Rustic pâté, after Frank

February 5, 2018 1:03 PM

The cast-iron terrine took up space on the shelf for more than seven years, sitting there like a big blue brick, inert and largely undisturbed. Maybe I’d dusted it a few times, during seasonal cleaning frenzies. But I’d never once used it for its appointed purpose: to make pâté. Making pâté was Frank’s thing, not mine.
posted by sevenyearlurk (17 comments total)

What a great remembrance. I feel a similar affinity for food and cooking - there's just the right mix of creativity, technical acumen, and rote work that makes me feel incredibly accomplished. Plus, I find immense satisfaction providing delicious food for the people around me. I would consider myself generally quiet and reserved, but my hope is that the food does the talking for me. Made with care for those you care about.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:27 PM on February 5, 2018 [9 favorites]

Lovely.
posted by gauche at 1:30 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Nice piece. Bet you think of Frank next time you eat a slice of pate.
posted by Keith Talent at 1:54 PM on February 5, 2018

Sublime.
posted by Splunge at 2:06 PM on February 5, 2018

Aw. I cried when I saw the recipe name in context.
posted by blue t-shirt at 2:12 PM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

My goodness, I can only hope someone writes as affectionately, but not mawkishly, about me after I'm gone.
posted by praemunire at 2:13 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

it has never once in my life occurred to me that i'd ever want to try making pate
but now i do
(god help me)
posted by halation at 2:55 PM on February 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

Pate is much less intimidating to cook if you think of it using its North American name, meatloaf.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:14 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

This has made me think about making a whole chicken in the pressure cooker my late husband bought me. That was one of our favorite meals. I tried making it for my Sweetie a year into widowhood and the sense memory was too much. It's been 3.5 years since my husband died... Time to try again. :)
posted by luckynerd at 3:16 PM on February 5, 2018 [10 favorites]

I do not want to make pate, but for the same reasons this author makes pate, I want to make the full handmade lasagna my grandmother used to.

I need a pasta maker.
posted by FritoKAL at 3:23 PM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Aim for the stars, aim for the world championship of pâté croûte
posted by SageLeVoid at 3:31 PM on February 5, 2018

This squeezed my heart (in a good way.) I have many happy memories of dishes eaten with, and made by, loved ones who are no longer with us. Sigh.
posted by 41swans at 3:59 PM on February 5, 2018

I know this feeling very well...

When I was little my great grandmother lived with us and we were very close. She was an incredible cook (an actual French farm wife) - she could create incredible meals with thrift and economy where no one would go home with an empty belly. Her little granny flat was always a refuge filled with good smells, good food, and hilariously, the sound of Lawrence Welk. I don't have much from her but of the things I do have I cherish them beyond words, the sort of things you run back into a burning house to save. One of these things is hardly a thing of beauty or value - a crock in which to cook baked beans. I ate a lot of baked beans made in that pot - I think my great grandmother made beans in that pot every week. It is cracked, discoloured, and well used. It is something so commonplace and practical but worth more to me than much else. I don't make beans in that pot very often but when I do it never fails to make me get a bit misty.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:20 PM on February 5, 2018 [4 favorites]

I do love pate and I also love warm, beautiful tributes. Thank you for posting it.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:23 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

As kids, my sisters and I extracted a concession from Mum, that she would only make pâté in Summer, so we could be out of the house. The pâté was great, but the stench of the cooking was unbearable.
posted by pompomtom at 2:44 AM on February 6, 2018

Pate is much less intimidating to cook if you think of it using its North American name, meatloaf.

That is horse pucky, they are nothing alike in terms of prep, cooking, texture, seasoning and even shape.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:50 PM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

Just wanted to say that I made the chicken, and it came out great! :)
Thanks, sevenyearlurk for posting this. :)
posted by luckynerd at 3:31 PM on February 15, 2018 [1 favorite]