Are you familiar with creton? If not, you should be. (It’s pronounced cre-toungh or something like that. It’s got that French nasally “oungh” sound at the end). Creton is this fabulously delicious pork spread from Quebec. My French-Canadian boyfriend introduced me to the stuff, but he had no idea the flurry of pork deliciousness he was about to unleash in my kitchen. Creton is almost exclusively available north of the border, so if a roadtrip wasn’t in order, the kitchen was to become my pork-spread haven. Now this might be the point you might be thinking “pork SPREAD?” I understand the hesitance, but I assure it’s delicious with many uses. A common one is my house is on toast or bread. It also makes a great sandwich (think BLT, but with spreadable bacon). Like so many delicious things, it also tastes good on a spoon. Or fingers. Or other people’s fingers (just keep in mind where the creton ends and other people’s fingers begin – a common mistake).

Since I don’t see the point in making delicious foods with un-delicious ingredients, I sourced my pork from local farmers. Traditionally creton is made with ground pork, pork fat, breadcrumbs, milk and added spices (actually, most creton in Canada – especially that from old Canadian grandmothers – is made with MSG. While that’s some tasty stuff, I figured that that wasn’t the health profile I was aiming for. And really, I don’t want to know what health food black-ops reign of terror I was going to bring upon myself if I attempted to buy MSG in Vermont). I read a whole bunch of recipes online and planned my attack. My first few attempts weren’t what I was aiming for (but still well consumed by all involved). Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend said that my creton tasted more like tourtiere (a Quebecois pork and beef pie, that, while delicious, was not creton, and not something I was going to attempt, since Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend’s mother regularly makes him one that he likes very much). I finally decided to stop trying to recreate creton that tastes exactly what I had had in Canada (after all, no MSG on hand) and just aim for making some darn tasty pork spread. And let me tell you, this is some darn tasty pork spread. Instead of mixing ground pork and pork fat, I let someone else take that step and just used raw sausage. You can add more pork fat if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Interestingly, Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend thinks that this tastes more like “authentic” creton than any of the stuff I made before I stopped trying to recreate “authentic” creton. And how fast it disappeared in both our houses might just be testament to how much no one cares about authenticity and how much everyone does care about yummy, yummy piggies on our toast.

 

Bacon Leek Creton

1 bulb garlic
1/2 of the white of a medium-large leek
2 strips bacon
1 tbs butter (or pork fat)
1 lb raw pork sausage (casing removed)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup bread crumbs

1) Mince the garlic, leek and bacon and cook with the butter over medium heat in a medium sauce pan until vegetables are softened.

2) Add the sausage and smash/stir the mixture with the back of a wooden spoon until the sausage is well broken up and cooked.

3) Stir in the milk and breadcrumbs and spread out in the pan. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has cooked out (about 15 minutes). Transfer the creton to a storage container and chill. Serve cold and enjoy!