Tasty Traditions: How Pâté is Enjoyed Around the World

Pass the schmaltz!

Pâté may feel like a fresh find for any charcuterie newbie, but the tasty treat has actually been served for centuries! Historians generally agree that pâté originated in medieval France as a means to preserve freshness in game meat. By the 19th century, pâté could be found in many French dishes: stuffed pastries, en croûte, and foie gras is often featured as an ingredient in pâté.

Did you know that the recipes of Alexian Pâté originate in Southern Germany, where the founder of our company was born? The family who founded Alexian – and still runs it today – comes from generations of butchers and “wurstmachers” (sausage-maker in German), who made pâtés, sausages, and other specialty meats for the community and family to enjoy.

While the culinary worlds of France and Belgium innovated these recipes, pâté has made its way across borders and found new homes in other countries, too. In Eastern Europe, salted and minced herring pâté is known as vorschmack, and is served on rye bread with onion and apple as a breakfast snack. Traditional Jewish cuisine features chopped liver, primarily composed of pâté and often enhanced with schmaltz, a delectable spread of clarified goose or chicken fat.

Pâté has also taken off in the area formerly known as Yugoslavia, as pašteta, a thin spread featuring meat from chicken, pork, turkey, or even tuna. Pâté has also found an audience outside of Europe – fans of Vietnamese báhn mi sandwiches may have encountered a spread of liver pâté on their baguettes.

We’re excited to see what happens next, as pâté continues its journey around the culinary globe. Are you enjoying pâté in an unexpected place? Tag us on Instagram @alexian_pate and show us how!

Salami Origami: How to Prep and Serve Charcuterie

The salami wine glass trick caused some buzz on Tik Tok recently, as millions of viewers learned how to create a simple salami rose by shaping it against the rim of a wine glass. Then came the inevitable pushback from charcuterie artists, asserting that the method was unnecessary and unreliable, often creating loose roses that fell apart easily. At Alexian, we’re all for any entry-level how-to which gets people more into charcuterie! If you’ve tried the rose and are hooked on salami origami, here are a few of our favorite methods to prep, shape, and serve sliced meats:

Traditional Salami Rose
To create a rose which holds shape better and has more intricate details, line a small, shallow bowl with full salami slices. Then, fill in the center with a ring of overlapping slices folded in half. 
Demo video here

Prosciutto Fans
Remember folding paper fans in school? The same basic principle applies with these oh-so-adorable prosciutto fans! Make several, and you’ve got a prosciutto river. You can also create an adorable rose bud using prosciutto, to adorn your larger roses.
Demo video here

Ham Cigars
Add some creative edge to your board by creating ham cigars. The concept here is simple, simply roll up and stack! Or, for a special treat, roll ham slices around mini bread sticks. Serve with smoked meats and whisky for a decadent, retro feel.
Demo video here

Salami River
Want to go for a flowy vibe rather than botanical? Create a salami river by stacking a series of salami pairs, folded into intricate quarters. This technique is excellent for creating a subtle boundary across your board.
Demo video here

Trying your hand at the charcuterie arts? We’d love to see! Tag us on social media @alexian_pate so we can celebrate your creations. 

Puff Pastry & Pâté Pairings

If you’re looking for the ultimate comfort food during the holiday season, look no further than puff pastry and pâté. Crisp, golden, and buttery pastry dough perfectly complements the rich and savory flavors of a pâté or mousse. The pairing is so good it’s hard to get it wrong, which can make it challenging to choose any one recipe to try out. We’ve organized a few of our favorite dishes from beginner-level to difficult, so you can enjoy puff + pâté no matter your kitchen abilities. Bon appétit! 

Savory Biscuits
If you’ve only got a little time on your hands but want a decadent snack, try making a savory biscuit using store-bought puff pastry rolls. Then, top with your favorite pâté or spread in the middle to make a mini-sandwich!

Holiday Pastry Cups
There are plenty of ways to get creative with scalloped pastry cups. Our rule of thumb is to include some pâté, a melty cheese, an herb, and a garnish after baking. Play around as desired, or stick with our tried and true combo: Pheasant Rosemary pâté, brie, rosemary, and pomegranate seeds!

En Croûte
A versatile and invariably delicious dish, en croûte refers to any savory stuffing encased by a puff pastry shell. Try combining a slice of pâté with goat cheese, rosemary, and mushrooms. Before baking, remember to glaze your pastry shell with butter to achieve that optimal golden hue!

