Cretons!
Any Quebeckers down here that know of a reliable place to purchase good, fresh cretons? With the cold weather here, I have a yen for cretons and toast. I have stolen my mom's recipe to make my own, and I know homemade is best but let's face it...with the holidays and overnight guests I'm going to get lazy.
Thwaite's market in Methuen, Mass has long been my standby but in recent months I've found their cretons (which they charmingly spell Gorton....like the fisherman?) fatty and tasteless. Help?
thegolferbitch
Nov 13, 2006 12:32PM
I don't know about that particular Canadian style of pork pâté, but you might call some other places known for their charcuterie: the Formaggios (Huron Village and the South End), L'Alouette in Lexington, Savenor's, DeLuca's.
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Why hasn't anyone opened a Quebecker restaurant in Boston?
A lot of the places MC Slim listed would probably make it for you, especially if you were getting a reasonable quanity. John Dewar's in Newton Center or Wellesley might be able to hook you up.
[sorry for the edit, quantity and quality are not the same.]
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It's been about 8 years since I went to Quebec City and Montreal, but even there, I could only find one restaurant that served classic Quebecois cuisine at the time (things like classic Quebec pea soup, meat pies, duck in maple syrup sauce, sugar pie, spruce beer). And I looked hard, too. That place was Aux Anciens Canadiens in the walled Haute-Ville part of Quebec City, and I liked it so much I went a few times.
Given how hard it was to find a real Quebecois restaurant in Quebec, I'd guess the chances of one coming to Boston are slim indeed.
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Thank you MCSlim and sailormouth. Sailor, I work just five 10 minutes from Newton center and you can bet I'll check out Dewar's. That's a good question about quebecois food in Boston...especially around the holidays and during the winter, it's such good stuff--real home cooked comfort food. I am guessing it wouldn't fly because of all that meat and spice and maple; health nuts could freak out over tourtiere. But it sure is good stuff. A lot of the dishes are so simple and so delicious--the sugar pies, turnip dishes. Sigh.
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I can't say that I've seen cretons in this area. Maybe some of the french-canadian areas such as Fall River, or Somersworth NH, or Lewiston, ME..... but that is a drive.
I'd love to see some Quebecois food on a menu in Boston, but so far I haven't. Although the diner in Watertown serves Ployes which is an Acadian specialty.
I'd recommend brewing up some good coffee for some inspiration, and working on that recipe. Laziness is how recipes never get passed on and culture is lost.
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Thank you so much, IreneC. Fantastic information for a new Lowell-area resident.
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You don't have to look any farther than Lowell. Fresh-made creton (gorton, corton or pork-scrap, depending on your family's origin) is available at Cote's Market on Salem Street, 978-458-4635. You will also find such Quebecois comfort food as pork pie (toutiere), salmon pie, and habitant-style pea soup (made with yellow peas). Right now Cote's is taking orders for Thanksgiving, which includes French-style meat stuffing (made with ground pork.
Also, although not fresh-made, some Market Basket stores in the Lowell area carry creton and pork pies from a company in Maine. I believe the brand is Malliot. They sell them in the meat counter.
And a little local restaurant, A Family Affair on Lakeview Ave in Lowell serves, Quebec-style crepes on Sat. and Sun. Vic's Pastry Shop sells pork pies and salmon pies and the adjacent restaurant serves individual pork pies at breakfast.
For pork pies and salmon pies, there are also several places in Fall River that sell them, for instance Plourde's Bakery, I believe on North Main St. and Hartley's Pork Pies, the South Main St. location.
Of course, you can always make your own creton. I have my Memere's recipe and several others that I've collected over the years.
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Irene...You bet I'll go there. I'm about to mapquest it because I'm woefully ignorant about Lowell geography beyond the immediate downtown area. Thank you!
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That is a pretty impressive post IreneC (thank you Chowhound!), I'm doing my own Googlemap-Lowell research now for a trip.
Not knowing much about Lowell, what else would you recommend (maybe a new post about this might be good?)?
