This crispy and crunchy oven baked Creole Pork Pâté-Pate– made with a pastry filled with minced pork flavoured with onion, tomato, garlic and ginger and herbs is a typical Seychellois pâté and is favourite of mine.
When I was at school in town, I used to buy my pâté from Julien Parcou, a very popular shop in Victoria. He used to produce the best pâté then. Two pâtés and a chopine of Portelo soft drink was my regular lunch.
The fillings
The traditional filling for the Creole pork pâté is seasoned minced pork meat which I have used in this recipe. The mincing was traditionally done with a heavy knife before the advent of manual and then electric mincers. Over the years other fillings have been used and these include minced beef; corned beef and peas which was and still is very popular; salted fish chutney; shark chutney and mixed vegetables. Traditionally, the pâté did not have any chilli added although now it is a common ingredient.
The Seychellois pâté is not a true pâté!
A true pâté defined
Pâté (pronounced pah-TAY) is French for “paste.” In fact, our Seychellois Creole pâté is not really a pâté according to the traditional culinary definition. A pâté is simply a mixture of seasoned ground seafood, poultry, meat, or vegetables, and often a combination of several different base ingredients. The grind can be smooth and creamy, or on the chunky side. It may be served hot or cold, molded or unmolded. It is traditionally served baked in a crust (en croûte) or molded as a terrine. The crust of the en croûte version, interestingly enough, was not originally intended to be eaten. The original purpose of the crust was actually to hold the pâté together. The pâté is delicious simply spread on warm toast or crusty bread. It can also be used as a component in main dishes such as Beef Wellington in which fillet steaks are spread with a type of mushroom pâté (duxelles) and enclosed in pastry.
How did we inherit the name?
I guess we have traditionally called this appetiser a pâté because it is enclosed in a pastry. Or, could it also be that we inherited our pâté from the English Cornish pasty which could have been introduced in Seychelles in mid 1800s after we became a British colony? The pastry used is the same and the shape is similar although the pasty is far larger.
In fact, there is also a similar product from some of the Caribbean islands where the English had some influences and it is also called the pâté. Could this be another product of colonialism!
What pastry do we use?
The pastry which we use for this Creole pork pâté is a type of shortcrust pastry. It is not a true shortcrust pastry because the ratio of flour to fat is different from that of a true shortcrust pastry but the process of making it is the same. It nothing more than a mixture of flour, usually plain or all-purpose flour, and a fat, either butter, lard, or a mixture of both. These are bound together with either cold water or with egg for a richer pastry.
In preparing a shortcrust, the fat and flour are “cut or rubbed” into each other, rather than blended, and the ingredients are kept cold. This ensures that the fat remains distinct in the dough, and when it heats during baking, steam is released, resulting in the pockets that make a flaky crust.
The fat minimises and breaks down gluten development which results in “short” protein strands and thus a more tender result, hence the name ‘shortcrust’.
Lard was initially used in the Seychelles before butter and margarine became more accessible. In fact a blend on butter and lard creates an extra dimension to the flavour.
Working with Dough
The Rubbing Process
Keep handling to a minimum as it is not the cold hands that are key to quality shortcrust pastry, but minimising the formation of the stringy, elastic protein gluten. By rubbing fat into flour before adding any liquid, small cells of flour coated in fat are formed, giving shortcrust pastry its fragmentary, discontinuous, particulate texture, hence ‘fr. pâte brisée’. This layer of fat makes it difficult for water to hydrate the flour, so structure-giving gluten proteins cannot form. The more coated the flour cells, therefore, the less well they will bind with their neighbours and the weaker (shorter) the pastry will be. However, if the flour is too well coated the pastry will not hold together and will become difficult to work with. This can happen if you use oil or if the solid fat is too warm.
Adding the cold water
Once the fat has been rubbed into the flour and are thoroughly combined, we need to add cold water. It is critical that the fat is thoroughly combined with the flour because this ensures that the flour granules are adequately coated with fat and are less likely to develop gluten. During mixing, you are trying to evenly incorporate the water completely into the dough while not mixing so much as to form a lot of glutens. Glutens are formed by the combination of proteins in flour with water.
Rest the dough
The recipe requires that you to rest the dough for a minimum of 15 minutes. This is done by wrapping the dough in plastic wrap or greaseproof paper and resting it in the refrigerator or in a room at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes. This allows the fat to re-solidify after handling, making the pastry easier to work with and ensuring that it will hold its shape during the early stages of baking. Resting also allows two other processes to occur: the diffusion of water through the dough and the relaxation of gluten strands.
Assembling the Pâté
Once the filling is prepared and allowed to cool and the pastry has rested you can now start assembling the pâté. The first thing you do is to make your egg wash by whisking together the egg and the 1 tablespoon water. Set aside. Flour a cool work surface as well as your rolling pin, remove the dough from its wrapping and place it on the lightly floured surface surface and roll it out thinly.
The next step is to use a cookie cutter or a large rimmed glass or even a cup and cut small circular portions, approx 10-11 cm in diameter, as shown in the photo below. You will end up with trimmings. Do not waste them, knead them together into one piece of dough and roll it as you did before.
Place one tablespoonful of filling on one side of the circular dough.
