It's time for the final preparations for the holiday season, and it's impossible to think of New Year's Eve in Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean without thinking of the famous Tourtière. We know it's extremely popular and demand has exploded this year.
It smells like the holidays in the butcher shop Raymond et André, which is overwhelmed with orders. An increase of around 30% compared to previous years.
“Years ago we managed to be self-sufficient with just one day. There we produced only tourtière for at least two evenings to meet demand, and still I couldn't accept reservations for December 24th for two or three days,” admitted owner Sylvain Gauthier.
More than 15 to 20 people still call every day to order the cake, and more and more people from the area want their share. The owner of the butcher shop has so far sent loads of Tourtière by bus three times to Sherbrooke, Sainte-Tite-des-Caps, Longueuil and Boucherville.
There's still so much to do that the owner has pitched in for the first time in his 25-year career, helping his team make small meat pies and pies.
“We start preparing the small meat pies and the pies in October, because the small frozen meat pies cost me 5,000. Then we still continue production during the week, we freeze the pies in advance,” he said.
On the largest preparation days, up to 200 cakes per day can easily be baked.
“You can easily do a hundred in five hours. There are currently two to three people baking cakes during the day to meet demand for the 24th. My staff came in at 5:30 this morning. On the 23rd and 24th they often arrive at 4am,” the owner admitted.
Record year
The Raymond et André Boucherie has existed for 50 years. She has always made tourtière, but the owner admits that requests are skyrocketing. So much so that it is guaranteed to be a record year.
“We call it a cake year! I'm sure I'll break a record this year. “It is certain that next year we will either start earlier or I will add an additional team for cake preparation,” he added.
Even though Raymond et André Boucherie is no longer taking new orders, a few lucky people might be able to enjoy a piping hot cake on New Year's Eve morning.