Steak, blé d’Inde, patate. Ground beef, corn, and mashed potatoes. These are the three key ingredients you need to make Chinese pie, or pâté chinois — a hearty and humble layered casserole.

Now, pâté chinois might sound and look a lot like your average shepherd’s or cottage pie that’s so popular in the United Kingdom, but don’t let appearances fool you. French Canadians will tell you pâté chinois isn’t British at all. In fact, it’s the unofficial national dish of Quebec — a traditional dish so beloved in French Canadian and Franco-American home cooking that it has inspired poetry, books, and even TV shows.

WBUR producer Amanda Beland grew up eating pâté chinois in New England with her French Canadian family. And when she got curious about her roots, and its origins, she soon realized that despite its fame and ubiquity, no one seems to know exactly where Chinese pie does come from, let alone how it got that name. And those questions began to eat at her.

In this episode, Beland searches out historians, culinary experts, and her own family members to help solve the mystery of pâté chinois. And Beland reveals an intriguing theory that connects this unique dish to New…