Pâté (UK:/ˈpæteɪ/PAT-ay,US:/pæˈteɪ,pɑː-/pa(h)-TAY,French:[pɑte]ⓘ) is aforcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in apastry case and calledpâté en croute; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in aterrine, and calledpâté en terrine or simplyterrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat; vegetables; herbs; spices; wine; and brandy.
Both theDictionnaire de l'Académie française and theOxford English Dictionary (OED) date the term back to the 12th century. The former gives the original meaning as a "culinary preparation consisting of minced meat or fish surrounded by dough and baked in the oven";[1] the OED's definition is "a pie or pastry usually filled with finely minced meat, fish, vegetables, etc."[2] The French wordspâte (pastry) andpâté are both derived from the Latinpasta meaning paste or dough (as is the English "pastry").[3] By the 19th century the pastry case was often dispensed with.[2] According toLarousse Gastronomique, when there is a pastry case the dish ispâté en croute and when there is not, and the mixture is cooked in a dish (called aterrine), it ispâté en terrine, often abbreviated toterrine orpâté, terms used interchangeably in both French and English usage.[4] Apatty is a similar dish, and its name comes from a 19th-century English corruption of the French word pâté.[citation needed]
Pâté was known to the Romans, who generally made it with pork, although other main ingredients might include marinated and spiced birds' tongues.[4] In the Middle Ages, there were numerous recipes forpâtisseries (meats – pork, poultry, game or fish – cooked in pastry).[4]
Chicken liverparfait is a subtype of pâté. Instead of first cooking the livers in butter, for aparfait they are initially puréed when raw and then passed through a sieve or put in a blender before being mixed with, typically, eggs, fortified wine, shallots, thyme, garlic and cognac and cooked in abain-marie until set. This allows for a smoother texture.[21]
In Central and Eastern Europe, pâté from poultry liver is very popular and it is commonly known aspashtet (Russian:паштет, "pâté",Polish:pasztet,Czech:paštika,Croatian:pašteta). Liver from other animals (such as cow) can also be used. The liver is first cooked (boiled or fried) and mixed with butter or fat and seasonings such as fresh or fried onions, carrots, spices, and herbs.[22] It can be further cooked (usually baked), but most often used without any other preparation. In Russia, the pâté is served on a plate or in a bowl, and is typically moulded into the shapes of animals, such as hedgehogs.[23]
^В. В. Похлебкин.Национальные кухни наших народов. Москва, изд. Пищевая пром-сть, 1980.Еврейская кухняArchived 31 December 2017 at theWayback Machine. (William Pokhlyobkin.The Ethnic Cuisines of our Peoples. Moscow, Food Industry publishing house, 1980; Russian)