Food
Monday, October 6, 2008
So I know it's not very chic to eat minced liver meat and fat these days, but sometimes I miss pâté terribly. I'm afraid to confess my favorite variety has always been pâté du lapin: Rabbit pâté. I love pork, chicken, and duck pâtés, but really, there's nothing like spreadable bunny. Sorry--it's true. It's salty, chunky and so tasty.
My friend Melodee and I used to drive frantically from our home base in Germany to the nearest French border, then park our rental car in the Carrefour lot and run full-speed to the store where we'd stock up on rabbit pâté and Le Petite Marseillais soap. We'd buy a baguette and be eating from a jar of minced rabbit meat before you could say bon appetite.
I always wonder what makes Americans so jittery about pâté--especially considering we buy cheese in a box and have inventions like spam to our name. But sadly, the minced meat thing never caught on.
If you have a secret guilty pleasure for pâté (also known as terrine de campagne) too, here are my tricks to enjoying it Stateside ...
-Small French markets or cafés with deli sections such as Michel Richard in Beverly Hills are good places to start your search. They often carry several varieties of pâté so you actually get a few choices to sample.
-Authentic French restaurants usually have one reliable pâté on the menu. It's usually pork, so don't get excited thinking you're gonna find my favorite pâté du lapin. Not happening on this continent, except maybe some joint in Quebec. Recently, I had an excellent pâté at Anthony Bourdain's restaurant in NYC.
-You can also try to make your own pate from Bourdain's own recipe. I haven't tried it yet, but let me know if you're brave enough to make it and how it turns out.
If you manage to get your hands on a decent, hearty slice of pâté (and I don't mean that expensive duck mousse from Whole Foods or Bristol Farms, totally not the same thing), serve it up with some crusty bread and a few cornichons (little pickles). Divine.See more articles at Be European or Die Tryin.
Related: rabbit pâté, pâté, devora rogers, be european or die tryin
-
Posted by Megan Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:55am PDT
Wow - consuming companion animals. Tell me, do you kill the bunny? Gut it? Rip its fur off too? Disgusting!
Report Abuse
-
Posted by Be European or Die Tryin Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:44am PDT
I know, I know--it's not for everyone. Though in France rabbits are not raised so much as pets but as a food source. Fois gras isn't for everyone either, and it's probably much more cruel to the animal. But if you're game (pardon the expression), it's delicious and worth a try.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by Megan Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:21pm PDT
What's France's take on puppy? How about horse? This isn't France.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by rglo820 Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:19pm PDT
Whatever...it's called a food chain.
This looks and sounds delicious. It's a shame Americans by and large are so put off by any food that falls outside their narrow comfort zone.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by johannesausgiessen Wed Jul 2, 2008 2:52am PDT
well horse meat is known to be quiet low fat and particularly healthy, althrough ye olde horse butcheries are more and more rarely, as that quiet unexpensiv meat (old sick horses and so on) was more somethg for the poors.
I believe there are still horse and donkey breeding for that goal in south France although merely for use south of the Border.
In my opinion it has much to do with local cultural / traditional perception of the respectiv animal (ever seen a meatcan with smiling Dog on it in South-East Asia?-)
Report Abuse
