Pâté en croûte
Photo: Tangopaso · Public domain

History

The pâté en croûte form dates to medieval French royal kitchens, where game pies were transported sealed inside pastry. The standardised Parisian pâté en croûte we recognise today, with its straight-sided rectangular mould and gelée layer, was perfected in the 19th century by charcutiers across the Faubourg Saint-Germain. The annual Championnat du Monde du Pâté Croûte, founded in Lyon in 2009 but with a Paris qualifying round each year, has driven a revival. Maison Verot on Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs and Maison Vérot's flagship on Rue de Sèvres turn out the city's most cited versions, sliced thick at the counter for around €9 per 200g piece.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Pork

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 1 hrTotal 24 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • For the pastry: 400g plain flour
  • 200g cold unsalted butter cubed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 80ml cold water
  • For the filling: 600g pork shoulder coarsely minced
  • 300g pork belly minced
  • 200g chicken livers chopped
  • 100g blanched pistachios
  • Aromatics: 1 shallot finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons cognac
  • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
  • 10g salt, 4g freshly ground black pepper, 1g grated nutmeg, 1g ground allspice
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk for the egg wash
  • 300ml chicken or pork stock + 4g powdered gelatine for the gelée

Method

  1. Make the pastry: rub the butter into the flour until pea-size pieces remain. Beat the egg with salt and water, add and gather into a dough. Wrap and chill 1 hour.
  2. Combine all the filling and aromatics, fry a teaspoon to taste for seasoning. Adjust salt and pepper.
  3. Roll two-thirds of the pastry to line a 30cm pâté mould, leaving 2cm overhang. Pack the filling in firmly. Roll the remaining pastry as a lid, crimp the edges. Cut a 2cm steam hole in the lid.
  4. Egg wash, then bake at 200°C for 20 minutes, drop to 170°C and bake 50 to 60 minutes until the centre reads 70°C. Cool completely.
  5. Dissolve the gelatine in 50ml of warm stock, combine with the rest of the stock. Pour through the steam hole into the cooled pâté in two stages, refrigerating between pours. Rest 24 hours.
  6. Slice 1.5cm thick at the counter; serve with cornichons, a small green salad and Dijon mustard.

Tip from the editors. The gelée must be poured cold into a fully cooled pâté. Hot stock will dissolve the filling and weep through the pastry.

Where to eat pâté en croûte

Pâté en croûte in Paris

Le Comptoir du Relais ★ 4.4

€€ French Bistro6e

Yves Camdeborde's Le Comptoir du Relais in Paris helped invent the term bistronomie in the 1990s and still serves the dining-room version every weeknight.

OrderThe pâté en croûte for two and whatever offal main is on the chalkboard.

TipLunch and weekend service runs walk-in; dinner Mon-Fri needs a booking six weeks out.

Directions

Le Bistrot Flaubert ★ 4.3

€€ French Bistro17e

Le Bistrot Flaubert in Paris's 17e is the Michel Rostang bistro annex now run by Nicolas Baumann and the Groupe Éclore team. Kitchen leans french bistro.

OrderWhatever offal main is up, the chocolate dessert, a glass of saint-joseph.

TipLunch is the steal: a two-course set for under €35, including a glass of wine and coffee.

Directions Book

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