Grandma’s Acadian Meat Pie
By Yankee Magazine|Jul 17 2004|
My Grandmother was born in West Arichat, Nova Scotia. She used to make a meat pie that was primarily beef and in-season vegetables. Over the years, I have never found a printed copy of this recipe, which is not to be confused with a “Canadian Meat Pie.” The closest that I have found is something called a “sea pie.” It may be a Cape Breton delicacy. This is entirely from memory and I welcome corrections to this recipe hoping that this will open a conversation about this special pie.
Yield:
6 to 8 servingsIngredients
square or rectangular pie pastry top and bottom
3 to 4 pounds beef, cubed
1/4 pound salt pork
1 cup pearl onions
1 cup sweet peas
1 cup diced potatoes
Instructions
Place beef and salt pork in a heavy sauce pan with an inch or two of water; bring to a boil. Simmer until the meat is very tender, about three hours. Let meat cool.
Arrange bottom pastry crust in a pie dish. Place cooled meat into the pastry; cover with pastry top. Bake in a 350-degree oven about 45 to 50 minutes, or until crust is brown and filling is bubbly. Let set for a few minutes before cutting.
if you add spinach,it is called a popeye pie in Newfoundland. If you don’t have spinach,dandelion greens work also.
My Mother’s version of a meat pie was similar to a beef stew. She used chunks of beef, potatoes and carrots cooked in a black wrought iron skillet, then transferred the meal into an uncooked pie crust(top and bottom) where she cooked it in the oven until crust was browned. Delicious.
My grandmother was also born in Nova Scotia and she made a similar pie with salt pork; however, she would also add potatoes, carrots and often chicken in addition to the beef. She died back in the 1970’s and I still remember how delicious her pies were. I miss her cooking! Thanks for the memory of her meat pie!
My Cape Breton Acadian grandparents called this pie “Pate” – we had it every Christmas Eve! Thank you for the recipe.
My mother’s family is from Arichat also! This is very similar to the pie we always ate on Christmas Eve (after midnight!). The only difference was my family didn’t put in peas!
You have me intrigued, both by your grand-mother’s origins as I grew up in West Arichat (Babin family), but also buy the recipe of « Pâté à la viande » as we Acadians call it. In our family, we do not add peas or potatoes. Perhaps she added potatoes and peas to add nutrients and to be more filling, especially if it was a bigger family; and she was looking for a way to stretch the meat pie?