Pâté Palmiers
Got a moment to bake with love? Try making palmiers! Named for their specific palm leaf shape and often presented as sweet, buttery cookies, you can also skip the sugar and bake pâté into the folds for a savory version.

Beef Wellington
Beef wellington is a top-tier treasured holiday dish, famed for its flavor and the care required to execute this show-stopping recipe. Take it to the next level by covering your beef in a thin layer of Truffle Mousse. Our full recipe is here, but cook at your own risk! It’s so good, you may have to cook it again every year after this one.

Freshening Up Thanksgiving Leftovers With Pâté

The classical Thanksgiving spread is a palate of flavors like no other. Warm, rich, savory, and indulgent, with plenty of slow-roasted meat, buttery veggies, and candied snacks to pick from. And then, pie, however you like it: pumpkin, pecan, apple… take your pick! Everybody has their own favorites, but one thing we have in common: what do we do with all these leftovers?

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with popping them in the microwave, but that mix-and-match meal gets old after about a day. Luckily, all it takes is a few slices of pâté to bring new life to your leftovers! Here are our favorite ideas for the weekend after:

Tomorrow’s Turducken Sandwich
Turducken is a complex recipe to execute, but you can easily make your own mini-version with Thanksgiving turkey, a dollop of Duck Rillette, and a slice of Chicken Ballotine! Serve on country bread or buttery rolls with a bit of cranberry sauce. 

Flavor-Blasted Veggies
To bring more complex flavors to simple vegetable dishes, try pairing them with crumbles of pâté. We suggest brussel sprouts with Pâté de Campagne, green beans with Wild Forest Mushroom Pâté, or raw veggie platters with any of our vegetable pâtés. Stick to our vegan flavors, and your vegetarian nephew will thank you! 

Magic With Mousse
Yesterday’s side dishes sometimes just need something savory to taste fresh again. Alexian’s smooth and creamy mousses can easily blend in, revitalizing a dish’s texture. Our favorite pairings are mashed potatoes with Truffle Mousse, stuffing with Black Peppercorn Mousse, and mac and cheese with Sage and Pork Mousse or Duck Rillette for added texture.

Dip Party
Got a bunch of gravy left and not much else? Any of Alexian’s coarse cut pâtés are the perfect friend for gravies and cranberry sauces. Serve ‘em up on your leftover bread and crackers, and enjoy Thanksgiving ‘til the last bite!

German Cooking With Pâté

Germany shares borders with seven countries, including France, Poland, and Denmark. Perhaps because of this central geography, German cuisine is widely varied, with qualities both delicate and hearty. Perhaps the most famous celebration of German cuisine is the annual folk festival Oktoberfest. Though the official fest is held in Munich, people all around the world throw similarly-themed parties around this time. If you’re having an Oktoberfest party – or just looking to branch out your cultural palate – here are a few ideas on traditional German dishes to cook, all with a little pâté twist!

Brâté & Bröchen
For a hassle-free homage to the classic German combo, enjoy a dollop of Sage and Pork Mousse pâté on dense, crispy white buns. Adorn with capers and mustard for some extra kick. And don’t forget to serve with a pint of beer: here are our favorite brews to pair with pâté.

A Side of Käsespätzle
Although spaghettieis is a common after-dinner treat, German cuisine favors buttery, cheesy noodles in traditional dishes. Käsespätzle – likely the precursor to modern day mac and cheese – makes an excellent base for savory flavors. Try between bites of thinly sliced Grand Marnier pâté. 

Pâtéto Salad
German Kartoffelsalat is the mother of all potato salads, and is made all the more authentic with Wild Forest Mushroom pâté. For centuries, the German Black Forest has been a fruitful site for mushroom harvesting, so the flavors of this pâté blend well with tradition.

Pâté Dumplings
If you’re up for indulging your inner chef, try making Maultaschen. Essentially, these are little savory raviolis filled with bacon, beef, veggies, or as we suggest, Truffle Mousse pâte. The trick here will be creating the dough from scratch, but one bite of the hearty, delicious finished product will be worth it!

Döner Kebab
Originally created by Turkish immigrants in the 1970s, this stuffed pita dish has evolved into a modern German lunchtime staple. The real thing is quite delectable, but you likely don’t have a rotisserie set up in your house. So, substitute lamb meat for thin cuts of Chicken & Veal pâté, quickly pan-fried and then served in a pita with tzatziki, cucumber, and other Mediterranean favorites.

If you incorporate pâté into your own personal Oktoberfest, we’d love to see! Tag us on social media @alexian_pate.

