[Sca-cooks] pate

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Would this really apply though? I thought pates were always very
> finely ground, a paste. Whereas the meatloaf I've had was coarser,
> like crumbled hamburger although smushed together. Also meatloaf
> has something in it like bread crumbs, right? Does pate?
>
> I guess I'm just not too fond of finely ground, mashed things like
> pate. I've never called for bologna, or those canned meat spreads
> either. But I've found some bologna which is much coarser ground, like
> salami, which I really do like. Portugese(?), Lebonese(?) bologna?

Okay, here we go, pate 101.

In the beginning was the pie, or, in French, the pate. The name refers
to the pastry case, as in, pate de foie gras, which is a particular type
of fattened, almost cirrhotic, goose liver, encased in a pastry and
served in slices.

You'll also find recipes in sources like le Menagier (or is it
Taillevent?) for pies cooked in a pot, without pastry. Sometimes these
are referred to as pies (or rather, pates) anyway, and sometimes they
are referred to by their containers, as with terrines.

An offshoot of the terrine, normally a sort of meatloaf-y, sliceable
food (but often made with fancy additions and garnishes like truffles,
pistacchios, cognac, etc.)  is the baked mousse, which is a pate in a
terrine baked with stuff like whipped cream and/or eggs to lighten the
texture. An even more modern concept would be a mousse made without the
baking, in which the cream, or whatever, is added to the finely ground
liver, salmon, or whatever it may be, shortly after it is cooked, and it
is then packed into a terrine or other pot to cool for service.

Anyway, the kinds of pates that you spread on crackers or bread tend to
be either mousses or terrines or actual pates involving foie gras, which
has a rather buttery texture, both before and after cooking, so it is
easily spread. Yes, they are pates, but in some cases rather distantly
related to the mainstream concept. If you go to a fine French
charcuterie and ask for pate, what you'll most likely get is pate de
campagne, a sort of pork-and-pork-liver meatloaf with perhaps some
mushrooms and herbs, maybe a shot of booze. You'd then eat it in slices
on bread, probably as little open-faced sandwiches or canapes, or
perhaps simply sliced on a plate with bread on the side, and perhaps
garnished with tiny cornichons, capers and such.

Hmmm. Pork terrine with blanched walnuts and malt whisky...

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com