Pâté en croûte

Marinate the meat. Refrigerate and marinate the pork and veal with white wine, Cognac, shallot, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper and quatre-épices for 12 hours. The meat remains fully chilled and evenly coated with the aromatic marinade. Working temperature: 4 °C. Keep at 4 °C or below.

Mix the cold farce. Drain the meat very well. Mince two-thirds of the pork, all the veal and the back fat through a medium plate; keep one-third of the pork as small dice. Mix all filling components until tacky while keeping the farce below 4 °C. The farce is cohesive and tacky, with visible pork dice distributed through it, and stays below 4 °C. Never taste raw farce; cook a small sample separately if seasoning must be checked.

Make and chill the pastry. Rub butter into the flour and salt, then add 100 g egg, 80 ml milk and 60 ml water just until a firm cohesive pastry forms. Wrap and refrigerate for 120 minutes. The pastry is firm, smooth enough to roll and no longer sticky. Working temperature: 4 °C. Keep egg-and-milk pastry cold.

Line and pack the mould. Roll about two-thirds of the pastry and line a 30 × 10 × 9 cm mould with no tears. Pack in the cold farce firmly, pressing out air pockets and leaving about 1 cm headspace. The pastry is continuous in the corners and the farce is tightly packed without visible voids. Working temperature: below 4 °C. Return the mould to refrigeration if the farce warms above 4 °C.

Seal and make chimneys. Cover with the remaining pastry, seal with beaten egg, trim, crimp and cut two 2 cm chimneys. Insert small foil collars if needed and glaze the top with remaining egg. Both chimneys are open and the lid is sealed continuously around the rim. Use raw-meat tools only for raw assembly and clean them before any later handling.

Bake to 71 °C. Bake at 200 °C for 20 minutes, then reduce to 170 °C and continue for about 75 minutes until the centre of the forcemeat reaches at least 71 °C. The pastry is deep golden and the centre of the forcemeat reaches at least 71 °C throughout. Use a probe thermometer; colour and clear juices are not adequate safety tests.

Cool before aspic. Cool for 60 minutes, then refrigerate for 60 minutes before adding aspic. The pâté is cool and firm enough that added aspic will not melt into hot fat. Working temperature: 4 °C. Refrigerate within 2 hours of the bake ending.

Add the measured aspic. Warm only enough of the 350 ml prepared aspic to make it fluid, then pour it gradually through the two chimneys in several additions until the internal spaces stop accepting more. Use the full measured volume only as it is absorbed. The aspic level settles slowly rather than draining straight through the pastry, and the measured 350 ml has been taken up without overflow. Working temperature: about 35 °C. Use only safe prepared aspic; do not pour hot liquid into a fragile cold crust.

Chill overnight. Refrigerate the filled pâté for 720 minutes before unmoulding and slicing. The aspic is fully set and slices hold a clean border of pastry, meat and gel. Working temperature: 4 °C. Keep at 4 °C or below and slice with a clean knife.