The Terrine Topic

[Hendrik]

Wow that's amazing Baron. Good luck in the competition!

[ldubois2]

Looking for advice: Pre-novice at this...for Thanksgiving made the Country Pate from the Dean and Delucca cook book. I made it without too much forethought, going to my local butcher thinking they'd have pork fat. Ha! With a need to improvise, I purchased very fatty salt pork, removed the fat and substitued after soaking it to remove some of the salt. Cut the meat manually as suggested, and it turned out ok.

After reading much of this thread (and loving the pictures) I am now ready to try again. I have Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook and plan to do pate de campagne. Problem: Pork liver. My local, better grocer has veal liver and I purchased that on impulse when they did not have pork fat...now think it is likely too delicate a flavor, am I right? Would there be something better to use? These guys will save pork fat for me and have ordered that. They would not slice fat to line the mold, and had nothing they'd suggest.

After I made the original Thanksgiving pate I looked on line to see if I could purchase jawl fat (what the Dean and Delucca says is the best option) and in error purchased caul fat. Jowl, caul...know the difference now. I received 10 pounds of caul fat which I divided into small packets and have frozen. (available in the US on Amazon.com).

Also the D&D did not suggest weighing it down. It was tasty but crumbled, pieces did not stay together once sliced.

Thank you for any help. Making gravlax and sausage for Christmas and this will be a great addition!

[FrogPrincesse]

Looking for advice: Pre-novice at this...for Thanksgiving made the Country Pate from the Dean and Delucca cook book. I made it without too much forethought, going to my local butcher thinking they'd have pork fat. Ha! With a need to improvise, I purchased very fatty salt pork, removed the fat and substitued after soaking it to remove some of the salt. Cut the meat manually as suggested, and it turned out ok.

After reading much of this thread (and loving the pictures) I am now ready to try again. I have Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook and plan to do pate de campagne. Problem: Pork liver. My local, better grocer has veal liver and I purchased that on impulse when they did not have pork fat...now think it is likely too delicate a flavor, am I right? Would there be something better to use? These guys will save pork fat for me and have ordered that. They would not slice fat to line the mold, and had nothing they'd suggest.

After I made the original Thanksgiving pate I looked on line to see if I could purchase jawl fat (what the Dean and Delucca says is the best option) and in error purchased caul fat. Jowl, caul...know the difference now. I received 10 pounds of caul fat which I divided into small packets and have frozen. (available in the US on Amazon.com).

Also the D&D did not suggest weighing it down. It was tasty but crumbled, pieces did not stay together once sliced.

Thank you for any help. Making gravlax and sausage for Christmas and this will be a great addition!

Regarding the liver, I am sure that veal liver will work fine if you cannot find pork liver. Some people use chicken livers but I don't really care for the taste.

I would use the caul fat to wrap the terrine. In fact what I normally do is line the terrine mold with a large piece of caul fat, fill the mold with the pate mixture, and then fold the caul fat over the top. The recipe in Les Halles has this technique although the photo in the book shows pork fat rather than caul fat which is rather confusing.

You will still need some pork fat for the pate mixture. I get back fat from my butcher but if you cannot find it, a fatty piece of pork belly works fine too.

Edited December 14, 2012 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Baron d'Apcher]

Winner of the 2012 World Pâté Croûte Championship: Yohan Lastre, La Tour d'Argent *

Cyril Malard; Elle Ixir. Lyon

I finished 11 or 12th. Not sure since all remaining 7 competitors after the 4 prizes are grouped together.

I was exposed to dizzying level of professionalism and experience and feel that I fell short. Having to bring my wares from so far away put me at a considerable disadvantage, perhaps more so without the ooh-la-la garnishes & flair (though presentation accounted for few of the 200 total points) and I picked #12 at random, placing me last in the tasting, at which point the judges may have had their fill. Judges included Regis Marcon (Le Clos de Cimes ***), 2011 winner Eric Desbordes (Le Bristol ***) and numerous MOF’s. My mistakes were significant, but at least my slices stayed together –another contestant’s aspic was too loose and the pastry collapsed when cut. First and foremost, my pastry (80pts) did not achieve enough color, likely a result of baking 3 at once, thereupon lowering the temperature of the oven. Had I cooked it longer at that temp, I would have risked overcooking the forcemeat. I did not have a consistent gap for the aspic either.

Upon speaking with Patrick Henriroux (La Pyramide **, MOF) he said that the judges prefer a chunkier forcemeat, and that I should have kept the gizzards whole. Keeping pace with the gin flavors I finished the slice with fleur de sel mixed with lime zest and ground juniper berries. M. Henriroux explained that juniper is not a flavor that the judges crave. Pickled cauliflower lightly dressed with an orange zest & confit fat soffrito didn’t compare to some of the Bocuse d’Or inspired garnishes put forth by other competitors, but wasn’t worth many points anyway. Lastly, I should have pulled the pâté out of the fridge earlier so that it would have been served at room temperature which otherwise mutes the flavors. Now I know better and being exposed to such work has been invaluable.

