Pâté

Pâté (French pronunciation: [pɑte]; RP pronunciation: [ˈpæteɪ]; General American pronunciation [pɑˈteɪ]). "Pâté" is a French word which means a mixture of minced meat and fat. Pâté is a form of spreadable paste, usually made from meat (although vegetarian variants exist), and often served with toast or as an appetizer.

It is generally made from finely ground or chunky mixture of meats and liver, and often with additional fat, vegetables, herbs, spices or wine.

In French or Belgian cuisine, pâté may be baked in a crust as pie or loaf, in which case it is called pâté en croûte or baked in a terrine (or other mold), in which case it is known as pâté en terrine. Traditionally, a forcemeat mixture cooked and served in a terrine is called a terrine. The most famous pâté is probably pâté de foie gras, made from the fattened livers of geese., Foie gras entier is plain goose liver cooked and sliced, not made into pâté. In Holland, Finnland, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Austria, some liver pâtés are shaped as a soft, often spreadeble sausage, called leverworst (Dutch) or Leberwurst (German). In the United States these are sometimes called "liverwurst" (mixing English and German), or Braunschweiger. Some liverwurst can be sliced. In the US, sliced liverwurst is used as a sandwich filler. Others are spreadable as most French or Belgian pâté; these types are more popular in England.

In Scandinavia, leverpostej is a baked pâté similar to the French pâté en terrine, usually made of pork meat and liver. According to Danish opinion, it is the most popular cold cut in Danmark.

In Russia and Ukraine, the dish is mostly prepared with liver and thus is commonly known as печеночный паштет (Russian, pechonachniy pashtet), however other meats also can be used. Unlike the Western European method the liver is first boiled and mixed with butter and/or fat and seasoning, such as fresh or fried onion, spices and herbs. It can be further cooked (usually baked), but most often is used without any other preparation. The pâté is served on bread, often with dill or other fresh herbs.

Vegetarian pâtés

See also

• Braunschweiger
• Galantine
• Head cheese
• Pâté chinois
• Rillettes
• Rissole
• Terrine
• Fatback
• Kentucky paté

References