Pâté

A coarse pork terrine pressed under a weight overnight and not eaten until the third day, because it has not finished until then.

Pork, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 700 g pork shoulder, coarsely minced
• 300 g pork liver, chopped
• 250 g pork back fat, diced small
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons brandy
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon quatre épices
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1 egg
• 250 g streaky bacon, thinly sliced, to line
• 2 bay leaves

Method

1. IT IS PRESSED UNDER A WEIGHT OVERNIGHT AND NOT EATEN UNTIL THE THIRD DAY. The pressing closes the gaps the fat leaves as it cools, so it slices instead of crumbling. The three days are not storage advice -- the thing genuinely tastes different: on day one it is salty and flat and the spices sit separately, and by day three they have married and it tastes of one thing. Cut it warm and you will think you did something wrong.
2. A SMALL PATTY IS FRIED AND TASTED BEFORE IT GOES IN THE TIN, and it must be seasoned to taste SALTY while hot. Cold, a terrine tastes markedly less seasoned than it did warm -- fat mutes salt as it sets. Seasoned to perfect when hot, it is bland on day three, and by then there is nothing to be done.
3. THE LIVER IS A THIRD OF THE MEAT AND NO MORE. Liver is what gives a pâté its depth and, past about a third, its bitterness and a faintly metallic finish that takes over everything.
4. IT IS COOKED IN A WATER BATH TO 70C AND NO FURTHER. A thermometer into the middle. Hotter, the fat renders out and leaves it dry and grainy with a layer of grease on top.
5. EVERYTHING STAYS COLD UNTIL IT IS IN THE TIN, as with any forcemeat on this site.
6. Pork shoulder minced coarsely, the liver chopped by hand rather than minced, the back fat diced to 5 mm. All kept very cold.
7. Combined with the shallots, garlic, brandy, wine, salt, pepper, quatre épices, thyme and egg, and mixed thoroughly with cold hands. Covered and chilled 2 hours, or overnight.
8. A SMALL PATTY FRIED AND TASTED. Adjusted until it is assertively salty.
9. A 1 kg loaf tin lined across its width with overlapping bacon slices, hanging over the sides.
10. The mixture packed in firmly, banged down twice on the worktop to settle it, and the surface levelled.
11. The overhanging bacon folded over the top, the bay leaves laid on, and the tin covered tightly with foil.
12. Set in a roasting tin and boiling water poured in to come halfway up. Baked at 160C for 1 hour 30 minutes, until a thermometer in the centre reads 70C.
13. Lifted out, and while still hot a board and a 1 kg WEIGHT set on top. Cooled like that, then into the fridge OVERNIGHT, still weighted.
14. Left two more days before cutting. Served in thick slices with cornichons, mustard and bread. Keeps a week.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under France · All recipes