I learned how to make this from my mother. Being French Canadian this item was always in the house. The first time I made it my wife fell in love with it. We now live in British Columbia and all the French guys I know are always asking when I will make more Creton so they can have a taste of home.
I moved out to Calgary where they've never heard of creton so I'll be making my own. It seems easy enough. I like it spread on toast topped with mustard and old cheddar cheese.
Je suis content de voir que nos recettes québécoises ont traversé la frontière américaine! Les cretons c'est tellement bon sur des toasts pour déjeuner!
I remember making this as a kid decades ago. We didn't use ground pork but pork shoulder braised on the stove which when cooked we would cool it slightly and cut it up into chunks and put through the meat grinder attachment on our stand mixer. (My job.) We didn't use bread, but saltine crackers got ground in as the thickener, then spiced the meat in the bowl and put it up in pound containers. Cretons is the best thing that ever happened to toast.
Love the history lesson along with this. My mother, part of a large Gagne family on the West side, spiced it with cinnamon and cloves. Instead of bread to thicken , her recipe uses saltines but near the end of the simmering. I still make it for my self now.
This recipe is pretty close to my grandmothers. She’d simmer it in milk instead of water and told me to add more milk if it became too much like taco meat. She also used Panko instead of bread. I make it every year for the Grey Cup.
I LOVE that Michelle said gorton and Nathalie said creton. It shows that both ways are acceptable! But one question - where is the mustard? Lol Spread on warm toasted bread with yellow mustard… heaven!
Lol. Thanks Jo-Ann. Funny enough, both Melissa and I are not fans of the mustard. We find that it overpowers the delicate spices of the cretons/gorton. À chacun ses goûts! Thank you for your support. Bonne Année!
Great question! In the episode, we used a white Italian load. I grew up eating it on "wonder bread" toast. Now, I also like it on rye bread. And, it would be delicious on toasted baguette rounds.
*_Creton, when I was young (In the 80s) always came with a 1 inch thick layer of fat or lard; which some people, like my dad, would mix into the creton, while others like me would cut out. Nowadays, all the recipes I find have no layer of fat on it (Even store bought creton seems to have gone fatless). I would like to make that true old style creton with that thick layer of fat because I’d like to offer it as a gift to my dad one last time before he leaves us: Any idea as to how to achieve such a full fat creton?_*
Hi! Yes. I know exactly what you mean. This is just a theory. However, I believe it had to do with how lean the ground pork we find in the grocery store is today. This, again, my opinion only, why creton and tourtière are more dry than when I was a kid. What I've done at times is either a) get a fat cut of pork and adked the butcher to grind it for me. But, not all places will do that. Or, add some lard to the ground pork. That seems to work fairly well and adds a creamy texture as well. Hope this is helpful. Please let me know how it goes. À la prochaine!
Be sure to use whole milk. It will not hurt the recipe if you drown the pork(cover) with milk. It all reduces down in the time needed to simmer it. Can also get a good thickening with store bough bread crumbs. Either way, your dad is sure to love the treat as is. This stuff is like gold in the Franco household.
"To take out of the oven {sth}" se dit en respectant la même structure grammaticale : "sortir du four {qqch}" en France. "Défourner", bien que correct, s’emploie beaucoup moins.
Needs garlic. We had this on saltines or as a side with beans on Saturday night. I don't think my mom put the cinnamon and nutmeg in. If she did, it was scant. I prefer it without those two spices when I make it.
I learned how to make this from my mother. Being French Canadian this item was always in the house. The first time I made it my wife fell in love with it. We now live in British Columbia and all the French guys I know are always asking when I will make more Creton so they can have a taste of home.
Wonderful! The great thing about food is that it's an easy way to share a culture with everyone. Bon appétit!
I moved out to Calgary where they've never heard of creton so I'll be making my own. It seems easy enough. I like it spread on toast topped with mustard and old cheddar cheese.
Glad the recipe will allow you to enjoy this treat in your new home. Bon appétit!
Je suis content de voir que nos recettes québécoises ont traversé la frontière américaine!
Les cretons c'est tellement bon sur des toasts pour déjeuner!
En effet. Déjeuners comme ma mère faisait 😊
Merci! J’ai hâte à faire ça!
Bon appétit!!
I remember making this as a kid decades ago. We didn't use ground pork but pork shoulder braised on the stove which when cooked we would cool it slightly and cut it up into chunks and put through the meat grinder attachment on our stand mixer. (My job.) We didn't use bread, but saltine crackers got ground in as the thickener, then spiced the meat in the bowl and put it up in pound containers. Cretons is the best thing that ever happened to toast.
That sounds great! I do love these types of dishes that can very according to families and regions. 😊
J'adopte votre recette de creton. Classique ! Merci !
Love the history lesson along with this. My mother, part of a large Gagne family on the West side, spiced it with cinnamon and cloves. Instead of bread to thicken , her recipe uses saltines but near the end of the simmering. I still make it for my self now.
Glad you enjoyed the video. And thanks for sharing. I do love the variety of ways used to make these simple dishes.
