Holiday Reflections: The Legend of the Cape Breton Porkpie

ichannel's Kevin O'Keefe shares the secret of a great Cape Breton holiday delicacy. Read more ichannel holiday reflections here and here. 

Christmas eve on Cape Breton Island means one thing. Porkpies. My mother always made them a few days before the 25^th. You would open up the fridge and there they would be. They always looked so festive; rows and rows of little date tarts. That’s right. Porkpies are not pies at all. They are tarts. And they are not made of pork either. Remember: this is Cape Breton so things are not always as they appear.

I really have no idea why they are called porkpies. I have asked many people over the years. My friend Gwen suspects it is because they look like little porkpie hats. The porkpie hat is light brown on the side and dark brown on top. Just like the date tart porkpie. Of course, this begs the question where do porkpie hats get their name.

To my knowledge the only place on the planet where you can find porkpies is on the Eastern tip of Cape Breton Island. Cape Breton can be found on the most Northern part of Nova Scotia. Lost yet? Don’t worry. It’s a confusing place. For example, my friend Sadia grew up in Saskatchewan and had the good fortune to land a gig at CBC Cape Breton after journalism school. She was at a party once and was offered a porkpie. She politely declined telling her hostess that she doesn’t eat pork. “I’m Muslim”, Sadia said. “Oh there’s no pork in a porkpie”, the hostess exclaimed. Once again Sadia politely declined thinking the woman didn’t understand the Islamic dietary restriction.  Finally a good friend pulled Sadia aside telling her the woman was telling the truth. The filling in porkpies is made of dates. And for the record, the shells are floor, butter and brown sugar, and the icing contains maple extract. All together there are about five ingredients in a porkpie.

Aside from Christmas, porkpies are also eaten at special occasions. For example, when I had the world premiere of a film I co-produced in Cape Breton called, “The Tar Ponds Loonie Give-Away”, we served tray after tray of porkpies at the party. Shout out to my good friend and co-producer K.C. and my sister Susan for making a couple thousand porkpies for the occasion. BTW, they were served with an ice cold Keiths. Porkpies were also featured in the movie. When one of the main characters Lefty, played by yours truly, is seduced by the town vixen Mary Anne, she uses porkpies to win him over.

When I turned 40 I served porkpies at my birthday party and they were a hit. There were many friends there from all over the world and they loved the porkpies. I have always had this dream of opening a porkpie kiosk in the Eaton’s Centre in Toronto. “Why not sell them by the dozen at the mall”, I said to people. “Look what happened with the cinnamon roll. You think the same thing couldn’t happen to the porkpie? I’d live like a king I tell ya.”

I think one of my fondest memories of porkpies happened last year when I was on a plane heading home for Christmas. I had flown from Toronto to Halifax and had just switched flights on route to Cape Breton. I could tell by her accent that the woman sitting next to me had grown up on the island. We quickly struck up a conversation about what part of Cape Breton we were from and, in typical Cape Breton style, tried to figure out if we were related. About 20 minutes after take off the flight attendant came down the isle offering beverages and snacks. The woman sitting next to me pulled out her tupperware  and smiled sweetly saying, “all I need is a cup of tea to go with the porkpies I brought for the trip.” Then she turned and offered me one. Naturally I accepted knowing I was almost home.

Here's Kevin's Cape Breton porkpie recipe:

Kevin O'Keefe co-hosts ichannel's current affairs flagship @issue, Mondays through Saturdays at 8 pm ET/PT.