Traditional Metis homes are well known for a pot of soup simmering on the stove, and a pot of tea ot the ready for family and visitors. Oven-baked Bannock was a staple bread and eaten fresh as food did not sit for long in a large Metis family. Extra wild meat was always shared in the community and borrowing of staple food products was a common practice. It is often said that the communal lifestyle of the Metis was disrupted by the introduction of electricity and freezers into the Metis communities. Hoarding of food was unnatural, not practical and unheard of.

Metis soups have survived throughout the centuries. Besides being a time-honoured comfort food for Metis families, Metis soup can heal, and prevent many illnesses by incorporating all kinds of nutritious foods in a single pot. Soup bones, fish, beans, barley, rice, peas, root vegetables, onions, tomatoes, macaroni, are some of the ingredients used in Metis soups and recipes exist only for combinations not measured amounts.

To feed unexpected visitors, the Metis simply added more to the soup pot. The old sayings, "You are what you eat," and "let food be your medicine and medicine your food," will bring to mind the old  Metis soup pot simmering on the stove.>

Traditional food include:

	LA GALLETE	(BANNOCK)
	LES BAIGNE	(FRIED BREAD)
	LA RUBABOO	(METIS SOUP)
	LES BOULETTES	(MEATBALLS)
	LES TORTIERE	(MEAT PIE)
	SOUPE AU POIS	(PEA SOUP)
	POUTINE AU SAC	(STEAMED PUDDING)
	SOUPE AU BIN	(BEAN SOUP)
	LE FLAON	(CUSTARD)
	PEMMICAN

Audreen Hourie
Metis Cultural-Historical Researcher
1997

Metis Resource Centre Inc.

Onto the Recipes!