Grandmothers’ Classic Easter Dish Everyone Used to Make!

Why is lamb traditionally served on Easter Sunday? It’s a common practice, you might say. However, in rural areas, traditions were a bit different. Generations ago, grandmothers were busy preparing a completely different dish that marked the end of Lent. In a video, Elie shares the recipe for the pâté that his grandmother Marguerite used to make for Easter. And it was not just any pâté, but the specific Berrichon pâté, a true Easter tradition.

According to the Deux-Sèvres Tourist Office website, this dish is a part of our heritage. Made with meat and eggs, ingredients that were once forbidden during Lent, it stands as the quintessential Easter symbol! There’s even a legend that says, “if you eat a pâté made with eggs laid on Good Friday, you will be protected from snake bites for a year.” Don’t worry, we won’t take the tradition that far! Fresh eggs laid on any other day of the week will do just fine.

For a pâté serving 6 people:

• 400 g of sausage meat
• 6 eggs
• 10 cl of milk
• 1 red onion
• a few pieces of stale bread
• fresh herbs (a bunch of parsley, chives, and mint)
• 1 sheet of puff pastry (homemade is an option)
• 1 pinch of turmeric, salt, and pepper
• A splash of Berry liqueur or port (optional)
• 1 cup of coffee

1. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes. While they are cooking, roughly crumble the bread and rehydrate it by mixing with milk. Combine with the sausage meat.

2. Dice the red onion, then chop the parsley, mint, and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Mix these into the meat mixture, then add the turmeric.

3. Peel the eggs, and crumble one into the mixture.

4. Roll out the puff pastry, spread the mixture over it. Cut the eggs in half and arrange them in a row. Fold the puff pastry over the filling.

Grandmother Marguerite’s little secret for browning the pastry? Brush it with coffee. Then, just bake the pâté in a preheated oven at 185°C (365°F) for about 45 minutes to an hour. Whether served hot, warm, or cold, this Easter pâté from Berry is sure to delight both adults and children!