Long overused, it is once again the king of the tables. It is adored by chefs and gourmets alike, it has its own competitions, its own
champions… and even discovered a penchant for plants.
Return to grace
We thought pate was old-fashioned… However, this piece of bravery is making a real comeback. His revival initially seemed like a joke. In 2009, a group of epicureans formed the Pâté en Croute fraternity, determined to restore nobility to this mistreated mass retailer. And what could be better than the world’s best pâté championship to whet the appetite? Today, star chefs, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, villains… from all over the planet are fighting to conquer this holy grail. As a result, he regained his very prominent entry level. Even the Empire of the Rising Sun loves him. In 2017, chef Chikara Yoshitomi of L’Ambroisie in Paris won the championship. Then madness takes over Japan. So much so that for the past three years, Tokyo and Kobe have been home to the champions of the category. What will happen this year? The verdict on December 4 at La Sucrière in Lyon. Meanwhile, France’s Emeline Aubry has just qualified for this grand final against nineteen European contenders.
Beauty Aurore’s pillow, the XXL version of the pâté, also (re)takes center stage… And her story has it all. It is said that the young chef, who had fallen in love with Brilla-Savarin’s mother, Avro Recamier, unable to confess his love to her openly, told her under the cover of this leaflet that he would share a corner. pillow with him. A declaration of love put on by Lyonnais Mathieu Viannay, at the Épicerie-Comptoir Mère Brazier, and Verot father and son, butchers Prince of Paris.
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A specialty that comes in all flavors
But paté en croute is not limited to dirty stories, it is first and foremost a specialty that comes in endless variations. Good dough, it is suitable for all fillings. Freedom of speech, which also explains its revival. So Sylvain Andre, the young artisan chef at Maison Baroc in the Gironde, envisioned a pâté with cabernet-braised poultry, smoked eel, roasted pine nuts and Bordeaux red wheat pastry in homage to bourgeois M du wines. Châteaux Malescasse, Roquegrave and Biston Brillette. In Paris, butcher and caterer, 2012 world champion Johan Lastre of Lastre Sans Apostrophe, offers chicken, candied lemon, mustard seeds, tarragon.
As for 2011 world runner-up Gilles Verault and his son Mathieu, their six versions, including the seasonal Très Cochon with tongue, smoked pork sausage, foie gras and apple, all have a run in Paris. After the veal blanket bourguignon, they’ve also just added pot-au-feu to the crust and released Terrines, puff pastry and cheesy vegetable crust *. And in these pages, we discover that this recipe can have a plant-based soul. Bazouk and chicken, spinach, chard and pork, artichokes, carrots and merguez… there’s something for everyone. So whether we call it paté en croute or paté croute – the semantic debate is as heated as pain or chocolate and chocolaty – there will always be someone who will rally us around the motto of his brotherhood; “Honnie be he who without him claims to keep a faithful table.”
*Terrines, puff pastry and vegetable pâté, Ed. du Chêne, 272 p., €35.
Source: Le Figaro
