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Field guide8 Curing Problems: How to Diagnose, Fix, and Prevent Them

Paté de jabalí

Also known as Wild boar pate, Paté de Jabalí

Nationwide, Spain

patewild boar

A rustic wild-boar liver terrine, sweetened with sherry and raisins.

Overview

Paté de Jabalí is a smooth or rustic brown pâté with clean game, liver, juniper and spirit aromas. it should be fully cooked, cohesive and free of grey raw pockets.

Where it's from

Nationwide, Spain

Climate. A game pate made wherever wild boar are hunted.

The cut

Pork cut chart with the Jowl (cheek) highlighted
Pork · Jowl (cheek)Liver with shoulder, belly and jowl

How to recognise it

A smooth or rustic brown pâté with clean game, liver, juniper and spirit aromas. It should be fully cooked, cohesive and free of grey raw pockets. A raw or grey centre, split filling, greasy purge, sourness or broken refrigeration is unacceptable.

Shape and size
Sliced terrine
Lean colour
Dark, liver-rich
Fat and marbling
Smooth bind
Casing
Terrine or caul
Surface bloom
None

Origins and history

Pate de jabali is a rustic wild-boar liver terrine, the game equivalent of a country pork pate. Its gaminess is balanced by sweetness, brandy, Pedro Ximenez sherry and golden raisins, and it belongs to the cooked-charcuterie tradition that runs from Spain into France. It is a way of honouring the whole animal after the hunt. Pâté allowed lean, strongly flavoured game to be softened with liver and pork fat. Modern production must add veterinary control to the traditional kitchen method. Modern wild-boar pâté also depends on official game inspection and parasite control, which separate a safe charcuterie process from informal use of hunted meat.

Name. Pate, the terrine; jabali, wild boar.

Production today
Made where wild boar are hunted.
Protection
Unprotected.
Tradition vs modern
A cooked terrine in the French-influenced tradition.
Seasonality
The boar-hunting season.

Serving and cultural significance

Serve chilled slices with toast, mustard, pickled onions, fruit preserve or a dry red wine. Let a small portion soften briefly for aroma, but keep the main terrine refrigerated and use clean utensils throughout service.

Recipe and cure

Origin RecipeDraft, to verify

This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, please run it through one of our curing calculators, so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.

Traditional or protected production

Paté de Jabalí is a cooked pâté made from wild-boar meat, commonly supported by pork liver and firm fat and seasoned with spirits, juniper and herbs. It is a perishable cooked product, not a raw cured game meat.

Meat
wild boar or pork
Cut
liver with shoulder, belly and jowl
Salt (%)
5.5
Other agents
brandy; PX sherry; raisins; butter
Fermented
No
Smoked
No
Target aW or weight loss
cooked terrine
Temperature (°C)
cooked in a bain-marie
Maturation
cook, chill, and rest a few days
Basis
per 1000 g meat and liver blend
Style
Cooked liver terrine

Ingredients

  • brandy10% · 100 g/kg
  • kosher salt5.5% · 55 g/kg
  • brown sugar1.5% · 15 g/kg
  • black pepper0.5% · 5 g/kg
  • golden raisins8% · 80 g/kg
  • PX sherry12% · 120 g/kg
  • unsalted butter5% · 50 g/kg

Method

  1. Marinate the diced meat and liver in brandy.
  2. Grind and blend with the aromatics, sherry and raisins.
  3. Line a terrine and bake in a bain-marie to temperature.
  4. Chill under a light weight.
  5. Rest a few days before slicing.

Notes

  • This is a cooked product. Cook thoroughly to a safe internal temperature and cool promptly; cooking does not kill botulinum spores, so keep the warm-holding window short and refrigerate.
  • Wild game must reach a safe internal temperature; treat game with the same Trichinella caution as pork.
  • The flavour improves with a few days' rest.

In the Codex

What this product teaches, and where to read more.

Temple. Pillar, Hygiene Control