When I first heard of pâtés and terrines, I thought they were two different things. But it turns out they’re mostly the same though people like to wax poetic on the similarities and differences. But who’s right? I decided to look into what people say about pâtés and terrines being the same and write a helpful blog post to save you the trouble of doing this research yourself!
Are pâtés and terrines the same?
While there are some differences—most notably the terrine dish—it’s safe to use the terms pâté and terrine interchangeably. Pâtés and terrines are forcemeat dishes made of an emulsion of meat and fat. Terrines are also called pâté en terrine because they’re pâtés pressed into a terrine (dish). In North America, people also think of pâté as a spreadable liver dish but not all pâtés contain liver.
There’s a lot more to say about whether pâtés and terrines are the same. Let’s take a further look at the definitions of these two yummy dishes and then see what 10 professional chefs and institutions have to say about this question. And, as a bonus, I’ll also answer the question of whether terrine is the same as meatloaf.
Defining terms: What is pâté?
A pâté is a forcemeat dish made of meat, fat and spices. Pâtés are often enhanced with wine, brandy or sherry. In North America, the home cook and the general public equate pâté with liver, but liver isn’t necessary to create a pâté. In my recipe research, liver seems to be more common in pâté recipes than terrine recipes.
There are four main styles of pâté: country pâté, straight pâté, gratin pâté and mousseline pâté. The categories are based mostly on their ingredients, texture and how they’re made.
Diagram: The four types of pâtés
Defining terms: What is a terrine?
A terrine is basically a pâté that’s cooked in a dish called a terrine. At Dictionary.com, they define terrine as, “a paté or similar dish of chopped meat, game, fish, or vegetables baked in such a dish and served cold.”
Pâté is as the overarching category and terrines can be considered a sub-category if the pâté is cooked in a terrine dish. Pâtés and terrines in pastry are called pâté en croûte or terrine en croûte.
Defining terms: What is a meatloaf?
Since I was already on Dictionary.com, I checked out the definition of meatloaf too. Meatloaf is officially “a dish of ground meat, often mixed with other ingredients, as bread crumbs and seasonings, molded in the shape of a loaf and baked.”
Is terrine the same as pâté?
Basically, yes. Pâtés and terrines are meat and fat emulsions—called forcemeat—and what you do with it determines what name to call it. If you cook the forcemeat in the dish—a.k.a. a terrine—you could call it a pâté en terrine or terrine for short. If you surround the forcemeat with pastry and cook it, it’s called a pâté en croûte. If you cook the mix first and then put in in a container (like a lot of liver pâté recipes), you’d probably call it pâté. In most circles, you won’t get any strange looks for using the terms pâté and terrine interchangeably.
Bonus question: Is terrine the same as meatloaf?
Meatloaf and terrines are much the same because they’re both loaf-shaped and made with similar ingredients but they’re not the same. Meatloaves are generally served hot, right out of the oven while terrines are served cold after many hours or a day of cooling down and sometimes pressing. Meatloaves generally contain breadcrumbs (or oats, etc.) to bind the mix together while this is often not the case with terrines. Terrines are cooked in a water bath and meatloaves, while cooked in a similar loaf pan, are not also surrounded by a water bath.
And perhaps the final evidence that terrine is not the same as meatloaf: I’ve never seen a terrine (or pâté) recipe call for ketchup—and we all know our favourite meatloaf recipe calls for a quarter cup of the red stuff, right?
Mark Bittman, in his article, Meatloaf Made Meatier, says, “If you can make meatloaf you can make what the French call pâté de campagne, or country pâté. It is simply a variation of meatloaf, a splendid one. It is denser, with more meat, and has no filler like bread crumbs.”
[By the way, there’s a charming three-minute video in that article showing Mark making his country pâté in a terrine dish.]
Now that we’ve finished our detour into meatloaf versus terrine, let’s get back to the main question about whether pâté is the same thing as terrine.
What the experts say about pâte and terrines being the same
I’m new to the world of forcemeat; this whole site is about what I’ve learned as a beginner and an amateur. This means I don’t have the knowledge, wisdom or expertise to know why some people call pâté and terrine the same and some people insist they’re different.
So, instead, I wanted to get insight into this question from folks who know all about this stuff: professional chefs and culinary institutions. That means I dug through eight books to compile the collective wisdom on the question of whether pâtés and terrines are the same thing.
What Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn say about pâtés and terrines
In their book, Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking & Curing, Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn say this, “Pâtés and terrines, broadly speaking, are essentially big sausages cooked in some sort of mold, either earthenware or porcelain (en terrine), in dough (en croûte), or in skin (galantines and ballotines).”