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That's a cool post IreneC -- thanks. Do any of those joints sell poutine? I saw galleygirl's post about cheese curds so I could try making it at home, but I'm not so into cooking the fries in my kitchen, making up the gravy, etc. I'd like to know of a place that serves it to a hungry public.
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For poutine, try La Petite Cafe - a new place in Greenfield, MA. 90 west of Boston. A small shop, but good food.
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I have been trying to find a creton recipe forever...the ones I have found are made with milk - did your Memere make hers that way - mine in Maine used water I think....
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My mom's pork scrap was stringy. She used a pork shoulder (I think). Does that sound familiar? Do you have any recipes like that? I wish I had my Memere's recipies.
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Do you usually eat cretons for breakfast? My husband and I took a small vaca up in Quebec City (which is a lovely city by the way) and we stayed in a bed & breakfast. Well, for breakfast they served us this meatloaf looking thing. We didn't know what it was and unfortunately, didn't bother asking the waitress. Just from reading the replies and the description of a creton, I'm assuming that was what was served to us. Am I right?
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Cretons are excellent on toast for breakfast. Yes, cretons would have looked like a meatloaf type thing.
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Middydd is right. Sometimes you'll see people spread it right on toast. Sometimes they add a little mustard. Some add jam. All at breakfast!
But I have also used cretons on tea sandwiches, spread thinly. I've used it as an ingredient in stuffing. And my ma (Quebecois to the core) would spread cold cretons on crackers or thinly sliced, toasted baguette rounds when company came, topped by a sliver of cheese, or pimento.
Basically, girlygirl, you can do just about anything but brush your teeth with cretons (and god knows, I wish I could)
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I'm of the same opinion as thegolferbitch. You can eat cretons (my family calls it "gorton" or "corton") any time with any thing! Since I was a young girl, we've eaten it on soft bread with mustard for lunch or spread it on toast for breakfast or on crackers for an appetizer. It's the all-Canadian-American diverse food! I'm about to make a batch to bring as an appetizer to an all-Italian Thanksgiving feast. We'll see how that goes!
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Best Corton in my opinion can be purchased at Steves Market in Salem, Ma. I grew up with my family speaking French as my grandfather was from Quebec. There was once a HUGE population of French Canadians in Salem... We ate Corton on toast for breakfast WAY to often as it cant possibly be good for you! All that fat is what makes it taste good! Another good place for Corton is Henry's in Beverly. Good luck!
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Pork Scrap
1 ½ Pounds of Pork
1 ½ Cups of Bread Crumbs
1 ½ Cups of Milk
1 ¼ Tsp. Salt
1 ¼ Tsp. Pepper
1 ½ Tsp Cinnamon
¾ Tsp Ground Cloves
1 Med Onion (Chopped Fine)
Cook On Med Heat for 1 to 1 ½ Hours Refrigerate ……..Enjoy!
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Thanks for the recipe!
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If you feel like driving a "few more" miles, there is a place in Hudson NH called Bull Run Beef on Route 3A - Yummy. You take exit 2 off route 3 take a left, then it's a couple miles give or take down the road on the right. They also have Pork pie and another place in Hooksett NH.
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market basket carries maillot's, which is made in maine. I do think that thwaites is a pretty good product.
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Thanks to all of you for whetting me appetite for cretons (we called them cortons in Salem, MA; in NH, they say gortons....supposed to be always in the plural, like vittles). We'll be meeting a gang of friends for lunch in Salem tomorrow (Bertini's) and methinks we'll stop at Steve's Market for starters. As transplants from there to NH, we've gotten to dine at many places, whether at b'fast, lunch, or dinner. Chez Vachon, on Kelley Street on the west side of Manchester, serves poutine, much liked by me Irish wife.
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A new find to report in a most unexpected place, a little breakfast/lunch place called Emerald's Eatery in a strip mall in South Windsor, CT at the intersection of Ellington Rd. and Route 30. You can get a side of cretons at breakfast for $1.50. My 87 year-old French-Canadian Mother called it "not bad", which from her is high praise. The owner makes it on the premises. Although it's not on the lunch menu, I was told you can get a large container to go for $5.00. This little spot also serves good homemade soups and generous sandwiches.
