Flipper pie, also known as seal flipper pie, is a traditional Eastern Canadian
meat pie
A meat pie is a pie baked with pastry with a filling of meat and often other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide.
Meat pies are usually baked, Frying, fried, or deep-fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the ...
made from
harp seal
The harp seal (''Pagophilus groenlandicus''), also known as the saddleback seal or Greenland seal, is a species of earless seal, or true seal, native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean. Originally in the genus '' Phoca'' with a ...
flippers.
It is similar to a
pot pie
A pot pie or potpie is a type of savory pie, usually a meat pie, covered by a pie crust consisting of flaky pastry. Pot pies may be made with a variety of fillings including poultry, beef, seafood or plant-based meat substitute fillings, and ...
in that the seal flippers are cooked with vegetables in a thick sauce and then covered with pastry.
It is specific to the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
and primarily eaten in April and May, during the annual
seal hunt
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of Pinniped, seals. Seal hunting is currently practiced in nine countries: Canada, Denmark (in self-governing Greenland only), Russia, the United States (above the Arctic Circle ...
.
Although in the past, seal flippers were usually acquired directly from the boats that were used for the seal hunt (since they were considered a by-product of the seal fur trade), today they are usually purchased in grocery stores. Seal meat has been described as tasting like rabbit or dark meat chicken, and fans of its flavor tend to be people who grew up eating it.
History
Flipper pie has been prepared and eaten during Lent and the annual seal hunt since at least 1555.
See also
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Seal meat
Seal meat is the flesh, including the blubber and organs, of Pinniped, seals used as food for humans or other animals. It is prepared in numerous ways, often being hung and dried before consumption. Historically, it has been eaten in many parts of ...
*
Cuisine of Canada
References
Cuisine of Newfoundland and Labrador
Savoury pies
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