Flavorful creton a great dish to warm up cold months

Creton is one of several French-Canadian dishes that show up around the holidays, or at last when the weather turns cold. The flavorful combination of ground, spiced pork and pork fat cooked with onion and spread on bread is just the ticket for breakfast on a day that you intend to spend shoveling snow, cutting trees or cross-country skiing. It is similar in spirit to tourtiere, the pork-filled pie popular on Christmas Eve.

Among the recipes I received for this were some notable variations. Deb Rollins, who works at the University of Maine, found one in a gourmet magazine which claimed this was a good breakfast dish, spread on toast. That recipe called for bay leaves and quite a bit of garlic. Ruth Thurston in Machias sent along three which showed quite a variety in the proportions of meat and water; one called for salt pork as the main fat and some bread crumbs. Peggy Gannon shared her stepmother Merciale Fillion’s recipe. That recipe called for quite a bit of bread, plus an egg and a couple of tablespoons of cream, but no additional pork fat. Virtually all the recipes suggested onion, allspice, salt and pepper as necessary seasonings. It looks to me that we have some scope here for individual expression.

The recipes call for ground pork. You could grind your own or buy it already ground. I cut my pork off a picnic shoulder, and added in a little extra fat. I used allspice, salt, pepper, onion and garlic. The flavor develops over a couple of days, but taste it anyway before it is done because you may wish to get the salt and pepper up to speed and add a little more allspice. Peggy wrote “I find this rather greasy so I saute the pork lightly first and pour off the fat.” You may wish to do that, too.

This recipe, which makes a small amount, is easily doubled.

Creton

Yields one 5-by-8-by- 2-inch loaf.

1 pound of ground pork

1/4 pound clear pork fat ground

1/2 cup water

1 medium onion

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon allspice (or more to your taste)

Salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients except the allspice, salt and pepper in a heavy saucepan over a low heat and simmer for two hours. Add the spices, and simmer an additional 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, bearing in mind that the flavor develops further in a couple days. Pour into a bowl or a loaf pan, cover and allow to chill. Serve with bread for sandwiches or for canapes or on crackers.

LOOKING FOR … Recently heard about fish chowder with dumplings in it. I would love to see a recipe for one, and be sure to include the dumpling recipe, too.