[Sca-cooks] pate, terrine and rillettes?

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Hi all from Anne-Marie (yes, I'm back resubscribed...did you miss me? ;))

So last weekend we ended up at an AMAZING little French bistro in Eugene
Oregon. No really, they GOT it. The dishes were balanced and lovely and the
type of thing I remember from the little restaurants you stopped at in tiny
towns on your way from hither to yon in France itself. The food was all
local ingredients and well done. Yay!

Anyway, for lunch I had the plate of charcuterie and it was GOOD. Got me
thinking....chopped up inexpensive meat bits, pressed (or not), flavored
with nuts and dried fruit aqnd booze, used to preserve? That's a pretty dang
medieval concept. And I started remembering bits and drabs of recipes that
if you squint your eyes, "chop small and add currents and almonds and an
eryne" could end up a nice pate de campagne...I seem to remember potted
meats in the Elizabethan corpus and even some of the charbonnade or pastez
en pot type things from the 14th and 15th c. French/English sources could be
interpreted this way....

Does anyone remember any other recipes in the medieval and renaissance
corpus that work that way? I'm thinking a nice rillete or pate de campagne
would be just the ticket for lunches at events, served with a baguette,
cornichons and some of my homemade mustard....mmmm.....


Thanks :)

--Anne-Marie