Acadian
Pâté Râpé (Rappie Pie) — 1938 Version
Layered Mashed Potato & Chicken Bake
Aida Boyer McAnn — The New Brunswick Cook Book (1938)One of the most distinctive dishes of Acadian cuisine — a layered bake of well-seasoned mashed potatoes, half-cooked chicken, and onions, finished with a potato topping and baked until tender. The 1938 version appeared only in French in the original cookbook, a reminder that Acadian culinary knowledge lived primarily in the French language.
Ingredients
- Chicken, partially pre-cooked and cut into pieces (half-cooked — poached or par-boiled)
- Onions, sliced (quantity as desired)
- Mashed potatoes, well seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter (enough for multiple layers plus a topping)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Partially cook the chicken — poach or simmer in seasoned water until about half done. Remove and cut or shred into pieces. Slice the onions.
- Prepare a generous quantity of well-seasoned mashed potato (seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter).
- Grease a deep baking dish (terrine).
- Build the dish in alternating layers: a layer of seasoned mashed potato, then a layer of half-cooked chicken pieces and sliced onions. Repeat the layers as the dish allows.
- Finish with a top layer of mashed potato, spread smoothly to cover.
- Bake at 350°F until the top is golden and the dish is heated through and tender — approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Serve hot, cut into portions directly from the baking dish.
✦ Kitchen Notes
- A note on naming: "PATE RAPE" is the 1938 spelling. The modern Rappie Pie of Nova Scotia's Clare region uses a more complex technique (replacing extracted potato liquid with meat broth). This 1938 version is a simpler layered casserole — both are authentic expressions of the same dish at different points in its evolution.
- French only — intentionally. This recipe was published only in French in 1938, likely because Pâté Râpé was still considered strictly Acadian knowledge, not yet crossed into English-speaking kitchens.
- The mashed potato must be well seasoned — the original insists on "bien assaisonnée." Be generous with salt, pepper, and butter.
- A community dish. Church suppers and family feasts in Acadian New Brunswick have served versions of this dish for generations.