Dip a finger into the water and moisten the edges of the pastry and then fold one side, with a slight stretching motion, over to the other side to give you a half-moon and press the sides with a fork to crimp and seal the edges. Cut off any extra to make it look neat and uniform.
Place the uncooked pâtés on a parchment-lined baking sheet and continue work until you have rolled all the dough and filled the pâtés. Brush the top of the pâtés with egg wash and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, allow to cool on a wire rack and serve
Baked or Fried
The traditional Seychellois pâté is usually baked but some people find it more convenient to fry them. The advantages with the baked version is that they are less oily and they will remain fresh for a longer.
Alternative to shortcrust pastry
If you find that the ‘short-crust pastry’ is too involved you may decide to buy frozen shortcrust pastry or take a shortcut by using puff pastry sheets. The end product will not be the same when using puff pastry, but close enough.
Here is the recipe for Creole Pork Pâté- Pate
This crispy and crunchy oven baked Creole Pork Pâté-Pate– made with a pastry filled with minced pork flavoured with onion, tomato, garlic and ginger and herbs is a typical Seychellois pâté and is favourite of mine.
- 500 g plain flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100 g cubed cold butter,or margarine or even lard.
- 240 ml very cold water plus 2 tbsp
- 350 g minced pork
- 3 cloves garlic,crushed
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 medium size onions, diced
- ½ tbsp fresh thyme -chopped finely
- 1 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 sprig parsley,chopped
- 1 tsp corn flour
- 25 ml water (for thickening with cornflour)
- Chilli to taste (optional)
- 75 g green onions ( finely sliced, white and green parts)
- 75 ml water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp water
- 50 ml water (for sealing)
-
Place the flour, butter, baking powder and salt into a large, clean bowl.
-
Rub the butter or margarine into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (or wet coarse sand), working as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.
-
Add the water to the mixture. Mix with your hands, until a ball of dough forms with the texture of slightly dry play dough. Add more cold water a teaspoon at a time if the mixture is too dry.
-
Bring the pastry together with your hands and transfer to a lightly floured, cool bench top. Lightly knead the pastry with your fingertips for about 30 seconds or until smooth and soft.
-
Roll it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap or clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.
-
Place the flour, butter, baking powder and salt into the bowl of the processor.
-
Using only the pulse setting, pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Avoid over mixing if you can.
-
Through the funnel on the top of the processor, slowly add the water a little at a time until the mixture comes together in a ball.
-
Bring the pastry together with your hands and transfer to a lightly floured, cool bench top. Lightly knead the pastry with your fingertips for about 30 seconds or until smooth and soft.
-
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap or cling film and chill as above in the hand-made method.
-
Heat oven to about 180°C
-
Season the mince with salt and cracked pepper and mix with the chopped parsley and thyme
-
Place oil in a hot pan and sweat onion, then add garlic and stir.
-
Add minced pork, breaking up any clumps (note 3), and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, add tomato sauce.
-
Add the water, stir and cook for another 10 minutes and until most of the liquid has evaporated.
-
Mix corn flour with the 25 ml water and stir in the cooked mince, cook for another 3 minutes. This will thicken the remaining sauce and bind the meat together. The goal is to keep the water/ sauce and oil combination to a minimum so that it does not make the pâté soggy.
-
Fold in green onions, season and remove from heat and allow cooling completely. Keep.
-
Make egg wash by whisking together the egg and the 1 tablespoon water. Set aside
-
Flour a cool work surface and rolling pin, remove dough from wrapping, place on a cool lightly floured surface and roll out thinly.
-
Use a cookie cutter or a large rimmed glass or even a cup and cut small circular portions, approx 10-11 cm in diameter.
-
Place one tablespoonful of filling on one side of the circular dough
-
Dip a finger into the water and moisten the edges of the pastry.
-
Fold one side over to give you a half-moon and press the sides with a fork to crimp or seal the edges. Cut off any extra to make it look neat and uniform.
-
Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and continue work until you have rolled all the dough and filled the pâtés.
-
Brush the top of the pâtés with egg wash and cook in oven at 180°C for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.
-
Remove from oven, allow to cool on a wire rack and serve
- Lard was traditionally used in Seychelles until margarine became more affordable.
- For best result, make sure the butter or margarine is cold, and that your hands are cool and use a cool work surface.
- You can be creative here and make the filling of your choice.
- It is critical that all clumps formed by the mince meat are broken up, because clumps create empty spaces in your pâté which reduces the amount of filling that you can place in the pâté.
- To create an edge using a fork, simply press down on the edge, using the tines of a fork to both seal the dough together and leave a decorative pattern around the edges.
- To create a rope-like crimp when closing up the pâtés, pinch the pie crust gently between your thumb and index finger, doing so at an angle and gently pulling up the outer edge of the dough with each pinch. The effect should look like the edges of a rope running all the way around the crust.
- The pâté can also be fried
- You can also freeze the pâté. Place them in single layer and freeze and then transfer to a storage container.
Did you make this recipe?
I hope you will enjoy cooking this dish. Please let me know how it turned out for you. If you have a different version of the recipe or have related questions, please leave your comments below.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Your email address will not be published
