There are certain things we expect from pâté, no matter its constituents. We expect it to be rich, the flavor deep. We don't expect to eat very much of it, but we expect it to linger.
A vegetable pâté is after the same qualities, and it is, perhaps surprisingly so, adept in achieving them. Vegetables are by turns and by treatment sweet, nutty, earthy, smoky, spicy. They can take on textures dense and smooth or ethereally creamy. The best in vegetable pâté, then, takes philosophical cues from traditional pâté – the depths of flavor and luxuries of texture – without aspiring to mimic them.
"There are two things you want in a vegetable pâté," says Amanda Cohen, chef-owner of the New York vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy. "One is a very strong flavor; the other is an intense depth of creaminess. … What you should expect is a very interesting taste sensation in a small bite."
Almost any vegetable can be worked into a pâté, but the ones that perform most successfully carry flavor profiles that lean on the side of sweet, with earthy undertones, and flesh fine-grained and dense. Think root vegetables, winter squash or those not-exactly-vegetables, mushrooms. Nuts and seeds, pounded into a paste, contribute to a creamier, more substantial texture, as do legumes such as lentils and white beans, and fat.
A vegetable pâté (not to be confused with vegetarian), then, is not about making amends for something it is not, nor is it a substitute for a pâté made with meat. A vegetable pâté should instead be a celebration of the vegetable itself, an exploration of what that vegetable is capable of expressing. And you don't need to be a vegetarian to appreciate it.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Emily C. Horton
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.