Top Stories » Expert Columns » Profiles & Trends

An argument could be made that pates were one of our earliest fast foods. Not that they are fast to make -- quite the contrary. A really good pate takes hours or days to prepare properly. No, fast food in this context refers to the convenience of having pate in the refrigerator, ensuring a quick and tasty meal, impromptu entertaining, a spur-of-the-moment picnic, or a late-night supper, all without having to turn on the stove.

Over 30 years ago, James Beard addressed the issue of pate, probably in an attempt to help Americans over their xenophobic attitudes towards foreign foods, especially when those foods involve ground-up meat. He said that after all, pate is really nothing more than meatloaf. It must have worked because pates have become a fixture in delicatessens and in-store deli departments across our country. Even restaurants, at least ones aspiring to the traditions of French bistros, offer pate on their menus. Of course, saying that meatloaf and pate are the same because they are both made from ground meat that is then baked is a little like saying that Ford Pintos and BMWs are the same because they are both cars after all. Apples and oranges. In any case, pate, in all its various guises, is a wonderful food that Americans don’t yet fully understand or appreciate. They’re learning though, and several outstanding producers in this country are making examples of pate that would make any European swoon with delight.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds . . .
The word pate is a version of the French term for pastry or dough (pate, or paste), and in this case, refers specifically to a kind of pie or pastry case. Originally, back in medieval times, it would have referred to basically anything baked inside a pastry crust, including twenty-four blackbirds, that could then be sliced off either hot or cold. It was a means of preservation at its most basic. In those days of primitive culinary endeavors, aside from roasts, pretty much anything worth eating was wrapped in a pastry case. At fancy court dinners, it was common practice to mark the various pates by placing the head on the top crust. In other words, a partridge pie would have a partridge head atop so everyone would know what was inside, for once the mixture was wrapped in pastry, even the chef wouldn’t know which was which. Today, as a nod to tradition, some French porcelain makers create ceramic terrines intended for making pates that are made to look like a classic pate en croûte, complete with the head on top. They are quite beautiful and some have become collector’s items. The aforementioned nursery rhyme is based too on actual events. As part of the entertainment, sometimes live birds were put under a crust so, much to the surprise and delight of those in attendance, the pie would be opened to a bevy of cheeping birds, a practice known as ‘subtleties’ or ‘conceits.’
Eventually, the term evolved to mean not just the whole pie as a unit but the contents of the pie as well. These kinds of pies, or pates, were common in other European countries, too but, as in so many things culinary, the French terminology and techniques have come to be the default nomenclature. Another French term, terrine, has also come to dominate as well as cause confusion among consumers. A terrine is both a pate-like loaf -- made from meat, seafood, or vegetables and sliced to serve either hot or cold -- and the vessel in which it is made. Terrine is from the Latin,
or earth, and refers specifically to an earthenware vessel. Most pates one encounters today are actually terrines and a pate that is wrapped in pastry is now referred to as pate en croûte, a term that would have been redundant to the early practitioners of the craft, akin to saying ‘pizza pie’ (pizza means pie). It is appropriate today to call any pate that is not encased in pastry either pate or terrine -- the two are interchangeable unless it takes a different form from a standard loaf shape, which they rarely do. At the same time, pate en croûte has become an acceptable way to delineate between the various forms.
Pate started out as a rustic peasant dish that was generally disdained by the upper crust of society, and didn’t really come into common use or appear in cookbooks until late in the nineteenth century. Mixing ground meat, spices, and in most cases, brandy or some other alcoholic liquid, and then slow cooking the whole concoction in a terrine certainly helps preserve the meat inside, a very popular idea before refrigeration. The mixture is portable, versatile, quick to serve, highly nutritious, and best of all, delicious. The various other seasonings would, at the time, have also helped mask the rancid taste of less-than-fresh meat. These meat pies were quite common and helped feed the masses, both urban and rural. Today, of course, they can be made from beef, pork, lamb, duck, goose, pheasant, or just about any meat or fowl source you can think of, as well as all manner of fish and seafood and vegetables. Terrines are also often laid out in layers to create a lovely pattern when they are sliced open. When combined with a salad, crusty bread, and a glass of wine, they become fast, easy, and highly satisfying meals. As I said, one of the earliest fast foods.
Today, one of the most common forms of pate is as a long, rectangular terrine typically wrapped in caul, the edible, web-like fatty membrane that envelops an animal’s intestine. When it is roasted, the pate is left with a lovely, nicely browned lacy texture on the surface. Not all producers use caul, however, and you would never, for example, use it on a mousse terrine nor on vegetarian versions for obvious reasons. In that regard, mousse terrines are very popular today and considered by many to be the height of the pate-maker’s art. Great care is taken in their appearance -- they’re often topped with a protective layer of aspic, and are often decorated with cut vegetables or truffles to complete the picture. Mousse translates as foam or froth, an important distinction in the texture and appearance of pates. They are generally made from livers -- either duck, goose, or chicken -- mixed with wine or spirits, spices, and quite often truffles. This type of pate is very rich and elegant, although one needn’t wait for an elegant occasion to serve them. Conversely, by serving them, you can turn any occasion into an elegant one.
One of the most popular and most common types of pate is known as pate de campagna, or country-style pate. Once the specialty of Brittany, the region in France on the Atlantic coast, it is made with pork, onions, and spices, no doubt using their sterling sea salt and some of the neighboring region’s Calvados. Today, of course, this type is made everywhere, and is among the most common selections. Again, it can be made from virtually anything, but pork is still most common. Although care is taken with the overall appearance here, too, this type is intended to look rustic. Generally, the meat is not ground very fine, certainly not as fine as a mousse, and the meat flavor is dominant.

Mixing it Up
Besides being extremely easy to sample out to customers, pates can also encourage add-on sales of foods that accompany it so well. In addition to bread or crackers to serve it on (especially useful with mousses), the two best and classic accompaniments that spring to mind are olives and cornichons, those tart little gerkin pickles whose name derives from their appearance, that of ‘little horns.’ Other foods that go extremely well with pate are mustards; chutneys; cheeses; cured meats, such as salami, prosciutto, and bresaola; smoked fish and seafood; all sorts of antipasto; and just about any kind of pickled vegetables. By grouping these ingredients around your pate selection, either in the case or at a demo, you will inspire sales beyond the pate itself, plus you will illustrate how pates can constitute a quick and easy meal.
Whenever possible, display your selection of terrines with a slice taken off the front end to enable shoppers to see what the texture and color is like inside. Offer tastes to anyone interested and always recommend side dishes and ingredients. Some pates are best shown out of their terrines, especially the heartier pate de campagna variety. If that is the case, display them on pretty pieces of marble or granite. These surfaces are easy to find in the size pieces you would need for a display case, are easy to clean and sanitary, and will accent the terrines beautifully, showing them off in their best light. Also be sure to offer, either verbally or in signage, serving suggestions. In France or England, a few slices of pate would be almost the first thing someone would think of for a picnic, a simple supper, or any type of outdoor event. Americans don’t always think that way however, and so suggestions in that order need to be given. There are several outstanding producers of pate in this country, on both the East and West Coasts, and in Canada, making the procuring of pate as simple as, well, pie.