Rappie Pie (Acadian Râpure)

Rappie pie is a traditional Acadian dish from southwest Nova Scotia and areas of Prince Edward Island. It is sometimes referred to as "rapure pie" or "râpure". Its name is derived from the French "patates râpées" meaning "grated potatoes". It is a casserole-like dish traditionally formed by grating potatoes, then squeezing them through cheesecloth. This removes some of the water from the potato solids. The liquid removed is replaced by adding hot broth made from chicken, pork or seafood along with meat and onions, and layering additional grated potatoes over the top. The pie was made with any protein available at the time from clams, corned beef, rabbit and the most popular chicken. Then baking the whole concoction until everything was done and there was a delicious hard crust of baked potatoes on top. This was then served with a little butter, some people liked molasses and/or hot sauce.

It is thought that rappie pie has its origins in the Acadian Expulsion, among Acadians who lived out their exile in Massachusetts. This opportunity to meet and interact with other immigrant groups would naturally encourage a sharing of cultural recipes. It may have been German or Swiss immigrants who taught the Acadians their technique for using grated potatoes in their recipes, but whoever it was, this proved to be an important tip for those that returned to Nova Scotia when the expulsion was lifted. When they returned, they found that their fertile land had been given to New Englanders lured north by the promise of farmland. The harsh, rocky land that remained was excellent for growing potatoes, if little else, so the Acadians used them to fill out dishes made with what game was available.

Traditionally, this was a labour intensive dish because of the way the potatoes were prepared. Depending on the number of people coming over for Saturday night, or a holiday supper, 10-50 lbs of potatoes were peeled, washed, grated (by hand) and squeezed through a cheese cloth until all that was left was a dry potato pulp. The basis for the Rappie pie. Usually one section of cooks did the potatoes, another the chickens and stock, and then there was the overseer. The person who knew the recipe like the back of her hand. She would assemble the final dish, and place it in the oven for 3-5 hours. Never checking on it until the last 30 minutes. Knowing instinctively that the brown crusted goodness in that oven was going to make alot of people very happy.

The most important step of preparing this pie is to precisely measure the extracted potato liquid with the exact equivalent in broth.

Chicken:
2-3 lbs chicken (thighs are the best)
2 medium onions, quartered
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

Rappie Pie:
5 lbs potatoes, peeled and washed
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 L chicken stock
¼-½ lb salt pork, diced into 1" cubes (2 Tbsp. rendered)
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

For the Chicken:
In a large stockpot, place chicken, quartered onions, 1 carrot, celery and salt. Add water until ingredients are just covered. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and skim off any impurities that rise to the surface. Simmer 2½ hours or until meat is tender. When done, remove skin and bones from chicken and cut meat into pieces. Strain stock, discard vegetables and reserve liquid.

For the Potatoes:
Using a juicer, you can breeze through the potatoes and have an exact amount of liquid removed from the spuds. this is important because you will be putting the liquid back into the potatoes in the form of hot chicken stock.

Measure the liquid extracted, less the potato starch. In this recipe it was 1.25 L.

Cover the potato pulp with plastic wrap until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, Gas Mark 4).

Chop the onion and put in a pot with 1.25 L of unsalted chicken stock, bring to a boil. Allow this to boil until the onions are tender, 10-15 minutes.

Render your salt pork down to produce about 2 Tbsp. of fat while onions and stock are boiling.

Once your onions are tender, in a large mixing bowl add the boiling liquid to the potato pulp a few ladles at at time until everything is incorporated.

For the Rappie Pie:
In a 4" deep baking dish (9x12) add the salt pork fat to the bottom to cover. For tradition sake, add 1 cube of salt pork to the middle of the pan, discard the others.

Then add about 1" of the potatoes. Next put your chicken in a layer over the potatoes. Cover with your remaining potato mixture.

Bake until the top crust is golden brown and crispy. This should take from 3-4 hours.

Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes.

Serve on a plate with some micro greens, a pat of butter and a little salt and pepper, or traditionally with molasses and hot sauce.

Makes 4 servings.