Column

I was inspired to read in a book, written in the 1980s by Karen and Gul Anand, the
description of one of my favourite kebabs, the kakori (from a village near Lucknow) as Indian pâté.

In fact, the description is strikingly apt. While the shape may be of a seekh kebab, its
rich melting quality is like one of the finer pâtés, one of the great French contributions to world cuisine.

Few people know that the secret of the melting soft texture of a kakori is the extensive use of suet, the fat which encompasses the kidneys, as the softener.

The original term “pâté” according to the magisterial Oxford Companion on Food by Alan Davison was meant to convey a “pie”, a pastry case filled with a myriad possibilities of different savoury mixtures, baked in an oven and served either hot or cold.

Since medieval times, pâtés have taken on a meaning distinct from merely being fillings in the pies. The French were the masters of the pâtés, and in the French country inns and restaurants the standard offering would be a pâté maison (literally meaning pâté
of the house) or a pâté de campagne (meaning country style pâté).

This would invariably consist of a pink slab of heaven in a casing of a thin sheet of white fat, redolent with garlic and the coarse sensuousness of liver to be eaten with a crusty baguette and lubricated with vin rouge, preferably burgundy.

Sheer bliss. This is the French food the French like to keep to themselves, not the stylised frippery one sees in the name of nouvelle cuisine, but good, honest cooking.

While pâtés are widely known, less popular but for the cognoscenti as important are the terrines.

The distinction between a pâté and a terrine is a point of controversy. If we go back to the medieval definition, a pâté was the filling for a pie, but the terrine was a pâté baked in a dish called (wait for it) a terrine, coming from the earth (la terre).

From this springs a whole family of delicacies, including dishes such as the galantine (essentially stuffed loaves of meat or fish, usually poached and served cold) and the balantines.

There are a myriad ways of making a pâté or terrine. Depending on the ingredients, it can be opulent or frugal; but the constant factors are some sort of meat, game (perhaps rabbit or venison) and offal such as sweetbreads and liver as the softener.

My favourite recipe for a chicken liver pâté uses around 1 pound of chicken livers, (washed and the slimy bits removed). Cook two cloves of garlic and two shallots (chopped) in butter until they are slightly browned. The fun bit is to add some cognac or dry white wine, then the seasoning and some herbs or parsley.

Blend these ingredients. Add more butter and cook the chicken livers for around three
minutes and then add them to the blender.

Once it’s blended add a little more butter (around 20 per cent of the weight) and you are done.

You can also put it in ramekins and refrigerate. Serve it on melba toast, perhaps from the Paris Bakery in the lane next to Our Lady of Dolours Church at Marine Lines, otherwise known as “Dukkar galli”!