Frédéric Cote; Au Colombier. Lyon

More pics.

[nickrey]

Congratulations on being a non-French competitor! It shows a level of skill which is far above what others do. Well done to even get there in the first place. They've given you some great feedback and, from a personal perspective, I'd love to see you compete and move up the rankings next year.

[rotuts]

Baron d'Apcher

thanks for sharing your experience and those delicious pictures!

[LindaK]

Baron, congratulations for making it as far as you did. That was a very small number of worldwide finalists and you were among them, I hope you are proud.

How interesting that garnishes were so significant in the competition. I love and respect traditional French cuisine, but sometimes I wonder about priorities...Did you have the opportunity to sample some of the winning examples? I'd be very interested in your review of the competition, it does seem like a great learning experience.

One of these days I'll post one of my humble terrines. In the meantime, I hope you'll continue to share your beautiful creations with us.

[Baron d'Apcher]

Redemption, of sorts. Special "circle fixation" edition.

Squab inlay.

Rabbit, hunter style. Marinated in red wine, stuffed with the loin, lardo and black trumpet mushrooms. Whittled turnips, little red onions, yellow-foot chanterelles. Plated by Bryan Voltaggio.

[radtek]

Wow. I have been stunned with this entire thread. And the best specialty food pron ever. I'm a process artist so the Baron's ongoing documentation strikes home with me. Keep it coming!

[janeer]

absolutely gorgeous as usual. I love the little aspic jewel popping out

[pep.]

I finally have a blog post about the making of that pheasant pâté en croûte online. All in all, I made a lot of mistakes, but I think it was worth it. Terrines are far easier, though, and great to do sous-vide (with vacuum bagging, you don't need to press the terrine).

http://mundschenk.at/pate-en-croute-de-faisan/

(The blog is in German, but the pictures should speak for themselves.)

[Baron d'Apcher]

For Cochon555 DC 2013.

Prosciutto Cotto & Mortadella

Asparagus in blood aspic

and chicories in a smoked ham-hock vinaigrette.

-∞∞∞-

Leverpostej.

Danish-style liver terrine.

Salted and cured anchovies, a couple of marinated capers.

-∞∞∞-

Pâté en Croûte

It’s heart, tongue, fatback, pistachios and a few figs.

Some pickled rhubarb and mushrooms.

-∞∞∞-

Pork Belly Pojarski

Breaded and fried

Sauce gribiche

-∞∞∞-

L’Astet

Loins roasted with spring garlic.

Warm confit potatoes and rillettes

-∞∞∞-

Saucisson en Brioche

Clothbound cheddar sausage baked in a leaf lard brioche.

And cracklin’ whipped lardo.

1st 3 courses.

Pâté en Croûte with pistachio inlay.

Prosciutto Cotto, Mortadella, Spalla Cotta and Saucisson en Brioche.

[fvandrog]

For Cochon555 DC 2013.

Wow, these look truly astonishing!!

I like making terrines, but couldn't get anywhere near that level of perfection

[janeer]

Of course you are a genius, Baron.

[sigma]

It looks like you learned a ton from your experience at the competition. And quickly. Well done.

[David Ross]

Superb. Thank you for sharing. We look forward to seeing many more creations.

[Baron d'Apcher]

King Salmon and King Crab Terrine.

Riesling aspic, a claw and gravad lax.

[furzzy]

What a jaw-dropping thread! Baron, your wor is amazing. Reminds me of Morimoto's sushi prowess. Stick with it & show us your winning entry next year!

[janeer]

lovely as always, and seasonal, too.

[longroper]

Beaver pate en croute:

The pastry was not one of my best; I think the flour was old and I had to add too much water to make it workable. Also, my only pate mold is a nonstick, and I've never gotten the sides to brown as well as I feel they should, in both a commercial and a home oven. Would an ordinary tinned steel mold make a difference?

[Baron d'Apcher]

^ Consider greasing the mold with butter and cook at a higher temp (425F) for the first 40-60 minutes, rotating half-way through. Then lower the temp.

Rabbit in Riesling, with carrots, mustard and mint.

Rabbits simmered in Riesling with orange and yellow carrots, set with gelatin, loins down the middle, finished with mustard seeds and mint.

Chicken Galantine with confit gizzards, Sicilian pistachios and stuffed morels.

Ventrèche, green peppercorns, tarragon, lemon and star anise.

[rotuts]

looks so delicious. well, full disclosure: maybe not the pistachios

[janeer]

Gorgeous and perfect as always.

[Baron d'Apcher]

Chicken giblets.

The livers as a terrine with thyme and Port wine. Gizzards confit with pickled ramps & carrots.

[tsp.]

Stunning, as usual.