myself. I took the latter as I love a good challenge. While I may not speak fluent French, word association with French is somewhat easy as we grow up seeing French words and phrasing on all our packaging and in our daily lives.
I started by browning one package of stew beef cubes and setting them aside. I then sauteed onions, and garlic to a translucent state.
Next, I added two packs of ground pork and let render for about 20 minutes, adding cubed potatoes to the pork halfway through to soften them up before baking.
I seasoned the meats with sage, cloves, cinnamon, savory, all spice and salt and pepper and let the filling cool slightly before adding it to pie shells.
I covered the pie shell with top, scored the centre and finished with an egg wash before cooking on the bottom rack for 10 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then reduced the heat and cooked it at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.
This dish was hearty and perfect for a cool winter night. The overall prep time and execution was not too long and could be done after work for a later dinner in the evening if you so wish.
This dish would be recommended for someone who has intermediate skills in the kitchen and knows how both season and prepare different meats as well as properly prepare and bake a pie shell.
Thank you to Guillaume Roy and the ACFA for helping me with this week’s taste of Jasper. Check out @tasteofjasper on Instagram.