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I've been making gorton(that'swhat it is called here) all my life, learned it from my French Canadian Mother and Grand Mother.
A very simple to make recipe:
2 -3 lbs Ground Pork
1 large onion finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 tblsp ground cloves
1 tblsp Bell's poultry seasoning
Put all ingredients in large pot and add water to cover
simmer and stir to break up pork to a fine consistency untill fully cooked
ladle into small covered containers and refridgerate.
Some French Canadians use cinnamon instead of the poultry seasoning but my grandmother said those people didn't know what they were doing!!
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growing up in southern New Hampshire which has a large French Canadian population we practically grew up on Gorton sandwiches for lunch (on white bread with yellow mustard. I still make it regularly
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greetings from south eastern MA!
my memere and grand memere used to make Gorton.....
grand memere was the youngest of 13 who started out in the Montreal area and eventually ended up in Fall River. lovely fatty clovey pork spreadable goodness came with them.
i have been able to find gorton in stop and shop and shaws.... though i haven't looked recently as the product tends to be very fatty and not terribly tasteful....
rather, it tastes terrible....
of course, memere never measured or wrote anything down......
kids! you must VIDEOTAPE these old people cooking!!! it's near impossible to get recipes out of them.... short of waterboarding....
anyway..... using some fairly standard recipes, my mother and i were able to recreate memere's gorton in our own image..... so to speak....
so, yes you can find the stuff in most grocery stores..... you may have to look though, deli section, french section, spreadable meats section.. who knows....
your best bet, is still to make it yourself.....
season to taste.... we use less fat, nice lean ground pork and while it's still warm i whizz it up in the food processor to almost a peanut butter consistency.... refridgerate (or freeze) and spread on toast as needed.....
my wife isn't a big fan.... more for me!! muuahahhahaa!!!
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FYI - Market Basket has it sometime (althought the quality is questionable). Steve's Quality Market in Salem, MA has great Corton (that is how my french canadian Mother in Law spells it). There used to be a huge frech/french canadian population in Salem, and Steve's still lives up to the tradition! - yum.
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hey all you CRETONS lovers! i just made a fresh batch here, this is my mom's recipe, she was born and raised in quebec city....we used to eat this along with tourtiere, sugar pies, sucre a creme, with soooo many more goodies, for our reveillons, Christmas eve feast. i looked for other recipes, but my mom's is the only one that used all spice in place of all the other spices. so here it is...i dont know where to buy it, since i live in NC, i just would rather make it fresh.
Cretons
1 lb ground pork
1/2 of onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of all spice
1/8 tsp of cloves
1/4 cup bread crumbs
brown the meat until no longer pink. add onions, garlic, spices, and water. cook on low for about 1 hour. add the bread crumbs. cook 10 min more. put in small bowls. good for about a week, if it lasts that long! i like to make extra and freeze it, so then you have it whenever you want without all the work. serve it on toast with a little mustard, or on crackers for a snack. you really cant mess this up! enjoy!
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this is a recipe that my mom made for us when we were young, and i continued the tradition with my family. she is from quebec city and this is how they made it where she lived. this CRETONS recipe is similar to what you would find online...only my mom used allspice instead of the other different individual spices. hope you enjoy it, i just made a fresh batch....i dont live up north, so i have to make all my french goodies from scratch. i also have recipes for tourtiere, ragout au boullettes, sucre a creme, and a few others if anyone is interested.
CRETONS
2 lbs ground pork
1/2 onion, minced
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 to 3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
cook the ground pork with onions and garlic until no longer pink. then add the spices and water. cook for about 1 hour 30 min. add the bread crumbs, cook another 10 minutes. i like to take and blend it a little so the meat is very very fine. pour into small bowls and refrigerate overnight. you can also freeze it. serve on toast with a nice mustard, or just serve on crackers. (this is an ammended recipe i submitted before.)
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