honoured recipe — pea soup, made originally from whole yellow peas, and later from split yellow and green peas.
The origin of the world-famous tourtière is hotly debated by culinary historians. Its ancestry may be traced to the ancient civilizations of Babylon, Greece, or Rome, or to the Middle Ages, or to the English pork pie. However, many believe the dish originated in Canada as a descendant of the “sea pie” of Atlantic communities, or its name may derive from the French word tourte, meaning “wild pigeon.” Early settlers have left us accounts of the waves of wild pigeons that would arrive at certain times of the year and could be caught in nets, clubbed, or simply grabbed by hand. Tourte also means a pottery casserole in which pigeon pie was originally baked, so either of these uses of the word may explain the savoury pie baked between two layers of crust and usually served cold. There are dozens of variations of the recipe from region to region, and through the years ingenious housewives worked with what was available, so any combinations of beef, pork, salt pork, veal, wild game, fowl, potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, or allspice may have been included.
Meanwhile, people were on the move, and settlements were springing up in many locations. English settlers were attracted to Nova Scotia by free passage, free land grants, a year’s provisions, farming tools, guns and ammunition, and the promise of a planned town (Halifax). Colonel Edward Cornwallis arrived in the Nova Scotia colony in June 1749 and was soon followed by twenty-five-hundred colonists.
The first winter was very difficult. There were not enough homes yet to shelter the settlers, and many had to stay on board the ships, huddled together to keep from freezing. Those on land were not much better off, for the rude shanties, formed of upright poles stuck in the ground and roofed over with the bark of trees, were not enough to keep out the cold. Their only food consisted of government rations of salt meat and hardtack, and thus, without fresh meat and vegetables to sustain their health, they developed typhus. It is tragic to note that almost one-third of the population died. But eventually Halifax became a town — a little piece of Old England nestled on a harbour in the wilds of North America.[5]
The proximity of the New England colonies in what was to become the new United States of America ensured a constant flow of settlers from the south, many bringing with them their African American slaves. When the Acadians were expelled by the British governor in 1755, thousands of these new arrivals took up their vacant, fertile farms to supply Halifax with food.
Historians believe the Highland Scots faced the greatest challenge in Nova Scotia, since they often arrived penniless. However, after cutting the timber and burning it on the land, they planted potatoes among the stumps and were rewarded with a plentiful return. In winter they would cut holes through the ice, which was often a foot thick, in order to obtain a supply of fish. They learned to hunt moose and other game, the meat of which they froze in the snow, thus providing a little variety to their meals. But they longed for the oatmeal that is so much a part of Scottish fare. The only bread to be had in the earliest days was made from grain ground on the quern, or hand mill, but this procedure was so laborious an operation that they resorted to it only when impelled by the direst necessity. The beverage served at mealtime was often a tea made by boiling the leaves of the partridgeberry.[6]
As the years passed and settlements developed, the new arrivals began to realize that they, too, could benefit not just from their farms but also from the extraordinary marine resource on their doorstep. One example of this is the community of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia, settled in 1753 by 1,453 Protestants from Switzerland, France, and Germany, whose first interest was farming their rich agricultural land. Since the town is close to the capital, Halifax, there was a ready market for root vegetables, timber, and boards. Slowly the interest of the settlers, like that of those in the nearby communities of Liverpool and New Dublin, turned to shore fishing for gaspereau (in May), cod and salmon (April to October), mackerel (June to October), and dogfish (from August onwards). These fish were eaten fresh or preserved by smoking or pickling in brine for family or local consumption.[7]
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
