tourtière

noun

tour·​tière ˌtu̇r-'tyer  ˌtȯr- 

variants or tourtiere or less commonly tortiere

ˌtȯr- 

or tortière

plural tourtières or tourtieres also tortieres or tortières

: a savory French-Canadian pie with a flaky crust and a filling of cubed, minced, or ground meat (such as pork, beef, or game) mixed with spices (such as cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and often vegetables and herbs

Tourtière is a meat pie that can be a combination of beef, pork, or veal, as well as potatoes and other vegetables, and seasoned with spices.

—Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Whatever shape your tourtière takes—ground meat or cubed, wild game, beef or pork—[Chef Jean-Christophe] Poirier recommends serving it with pickled beets, gherkins and ketchup.

—Laura Brehaut

What makes it unique is the addition of warm spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves—but there are as many versions of tourtière as there are cooks making it.

—Julie Van Rosendaal

When a tourtière baking contest is held in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, dozens of the French-Canadian immigrants in the area enter their meat pies for judging.

—Brooke Dojny

The tourtiere is a savory, spiced meat pie, which both French- and English-speaking Canadians love to serve around the holidays.

—Lynn Neary

Gail runs the kitchen where she and her crew whip up traditional Quebecois meals, such as poutine, tortiere and their house speciality—fish and chips …

—Pat Brennan

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Canadian French tourtière, from French, "pan for making tarts and pies," from tourte "meat pie" (going back to Old French torte, tourte "round loaf") + -ière, feminine of -ier -er entry 2 — more at tart entry 2

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above