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Pate De Gibier, or Game Pate, Superlative
Bone four partridges, or, if they are to be had, take two partridges and two grouse; variety is always acceptable in game pasty. Cut up a hare, and season it as well as the partridges with salt and cayenne. Put inside each of the partridges a good-sized truffle and a portion of forcemeat, prepared as follows. Mince finely and separately, and then mix thoroughly, one pound of calf's liver, and the livers of the birds and the hare, all of which must be cooked apart; add three pounds of fat bacon. Season this mixture with salt, cayenne, and mixed savoury herbs, pound it in a mortar, and afterwards mix with it a pound and a half of truffles. Make some pastry, and mould it to the proper shape, according to the directions already given (see PASTE FOR RAISED PIES); cover the bottom of the pie with a layer of slices of fat bacon, place upon this half the hare and half the forcemeat, then put in the partridges, two with their breasts upwards and two with their breasts downwards, place the remainder of the hare and the forcemeat upon them, and cover the whole with a good slice of bacon fat and two bay-leaves. Put the lid on the pie, ornament it prettily, and bake it in a good oven for four hours or more. When it has been drawn from the oven, and is almost cold, pour into it, through a hole made in the centre of the lid, a quarter of a pint of dissolved gravy-jelly, which has been made by stewing the bones in water and mixing the stock with a little isinglass or gelatine. Probable cost, varying with the price of the game. Sufficient for ten or twelve persons.
A full raised game pie in the French manner — pâté en croûte on a grand scale, built to be eaten cold over several days. Nothing here is difficult, but the scale, the birds and the truffle quantity all need translating.
- The hinge: build it tightA raised pie is best packed solid. Press each layer of hare, forcemeat and birds firmly into the corners of the case so there are no large air pockets before the lid goes on.
- "A good oven" for four hoursRead this as roughly 400F for the first 20-30 minutes to set the pastry, then down to 300-325F for the remaining time. A pie this size wants an internal temperature of 165F at the centre, and a probe is more reliable than the clock.
- Paste for raised piesThe cross-reference means hot-water crust: flour worked with boiling water and lard, moulded while warm and free-standing or baked in a hinged pie mould. Ordinary shortcrust will not hold four hours of weight and juices.
- Fat baconThis means cured fat pork cut in thin sheets rather than modern streaky rashers, and in this period was often unsmoked. Heavily smoked supermarket bacon will dominate the game entirely; ask a butcher for fresh pork back fat or use thin-sliced unsmoked pancetta.
- The gameGrey partridge and red grouse are seasonal and sold whole by game dealers; two pheasant thighs and breasts, quail or guinea fowl stand in without complaint. "Hare" can be a whole wild rabbit, though the flavour is much milder. Note that the recipe bones the birds but keeps them whole to be stuffed, while the hare is simply cut up.
- TrufflesA pound and a half of truffles in the forcemeat plus four whole ones is a Victorian luxury figure now worth more than the rest of the pie combined. A few ounces of fresh truffle, or dried cepes soaked and chopped with a little truffle paste, gives the same register at a sane cost.
- Isinglass and the jellyIsinglass is a setting agent made from fish swim bladders; use powdered gelatine, about 1 tablespoon to a pint of well-reduced game stock. A quarter of an imperial pint is 5 fl oz. Pour it in while the pie is still just warm so it runs into the gaps, then chill overnight.
- Seasoning and cayenneNo quantities are given for salt, cayenne or herbs. For roughly 8 lb of meat and fat, work on about 1 1/2 teaspoons of fine salt per pound of forcemeat and a scant 1/4 teaspoon cayenne overall; fry a spoonful of the mixture and taste before assembling.
- ServingTen to twelve as a substantial cold course. Keep it refrigerated, cut it with a long thin blade, and eat within four or five days.
Cassell's belongs to the era when English household cookery still measured itself against the French kitchen, and the raised game pie — pâté de gibier, pastry as a cooking vessel and a serving dish at once — was one of its showpieces. Pies like this are generally thought to have been made in the weeks after the shooting season opened, when partridge, grouse and hare arrived at the house in quantity and had to be turned into something that would keep and travel; the enclosing crust and the sealing layer of jelly did the work refrigeration does now, and the pie is often said to have gone to the sideboard, the shooting lunch or the ball supper table. The insistence on truffles, calf's liver and three pounds of bacon fat places this firmly in the ambitious end of Victorian catering rather than everyday cooking, and the word "superlative" in the title is doing exactly the work it looks like it is doing. The recipe gives no reason for the direction to arrange two birds breast up and two breast down, though it is usually explained as a way of packing the case evenly and giving a handsome symmetrical face when the pie is cut.