Our Favorite Pâté Cookout Recipes

 

Labor Day weekend has now come and gone, and for many of us it also marked the unofficial end of summer. We soaked up every bit of the season: grilling out, hitting the beach, and wearing white – possibly for the last time before spring of next year. 

Though we support holding on to summer fun and fashion for as long as possible, it’s still nice to come together for a great big picnic in the slightly-cooler days of early fall. We’ve curated some pâté picnic recipes for those dining in the great outdoors this September!

Bistro Burgers
Burgers are the all-American centerpiece of any great cookout! Take flippin’ to the next level with caramelized onions, cornichons, and a rich slice of Truffle Mousse Pâté.

Grilled Veggie Skewers
For a colorful bite of summertime freshness, grill vegetables until nice lines of charring appear, then chop and skewer with cubes of Tomato Basil Vegan Pâté in between for a cool and creamy delight.

Pasta Salad
We’ve got not one but two versions of this iconic summertime side dish! The lesson here is, whatever your go-to pasta salad recipe is, it can be improved with a bit of pâté magic.

Pâté Dip
Chips and salsa abound at the grillside. Why not pack in a bit of extra protein and flavor with a pâté dip instead? This one’s easy: just mash a bit of mousse with a fork until it reaches a dippable consistency. Yum!

Potato Salad
Summer’s not over until you’ve enjoyed a generous portion of potato salad! We love ours with Dijon mustard, chives, a bit of dill, and a bit of Sage and Pork Mousse for super-savory flavor. 

We’d love to see how you end up incorporating pâté into your cookout menus! Tag us on social media at @alexian_pate, and remember, summer doesn’t officially end until September 22nd. There’s time yet for potato salad!

A Summer Pâté Breakfast Spread

 

Summer days are endless fun, but all that action in the heat can tire us out quickly. To get the most out of the season, it’s important to start your days with a robust morning meal. Not to mention, there’s not much better in life than a slow, indulgent breakfast while you’re on vacation. By incorporating pâté into your breakfast spread, you get the best of both worlds: heartiness and luxury. Here’s our recommendation for the perfect pâté breakfast:

Grains
Don’t skimp on carbs in the morning! Incorporating bread, oats, or other grains into your first meal will give you much-needed energy for the rest of your day. We recommend toasted rye bread, fresh sourdough, or apple and cinnamon oatmeal. All with extra butter, of course! 

Proteins
Once you’ve selected your bready base, it’s time for something hearty and flavorful. No one wants to do too much kitchen work in the morning, so pâté is an excellent option. Just slice, spread, and enjoy! Chicken Liver Mousse pairs wonderfully with croissants, and Vegetable Pâté on crackers works wonders. If you do feel like turning on a burner, try Wild Forest Mushroom Pâté crumbles in your scrambled eggs. Only problem is, you’ll never want your eggs any other way.

Vitamins
Prepare for a long day with a healthy serving of fruit and veggies! If you’re having trouble deciding in the produce aisle, just aim for three different colors. Strawberries, bananas, and avocado. Or, cherry tomatoes, clementines, and blueberries. The world is your rainbow!

Refreshments
We know it sounds crazy, but we recommend beginning your day with three beverages at minimum: water for morning hydration, coffee or tea for a caffeine kick, and fruit juice for a moment of sweetness.

Are you enjoying pâté in the morning? Show us your picture-perfect breakfast spread by tagging us on social media @alexian_pate!

Pâté Pairings to Help You Cool Off

Tropical flavors and more for the height of summer.
 

It’s hot out there, so we’ll cut to the chase. Here are our favorite pâté pairings for the height of summer. You know, take-a-cold-shower, blast-the-AC, ice-cream-every-day type of weather. These ideas – some new, some from our recipe archives – will make refreshing additions to your seasonal menus. Stay cool out there!

Appetizers
In many ways, pâté is the perfect summer appetizer. It keeps fresh in the refrigerator, ready to serve and enjoy when you don’t have the energy for much else. A water cracker with a thin slice of fontina cheese, tomato, and Vegetable Pâté is sure to refresh, while a snack of Tomato Basil Pâté and cherry tomatoes can be whipped up in a jiffy. If you’re up to a bit more prep work, cabbage and pâté rolls are absolutely to die for.

Entrées
Revenge is a dish best served cold. And so is this delicious pâté pasta salad recipe, featuring creamy and robust Eggplant and Goat Cheese pâté. A fresh veggie sandwich is also a great and filling option for busy summer days. To experience true summertime decadence, try grilled chicken skewers with alternating cubes of Chicken Ballotine, grilled watermelon, and peppers. The Ballotine’s notes of pistachio, apricot, and pineapple will bring a tropical flair to wherever you dine.

