A taste of l'Acadie for l'Estrie

allison martens

Charlene Vacon will bring her passion for home-cooked Acadian cuisine – and a batch of her traditional molasses cookies – to an academic conference in Sherbrooke on March 10 and 11.

Her research was selected as one of 16 finalists from across the province in the social sciences that will be showcased at the Quebec University Research Forum. So why do her molasses cookies taste so good? “There are secret ingredients, lard being one of them,” she said matter-of-factly. The cookies taste similar to gingersnaps, but are sweeter and infused with cloves and allspice.

“Acadian cooking is full of lard and pork fat. But they had a lifestyle that required people to work physically, so they could afford the extra 800 calories.”

Vacon, a PhD student in Communication Studies, can trace her Acadian heritage back to the founding families that came to what is now Nova Scotia from France in the 17th century.

She grew up in Nova Scotia making Acadian delicacies such as fricot, a dense stew. But her favourite dish is rappie pie, which she describes as “looking like grey paste.”

Rappie (rhymes with ‘poppy’) pie is made from grated potatoes and meat that is rendered into a gelatinous mass and baked for three hours. A liberal dose of lard gives it its crispy brown top.

“Saying it looks like paste is actually too kind,” Vacon said. “But it tastes good, and once you’re used to it, the texture is wonderful. I usually make it with chicken, so it tastes like chicken pot pie.

“It tastes like home.”

Vacon’s research examines the evolving role of food in Acadian culture. Her move to Montreal for her doctorate six years ago provided her inspiration. “Here, I saw how food is implicated more broadly in identity and culture.”

Acadian cuisine is built around staples such as turnips, meat and potatoes. Spicing is kept to a minimum: Only green onions, salt and pepper are used.

Once the Acadians started to establish trade connections, commodities such as sugar, molasses — and of course, rum – flowed in from the Caribbean.

Acadians who returned following the deportations by the English were often relegated to rocky, seaside communities. So, they switched their focus from farming to fishing.

Now that the maritime fishing industry has fallen on hard times, many Acadian communities have turned to tourism as a source of revenue, Vacon said.

“I wanted to know how Acadian culture was being represented. So, I started hanging out in restaurants and talking to the staff - about what they ate, what they thought of the food at the restaurant and learning how it was prepared.

“These dishes remind me of my family and the history of the Acadian people. This is what I would like to share. It’s not all about ingredients: It’s about the hardships we’ve endured and 250 years later, we’re still around.”

Four other Concordia students have been named finalists in the forum. AnneMarie Taravella (Études françaises) and Banan Sadeghian Ramin, Sushil Bhakar and Darissi-Shaneh Alireza (Engineering and Computer Science) will also participate.

The conference takes place at Sherbrooke’s Carrefour de L’Estrie. It’s an unusual locale for academics, but organizers hope it will help them to engage the general public with their ideas. For info, visit the Research Forum's website.