Hearty farmhouse classics built for long winters

Quebec mains are generous and slow-simmered. The winter canon includes tourtière (savory meat pie) with spiced pork or mixed game; pâté chinois (a shepherd’s-pie cousin) layered with beef, corn, and potatoes; ragoût de boulettes (meatball stew); cipaille/six-pâtes (a layered meat-and-potato pie); fèves au lard (molasses-baked beans); and pea soup with ham hock. These dishes draw on French technique, British pies, and rural resourcefulness. Regionality adds color: along the Saint Lawrence you’ll find salt cod casseroles and chowders; in the forests, venison or moose stews; in cities, immigrant influences weave in rotisserie chicken platters and Montréal smoked-meat plates. Sidekicks—country bread, pickled beets, mustard, and thick gravy—complete the comfort.