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winter

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A traditional family dinner that is part of every French Canadian table is the famous ‘paté chinois.’ A three-layered pie of ground meat followed by corn and topped with mashed potatoes. This version has a Spanish flair with extra paprika, garlic, and thyme.  Paté Chinois / French Canadian Shepherd’s pie is a typically French Canadian meal… Created by British railroad workers, in the 19th century, as an imitation of the famous “cottage pie” (beef, lamb and mashed potatoes). The dish was an imminent “hit,” at least, for the “on-site” railroad workers, including many French Canadians and Chinese workers. The French brought it back home and called it: Chinese paté… which has nothing to do with China… The “paté chinois” differs from the cottage pie or shepherd’s pie mainly because the corn layer in the middle was a cheap and easy ingredient. For the majority, this is the meal every household does…

A drunken onion soup, filled with flavors, thyme, wine and a final touch of brandy to warm us up on a cold winter day. Finishing it up under the grill to melt that tasty gruyere cheese on the crunchy piece of bread slowly getting soak with the soup.  To warm up our hearts before the heat comes, why not eat a tasty, french onion soup. Those are quite popular from where I’m from; Quebec… As one know, that place has an eternal winter and this soup helps them to keep warm. I find it always a bit tricky to eat those heavy soups as an appetizer, with the extra cheese on top… It’ s supposed to be a appetizer but I consider it more of a main meal. The french use quite a lot of butter in it, this version is lighter in butter. Also, in culinary school in Spain they made…

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