One of the best ways to eat it too are cretons sandwiches. White bread (untoasted!), yellow mustard and cretons. Such a good lunch!
Thanks for the tips! Honestly, I personally still have trouble with mustard with cretons. But I totally respect it 😉
This recipe is pretty close to my grandmothers. She’d simmer it in milk instead of water and told me to add more milk if it became too much like taco meat. She also used Panko instead of bread. I make it every year for the Grey Cup.
Wow! The Grey Cup! That takes me back! I'll have to try it with Panko. I'd be curious to see the texture difference, if any. Cheers!
Love this cold bread spread. My breakfast is chilling in the refrigerator for tomorrow morning. So many mustard's to decide from.
Bon appétit!!
I grew up on eating this on toast. Soooooo good!
Me too. Made it again for New Year. Bon appétit!!!
I LOVE that Michelle said gorton and Nathalie said creton. It shows that both ways are acceptable! But one question - where is the mustard? Lol Spread on warm toasted bread with yellow mustard… heaven!
Lol. Thanks Jo-Ann. Funny enough, both Melissa and I are not fans of the mustard. We find that it overpowers the delicate spices of the cretons/gorton. À chacun ses goûts! Thank you for your support. Bonne Année!
This looks yummy! Nice video, good video production. It's got such a positive vibe, it's warm and inviting. Good music too.
Grazie David. Glad you enjoyed it. I do love cretons on toast. Delicious!
The bread (or breadcrumbs) makes it more spreadable and more of a pâté consistency.
I can see that. Makes sense. Cheers!
Soft n tasty...
It really is! A lovely spread.
My husband went to the butcher’s there was no creton. I have ground pork. I am trying this recipe now. Thanks 😊
Awesome! Once you make your own, you'll have trouble with buying again 😉. Let me know how they turn out!
this was my breakfast this morning...I eat mine with mustard and a side of pickles
Are you from New England? Mustard on cretons seems very common in NE. I'd never heard of it before. 😊 Thanks for watching!
So excited to try and make this at home. I can't find it anywhere store bought here!
Please share how it turned out!
If you send a picture, I'll share on our Instagram
Email: francofoods@facnh.com
A favorite chez Mémère! I have her hand-written recipe. She didn’t add bread, but the rest is all the same.
Sounds great! It is one of the wonderful thing with these recipes... so many variations. Love it. Bon appétit!
I was taught this way too, everything except the bread. I’ve also never heard of putting mustard on it.
Watching a video which is straight up French Canadian………. and digging the bagpipe music in the background👍🏾🇮🇪☘️☘️☘️
Glad your digging the vibes! Hope you enjoy our other videos. À la prochaine!
What bread would you use for buttered toast that compliments creton?
Great question! In the episode, we used a white Italian load. I grew up eating it on "wonder bread" toast. Now, I also like it on rye bread. And, it would be delicious on toasted baguette rounds.
We always used just plain white bread.
*_Creton, when I was young (In the 80s) always came with a 1 inch thick layer of fat or lard; which some people, like my dad, would mix into the creton, while others like me would cut out. Nowadays, all the recipes I find have no layer of fat on it (Even store bought creton seems to have gone fatless). I would like to make that true old style creton with that thick layer of fat because I’d like to offer it as a gift to my dad one last time before he leaves us: Any idea as to how to achieve such a full fat creton?_*
Hi! Yes. I know exactly what you mean. This is just a theory. However, I believe it had to do with how lean the ground pork we find in the grocery store is today. This, again, my opinion only, why creton and tourtière are more dry than when I was a kid.
What I've done at times is either a) get a fat cut of pork and adked the butcher to grind it for me. But, not all places will do that. Or, add some lard to the ground pork. That seems to work fairly well and adds a creamy texture as well.
Hope this is helpful. Please let me know how it goes.
À la prochaine!
Be sure to use whole milk. It will not hurt the recipe if you drown the pork(cover) with milk. It all reduces down in the time needed to simmer it. Can also get a good thickening with store bough bread crumbs. Either way, your dad is sure to love the treat as is. This stuff is like gold in the Franco household.
The vocabulary section mentions cinnamon, but I don’t see that the recipe uses cinnamon? Can’t wait to try to cook creton!
Good catch! Not all vocab is in the episode. I try to keep it to 4 or 5 terms, so try to find words that are somewhat related... if that makes sense.
We’ve always used allspice
"To take out of the oven {sth}" se dit en respectant la même structure grammaticale : "sortir du four {qqch}" en France. "Défourner", bien que correct, s’emploie beaucoup moins.
Je suis tout à fait d'accord. Mais je voulais apprendre un nouveau mot aux spectateurs 😉
Needs garlic. We had this on saltines or as a side with beans on Saturday night. I don't think my mom put the cinnamon and nutmeg in. If she did, it was scant. I prefer it without those two spices when I make it.
This is what is nice about these types of recipes; adaptable to every taste! Bon appétit!
I love garlic, but mais non pour gorton!
The bread thickens it.
Absolutely! Thanks for your response.