Natchitoches Hot Meat Pie (1958)

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NATCHOTOCHES:
THE UP-TO-DATE OLDEST TOWN IN LOUISIANA
Germaine Portre Bobinski
Clara Mildred Smith
Dameron-Pierson Co., Ltd., New Orleans, 1936

(Ad at end of book--no page number--ed.)

   WINN'S
Sandwich Shop
Open All Night

Where you get those good
Hamburgers and Meat Pies
French Dripped Coffee
   C. J. WINN

--------------------------------------------------------
NATCHITOCHES:
OLDEST SETTLEMENT IN THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
FOUNDED 1714
Published by The Association of Natchitoches Women
for the
Preservation of Historic Natchitoches
Printed by the Natchitoches Times
1958

Pg. 7:
   Natchitoches (pronounced "NAK-uh-tush")...

Pg. 22:
   ...the station for the Railroad, better known as "The Doodle."

Pg. 25:
   _The Natchitoches Hot Meat Pie_
(Photo-ed.)
   Shaped like a half-circle, its edges delicately fluted and crimped with
the tines of a fork the Natchitoches meat pie, sizzling hot and spicy with
seasoning, is a dish very popular with visitors.
   _Recipe For Filling_
2 tablespoonfuls of flour
1 tablespoonful shortening
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
2 large dry onions, chopped
6 green onions chopped
3 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley
   Make a roux of shortening and flur; add other ingredients and salt and
pepper to taste.  Cook thoroughly and let cool before placing in dough.
   _Recipe for Pastry_
4 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted shortening
milk
2 teaspoonful baking powder
   Sift flour and baking powder, add lard, then eggs.  Add enough (Col.
2--ed) milk to make a stiff dough.  Roll very thin.
   Use a saucer to cut circles of dough same size as saucer.  Fill half full
with meat mixture.  Fold dough over, dampen edges with water and crimp with
fork.
   Fry in deep fat until golden brown.
   Makes eighteen pies.
(Note:  Some people prefer to reverse the proportions of beef and pork.  Do
not use oil as the pastry will fall apart.  Some prefer to bake the pies.)
   *     *     *
   (A delightful custom that has but recently disappeared is that of several
Negro Mammies who every day during the cold weather made up batches of these
tasty items and sent them down to the business section well wrapped in
newspapers, for the late afternoon snacks.  One recalls the chanted street
cries of the little colored boys as they advertised their wares:
"Hott-ta-meat-pies.  R-e-d-d-d hot.  Hot-ta-meat pies.  R-e-d-d-d hot!")

Pg. 30:
   ..."FWC" or "Free Woman of Color."

(I have "FMC" or "Free Man of Color," also from Louisiana, from the late
1830s.  The "OK" editor of the Boston Morning Post didn't know what "FMC"
meant and was chastised--ed.)