On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 338

synonymous,thoughtoday“pâté”usually
suggestsafairlyuniformandfine-textured
mixturebasedonliver,“terrine”acoarser,
oftenpatternedone.Pâtésandterrinesthus
spanawonderfulrange,fromcoarse,rustic
massingsofporkinnardsandheadinthe
Frenchpâtédecampagne,toluxurious
layeringsofbrandy-scentedfoiegrasand
truffles.
Modernpâtésandterrinesoftencontain
littlefat,buttraditionalmixeswerebasedon
ameattofatratioofaround2to1togivea
rich,melt-in-the-mouthconsistency.Porkand
veal,animmaturemeatwithrelativelylittle
toughconnectivetissueandanabundant
producerofgelatin,aretheusualmain
ingredients.Theyaregroundtogetherwiththe
fat—usuallyporkforitsidealconsistency—
tomixproteinandfatintimately.Hand
choppingislesslikelytoheatthemixtureor
damageintactfatcells,whichwouldcause
moreliquidfattoseparatefromthemix


duringcooking.Themixisseasonedmore
stronglythanmanyfoodsbothbecauseit’s
richinflavor-bindingproteinsandfats,and
becauseit’sgenerallyservedcool,which
reducesthearoma.Themixisplacedina
mold,covered,andcookedgentlyinawater
bathuntilthejuicesrunclearandtheinternal

temperaturereaches160ºF/70ºC.(Terrinesof
foiegrasareoftencookedtoamuchlower
temperature,perhaps120ºF/55ºC,especiallyif
intactlobesarelayeredtogether;theycome
outrosypink.)Theproteinshavecoagulated
intoasolidmatrix,trappingmuchofthefatin
place.Thepâtéisthentoppedwithaweightto
compactit,andrefrigeratedforseveraldays
tofirmandallowtheflavorstoblend.The
cookedmixturekeepsforaboutaweek.
PâtésandTerrines:EarlyRecipes
As these medieval recipes demonstrate,
even early pâtés were made in pots and
dishes without the pastry that originally