Hello Helen Arceneaux,
Thank you for reaching out to Ask an Islander.
Something tells me we’re long-lost cousins since our last names came from a common name and diverged into different spellings over the years and over varying territories! We’re very glad you’re coming to PEI to retrace your Acadian roots, including Acadian cuisine. Before we get into that, I’d like to recommend three mandatory stops where you can find some of the interesting history of our ancestors and where you can find modern-day Acadians living their modern culture with traditional influences.
At the Acadian Museum of PEI in Miscouche, you’ll find out all about the establishment, deportation and re-establishment of Acadians on PEI. You’ll see how our people evolved over the years and went from a somewhat hidden minority to a thriving people involved in every sphere of life. At the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico and Doucet House Museums in Rustico, you’ll discover how the people of that North shore community banded together, under the guidance of Father Georges-Antoine Belcourt, to develop a co-operative credit union-type bank, which helped the residents survive incredibly hard times in the late 1800s. And next, to discover modern yet traditional Acadian music, theatre, art, handcrafts and meals, you have to visit the Village musical acadien in Abram-Village.
So this brings us to Acadian cuisine, which you can try out at this last location since it’s restaurant, La Trappe, specializes in traditional local fare: râpure, pâté and fricot (as well as seafood – lobster in particular).
You’ll notice I made no mention of rappie pie. That’s because that’s essentially a word from our neighboring province of Nova Scotia that we don’t use. Our recipe is also quite different. They also make it either with chicken, pork or even bar clams. Our version is called « râpure » and is fully cooked. It’s made of grated potatoes, onions, bits of pork, salt, pepper and other seasonings.
Fricot is essentially a stew made either with chicken, bar clams or baby clams. Pâté is a local traditional meatpie that was once a Christmas time treat, but is now served year-round. It has become so popular that there’s an entire provincial festival celebrating it. Cooks gather to show off their meatpie in regional competitions. The top entries then move on to the provincial competition, where an overall winner is chosen in the traditional division and the modern division. The Farmers’ Bank of Rustico hosts this provincial Festival.
Be forewarned : Back when these recipes were invented a couple of centuries ago, we did not have access to many spices and we had to make do with whatever we could grow or buy at the local market (which wasn’t much). So, in comparison to Cajun food, our food may not be as tasty or hot.
We hope you’ll have an awesome time on PEI! Enjoy!
Raymond J. Arsenault
