Food exhibit at Montreal's Chateau Ramezay Museum

Shepherd's pie - corn, beef and potatoes
   Photo: Susieclue (Wikipedia)

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New and Old World Recipes

• Colcannon & Irish Champ

• Ginger Beer

• Layered Shepherds Pie

• New England Shepherd's Pie

• Tourtière Du Lac St-Jean

Did you ever think that shepherd's pie represents the three founding cultures of Canada? A new exhibit at Montreal's Château Ramezay Museum wants us to consider it. Corn from our First Nations peoples, they say, beef from the French and potatoes from the British.

History of shepherd's pie

While corn is undeniably a New World food associated with our First Nations peoples, it is rather difficult to pigeon hole the beef and potatoes in shepherd's pie. The name we use today for the popular meat is derived from the French boeuf, but beef was also eaten in Britain throughout the Middle Ages. As for the potato, it is a New World food taken back to Europe by the Spanish. It was accepted more quickly by the British than the French, but was grown elsewhere in northern Europe.

Shepherd's pie - or pâté chinois as many know it in Quebec - is but one of a number of peasant dishes designed to use up leftovers and to stretch the household food budget. The British had cottage pie as early as 1791. The French had Hachis Parmentier in the 18th century as well. Another dish called cowboy pie was known in New England.

Let's Eat!

Take an afternoon to learn about the eating habits of New France, and reflect on how traditions endure even today. Visit the Let's Eat! exhibition at the Château Ramezay Museum in Old Montreal. Originally an 18th century governor's residence, the Château visited by historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin and General Richard Montgomery. For over a century it has served as a private museum that preserves the details of life in New France, allowing us to relive the past with our children.

The Château is particularly well suited as the location for the exhibition, subtitled "The Traditional Food of Quebec." In 2000 a small portion of the Governor's Garden was recreated, in celebration of the much larger original garden and the many like it once found around the city. It consists of kitchen garden, orchard and pleasure garden, all in formal French style of the 18th century. The garden also includes a border of medicinal plants and herbs, and in summer there are a number of demonstrations that teach how textiles were produced and coloured using plant-based dyes. The garden is open year-round and admission is always free.