Natchitoches Meat Pies (Hot-ta-meat)

[Elizabeth Gibbens]

Barry:

There's a Junior League (or other women's
organization--can't recall) cookbook called _Cane
River Cuisine_ which should have a recipe for
Natchitoches meat pies. They are piquant and very
fattening. But of course they taste good.

Let me know if you have trouble finding the cookbook
and I'll copy the recipe for you.

Elizabeth Gibbens


--- Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
> NATCHITOCHES MEAT PIES
>
>    Does DARE have anything on this?  I didn't see it
> under "Natchitoches."
>    Anyone?
>    I realize the OED is on "M," but "N" comes up
> pretty quick.  Also, "meat pies."
>    From the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, 18 July 1965,
> pg. 32:
>
> _Turnover Treats_
> By Craig Claiborne
>    In Chinese cookery, there is fried won ton; in
> Cornwall, there are pasties.  The French feast on
> rissoles; the Latins like empanadas.  And in this
> country, we have turnovers.
>    Two versions of deep-fried meal pastry are given
> here.  One is based on the Chilean empanada.  The
> other comes from the Louisiana town of Natchitoches,
> where peppery turnovers called "hot-ta-meat" pies
> are a specialty.
>    The secret of a properly crisp yet flaky pastry
> covering for meat pies is to roll out the pastry
> almost as thin as possible.  Both these turnovers
> are best served hot, but they also are very good
> cold.
>
>    From
>
www.insideneworleans.com/restaurants/food/recipes/meat_pies.html:
>
>    The Natchitoches meat pie is almost identical to
> the Spanish and Latin American empanada.  It's a pie
> crust dough that's folded over a filling of ground
> meat mixed with savory herbs and pepper, sealed, and
> deep-fried.  They can also be baked, but those lack
> something.
>    Although people in Natchitoches have been making
> meat pies for as long as anyone can remember, it's
> only since Lasyone's opened in 1968 that it's been a
> restaurant item.  Lasyone's is to Natchitoches what
> Galatoire's is to New Orleans.  All the other meat
> pies in town are compared with theirs.
>
>    From BATON ROUGE STATE TIMES, 13 August 1978 (Dow
> Jones):
>
> _Natchitoches meat pies: history unrecorded_
> (...)
>    "The story goes that there were little boys who
> would go up and down Front Street with little carts
> selling meat pies.  And they would holler, 'hotta
> meat pies!'" says Betty Jones, executive director of
> the Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission and
> executive vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce
> in Natchitoches.
>    Although the true origin of the Natchitoches pie
> seems to have vanished with time, Jones says her
> earliest memories of eating the delicacy stems from
> her childhood.
>    She can remember munching on the spicy fried pies
> made by one of the older town matrons, Desiree "Miss
> Dede" Breazeale.
>    Jones says Miss Ded came from one of the first
> pioneer families in Natchitoches and as far back as
> she remembers, Miss Dede always served the pies.
> (...)
>    McCain (president of Natchitoches Louisiana Meat
> Pie Company--ed.) says many different stories
> surround the origin of the meat pie.  "It's really
> hard to tell where it originally came from," he
> says.
>    And although tales are told that the tasty
> turnover originated on the old plantation homes or
> that the first settlers brought it over from
> England, McClain claims that Natchitoches has always
> been known as home of the meat pie. (...)
>
>    Maybe I'll start by checking, as usual, the
> telephone books of the 1930s and 1940s.
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------
> BEEF WELLINGTON (continued)
>
>    I went throught THE VILLAGER (1965-1966) here at
> NYU.  I just read that John Lindsay was elected
> mayor.
>
> 7 October 1965, VILLAGER, pg. 13, col. 1 ad:
> LONDON BRIDGE STEAK HOUSE
> Broiled Blue Ribbon Prime Club Steak $5.00
> Broiled Slice Sirloin Steak $4.25
> English Fish 'N Chips $3.75
> Southern Fried Chicken, Candied Yams & Corn Fritter
> $3.75
>
> 25 November 1965, VILLAGER, pg. 12, col. 1 ad:
> THE ENGLISH PUB
> Shepherds Pie 1.95
> Old Fashioned Beef Stew 1.95
> Steak and Kidney Pie 2.95
> London Broil 2.75
> the Pub's Chopped Sirloin Steak 2.50
> Fish & Chips 1.75
> and Roast Duckling 3.75
>
>    No "Beef Wellington" at these or other
> steakhouses.
>
> (My last posting had some lines repeated, but it
> looks OK in the original.  If anything doesn't make
> sense, it's computer error--ed.)


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