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Cretons: A French-Canadian Pork Pâté (Potted Meat)
Cretons is a French-Canadian pork pâté and is sometimes known as “Gorton” around New England. This mildly spiced pork pâté spread is popular in Quebec and areas of New England dense in French-Canadians.
When I originally set out to start the blog and capture my family recipes, I knew this recipe would be among the first ones that I wanted to create since it’s one recipe my father has really wanted for a long time.
My grandmother made this recipe often but had never written anything down. It’s a typical “back pocket” recipe, one the cook knows without needing the recipe, that differs from family to family based on flavors and tastes and is passed down through the generations without much thought or consideration.
One day when I was in college, I dropped by my Grandmother’s house unannounced. She was simmering cretons on the back burner of the stove for my Grandpa John. So I started asking her what was in the pot.
She told me that generally, she topped hers with a layer of fat across the finished product to seal in the flavor and that my Grandpa liked it on a slice of toast for breakfast or lunch.
She said that this is a recipe that her mother always made and was passed down from my great-grandmother so this is something that is been in my family now for at least five generations, if not more.
I have modified this recipe to take out some of the fat but it is still not health food by any stretch of the imagination. No two families have the same recipe for Creton and the flavors are easily altered with the addition or omission of certain spices to make a flavor all your own.
Need some other quick appetizers? Check these out:
Cretons: A French-Canadian Pork Pâté (Potted Meat)
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Prep Time: 5 minutes - Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 pound
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: French
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Pin RecipeDescription
Cretons is a French-Canadian pork pâté and is sometimes known as “Gorton” around New England. This mildly spiced pork paté spread is popular in Quebec and areas of New England dense in French-Canadians.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 cups chicken or beef stock, milk, OR water
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
Instructions
- Place a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
- When pan is hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil and gently fry the ground pork until cooked through. While the pork cooks, use a fork to keep crumbling it.
- Add the onion, garlic, spices, salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and garlic are soft and translucent.
- Lower the heat to a low simmer and continue to cook for about an hour.
- If mixture starts to dry out add beef stock or water to keep it at a very-thick-sauce consistency. Add bread crumbs and mix to combine.
- Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.
- If needed add beef stock or water so the mixture seems just spreadable.
- Either with an immersion (stick) blender (affiliate link) or food processor (affiliate link), grind until fine and granular but not pasty.
- Place the mixture into a glass or ceramic container and seal with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours to overnight for best results. Serve with crostini or toast points.
Notes
Serve on crackers as a snack, crostini for a great appetizer, toast points for a hearty breakfast or with mustard as a sandwich for lunch. This also would make a great camping food since it is so versatile. Prepared ahead of time, it would make a lovely addition to the other chilled foods in your cooler.
Keywords: Cretons: A French-Canadian Pork Pâté (Potted Meat), appetizer, easy, Canadian, French potted meat, PArty food, Pork butt, Pork sausage, ground pork, Recipes, Pork pate,
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Just like my meme makes. This is perfect
★★★★★
Hi, i’m from Montreal Quebec yes, cretons is from here, along with “pouding chômeur “ ( a delicious warm cake in sauce ) “ poutine , and our sugar pie “.
That “ creton “ recipe sounds right.
Thanks, Johanne. I’m glad to get a nod to my grnadma’s recipe.
My grandmother always made this and I’ve been trying to find her recipe and this is so close!!
★★★★
In Quebec it’s made very different staring with milk.
Thanks Norma, I do remember my grandma sometimes using milk. I’m sure each family has a combination of spices they enjoy.
I’ve been looking for this recipe for what seems like forever! Thanks so much.
Thanks, Gayle. So glad I could help.