Desserts
For a perfect blend of sweet and savory, try some pâté and peaches tartine or pair your pâté with cherries and cognac. The more adventurous chefs out there can try maple nut mushroom bites: spread some Earthy Mushroom vegan pâté on a pastry cracker, then top with maple candy crumbles and a pecan for extra crunch. 

Drinks
Pâte goes well with many kinds of beer, cocktails, and wine, both red and white. But our favorite sip and snack of the summer? Gotta be Lambrusco (a Spanish sparkling red wine) and Sage and Pork Mousse with Vermouth

We hope these refreshing ideas help get you through the dog days of summer and beyond! And remember, if you make a cool treat with pâté, remember to post a photo and tag @alexian_pate on social media!

Pâté Pizza Party

 

Remember those perfect summer days in childhood? You’d spend all afternoon at the pool, meander to a pizza party and movie night. Well, Alexian Pâté is here to say that those days don’t need to end in adulthood! Whether you’re craving some easy homemade pizza, or you’re up to the challenge of doing it all from scratch, here’s how to make delicious – and slightly elevated – pizza. During the height of tomato season, no less!

Make the Dough

Easy mode: pick up some pre-made dough from your local co-op.

The challenge: grab your chef’s hat and trust the recipe! Begin with flour, oil, water, salt, and yeast, then add garlic, dried basil, or oregano as desired. Mix until the dough is bouncy and consistent, then whip out a rolling pin or practice your twirl

Make the Sauce

Easy mode: just use a jar of your favorite store-bought red sauce.

The challenge: crush some tomatoes with caramelized onion, garlic, red pepper, and basil strips, then heat and season accordingly.

Select Your Cheese

Easy mode: grate a few cheese blocks to achieve your personal cheese mix. You can’t go wrong with mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, gouda, ricotta, gruyère, or fontina.

The challenge: it’s hard to overcomplicate cheese. If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, maybe… make your own

Add Toppings

Easy mode: slice up some mushrooms and call it a day.

The challenge: indulge your inner gourmand! Get creative with toppings such as briny olives, sun dried tomatoes, anchovies, and yellow peppers. Then, crumble your favorite pâté as a delightful alternative to sausages or pepperoni. Our favorite options for pizza are Wild Forest Mushroom, and Pheasant Rosemary.

When your perfect pie is assembled, bake at 425F for at least 15 minutes, adding more time as needed. Save some pâté crumbles as a post-bake topping for optimal juiciness in every bite.

The Elevated Nacho

 

Craving something salty and savory? Nothing hits the spot quite like a plate full of nachos. Nachos can be as simple as chips, beans, and melted cheese, but we prefer the more “loaded” variety. Here’s how to elevate your next serving of nachos with delicious toppings, creative garnishes, and of course, a bit of Alexian pâté magic.

Not-So-Basics

Set yourself up for nacho success by beginning with great base ingredients. Thicker corn tortilla chips will hold toppings better, and make sure to grate your own cheese for optimal meltiness. We recommend a combo of Monterey Jack, colby, and pepper jack.

Tons of Toppings

Proportions are totally subjective, but here’s our personal recipe for success (measurements are per 1lb bag chips):

Pick Your Proteins

Include a can of pinto beans in your toppings mix, and set aside warm refried beans as a dip. Now’s the best part: select your favorite coarse-cut pâté and crumble it by hand. Pheasant & Rosemary, Wild Forest Mushroom, and Pâté de Campagne will all bring a rich and savory profile to the dish.

The Art of the Bake

Baking nachos is an art of its own. Our advice? Foil line the pan, preheat to 350°F, and take your time. To preserve flavors and textures in every bite, bake in layers. Let the first layer of chips and cheese bake for five minutes. Then, add the juicier ingredients like corn, tomatoes, and beans, which can take a bit of heat. After those are sizzling, finish off the dish with the remaining toppings and pâté, allowing them just enough time to warm up. As you go, add more cheese and chips to your heart’s delight!

Dinner is Served

Present your latest work of culinary art with a colorful array of dips and garnishes. No one will complain about fresh cilantro, lime slices, mole salsa, sour cream, and homemade guac. For next level-decadence, include a side of spreadable mousse pâté. Forget seconds – our Black Peppercorn or Truffle flavors will have your guests going back for thirds!