pâté

pâté, (French: “paste”), in French cuisine, a filled pastry, analogous to the English pie. The term pâté is also used, with modifiers, to denote two other distinct preparations: pâté en terrine, a meat, game, or fish mixture wrapped in suet or other animal fat or lining and cooked in a deep oval or oblong dish, without pastry, and served cold; and pâté en croûte, a meat, game, or fish filling cooked in a crust and served hot or cold. It is from pâté en terrine, more properly abbreviated terrine, that the pâté of British and American usage derives.

Certain pâtés are traditionally associated in France with specific occasions. Pâté de Pâques, for example, which is filled with ground meat, chopped pork, chicken, or rabbit, and hard-boiled eggs, is an Easter specialty of the Poitou region. Pâté de foie gras, pastry that is filled with liver from specially fattened geese or ducks, is considered a delicacy.