The Four Elements of Pâté Construction

Appears in
Professional Garde Manger: A Comprehensive Guide to Cold Food Preparation
Professional Garde Manger

By Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett

Published 2010

  • About
Most pâtés have four basic elements:
  1. Forcemeat: All pâtés begin with a forcemeat. This emulsified mixture of ground meat and fat makes up the body of the pâté.
  2. Internal garnishes: pieces of food placed within the forcemeat to add texture, flavor, and visual interest. Internal garnishes are added to pâté forcemeats in two ways (listed). By varying the internal garnishes, a charcutière or garde manger chef can make several products out of one basic forcemeat.
  3. Liners and wrappers: A pâté forcemeat is usually contained in some form of wrapper or liner. Only mousselines are not wrapped or lined, although they may be encased in a colorful vegetable wrapper for an attractive presentation.
  4. Sealers: In times past, after a pâté product was baked and cooled, it was sealed with a semisolid fat to preserve it. This practice is still sometimes used, although modern pâtés and terrines are more often sealed with aspic for presentation purposes. Lard, rendered poultry fat, butter, and aspic are used as pâté sealers.