With Acadians coming to N.S. by the thousands, rappie pie is a hot commodity

Yvonne Comeau Fink of Tewksbury, Mass., was at a medical appointment recently when the receptionist asked her a question that wasn't related to health.

Knowing of Comeau Fink's Acadian roots — her parents were Comeaus who at one point lived in Comeauville, N.S. — and her regular trips to Nova Scotia, the French-Canadian receptionist wondered if Comeau Fink could bring back some rappie pie blocks on her next trip.

"I'm like, sure. I help supply them down here to … friends and family who can't get them," said Comeau Fink.

Comeau Fink is coming to the province for the World Acadian Congress. The nine-day gathering kicks off Saturday in southwestern Nova Scotia and rappie pie will be a key part of the celebrations.

One of the companies that makes rappie pie has ramped up production to deal with an expected surge in demand as people flock to Nova Scotia for the congress.

The staple Acadian dish is made of broth, grated potatoes that have had the moisture removed from them, onions and a protein. It is usually chicken, although some versions even use clams or corned beef.

But they are hard work to make from scratch because you have to peel and grate the potatoes, and then use a cheesecloth bag to remove the moisture and starch from the potatoes.

Comeau Fink, 72, fondly remembers making rappie pie with her grandparents when she was a kid, and the pain that could come with it.

"I can remember actually grating them on the old-fashioned grater where you would scrape your knuckles," she said.

This is where the potato blocks come in. They are pre-grated and have had the moisture sucked out of them, helping to speed up the process.

On her trips to Nova Scotia, Comeau Fink fills a couple of coolers with pre-made rappie pies and the blocks. She keeps some for herself and then sells the rest to her friends and family at cost. It is not an unusual practice in the Massachusetts area for people with Acadian roots.

Dan d'Eon, the co-owner of D'Eon's Bakery, which is mostly a rappie pie business today, said they've been busy fielding calls from people wanting to make sure they don't leave Nova Scotia empty-handed.

The Pubnico-based company was started in 1927 by d'Eon's great-grandfather. It focused on selling baked goods in its early days, but a request from a community member in the 1980s to make rappie pie changed the company's trajectory.

"And through the years, it became our bread and butter to the point where we currently no longer make breads and cookies … we are mainly a rappie pie manufacturer," said d'Eon.

To make the blocks, the company follows the same steps as people at home would, except they do it with commercial-grade equipment and take advantage of one other major time saver. Rather than sucking the moisture out of the potato by hand using a cheesecloth bag, they put the grated potatoes in a clothes washer and run a spin cycle.

The company's products are available at most grocery stores in mainland Nova Scotia, but they don't export outside of the province, which leads people like Comeau Fink to fill up coolers with rappie pies.

D'Eon said he's proud of the role his company plays in helping Acadian traditions continue.

"It always is heartwarming to see that, you know, that we're contributing to that connection to home and to the Acadian culture," he said.