In their book, Pâté, Confit, Rillette: Recipes from the Craft of Charcuterie, they get a little more detailed—after all, that’s the point of this excellent book. They say here, “Most appreciate the depth of flavour a judicious amount of liver, ground with the meat, gives to a finished pâté. But it need not contain liver in order to be a pâté. Pâté, literally, “paste” in French is ground meat and fat, cooked. That’s all. Sometimes it’s referred to as pâté en terrine which simply means that the pâté is cooked in a terrine mold.”
In their pâté book (which contains an amazingly light, airy and delicious chicken liver terrine), they use the two terms interchangeably.
[By the way, this is a great book which I recommend. Even though I was intimidated by some of their pâté-making instructions (keep everything ice cold or else!), there are many recipes in this book suitable for a novice like me. Making that chicken liver terrine recipe made me feel like a champ!]
What Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says about pâtés and terrines
In his book, The River Cottage Meat Book, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall also notes that pâté means paste. He says, “But I doubt we would have ever developed such an enduring enthusiasm for the dish if we hadn’t borrowed the name from across the Channel.”
About the difference between pâtés and terrines, Hugh says, “Someone, somewhere may have a better definition of precisely how a terrine differs from a pâté, and it’ll probably have something to do with the traditional earthenware terrines in which such a dish was cooked in France. But as far as I’m concerned, a pâté becomes a terrine when it has definable chunks of meat in it.”
So, compared to the diagram of pâté categories above, Hugh calls country pâté—which is chunky—terrine. He also believes the best pâtés and terrines are made with liver and game.
[On a side note, it’s funny that I’ve had The River Cottage Meat Book for probably a decade, but I can’t remember reading the pâté section before. There’s even a rillettes recipe in there too. Time to revisit this cookbook—which is awesome for meat lovers—for sure!]
What Jacques Pépin says about pâtés and terrines
In his book, Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook, Jacques says, “Terrines are generally more elegant and often served with aspic, while the country pâté makes you think more of cornichons (sour French gherkins), and hot Dijon mustard.”
I like this way of thinking about the difference between pâtés and terrines. Plus, Jacques is a real French guy, so he was probably weaned on pâté and/or has it coursing through his veins.
What Wayne Gisslen says about pâtés and terrines
Wayne Gisslen is the author of Professional Cooking, College Version, Seventh Edition, and I stumbled across chapter 27 online. This chapter is called, “Pâtés, Terrines, and Other Cold Foods” and it starts on page 874! This book must be epic and from what I read in this chapter, it’s great about clearly explaining terms and instructions.
Wayne says, “Terrines and pâtés are baked forcemeats, often but not always containing one or more types of garnish. Strictly speaking, the difference between the two lies in how they are baked. By definition, a terrine is baked in an earthenware dish. The dish itself is also called a terrine, a word derived from the French terre, meaning “earth.” … Terrines may be presented in their baking dish, or they may be unmolded. Pâtés include products baked in a crust … In this book, we use the term pâté to indicate products baked with a crust and terrine for products baked without a crust. Popular usage of the terms, however, is much looser.”
Now, I love this last sentence about popular usage. Unless you’re studying at Le Cordon Bleu or are a professional chef, you can be loose with what you call these meat and fat emulsions.
What John Kinsella and David T. Harvey say about pâtés and terrines
John Kinsella and David T. Harvey wrote their book, Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pâtés, in 1996 because few charcuterie textbooks for culinary students existed at the time. When this book was published, these authors were certified with the American Culinary Federation and this book was born out of the Chef Technology Program at the Cincinnati Technical College.
What do John and David say about whether pâtés and terrines are the same? They say, “Pâtés and terrines are both made from forcemeat, and they share a common ancestry. Although the words are often used interchangeably, a terrine is forcemeat that is baked in a dish (a terrine). Pâté often refers to the forcemeat itself which may be used in various preparations. It especially describes forcemeat that is baked in a pastry crust (which may also be called pâté en croute). To make it even more confusing, the menu item pâté à la maison may mean a hot or cold item of meat, fish, or vegetable that is baked with or without pastry.”
What Taylor Boetticher and Taponia Miller say about pâtés and terrines
Taylor Boetticher and Taponia Miller are the owners of the Fatted Calf, a much-loved restaurant in San Francisco and they present a simple way to think about pâtés and terrines in their book, In the Charcuterie: The Fatted Calf’s Guide to Making Sausage, Salumi, Pâtés, Roasts, Confits, and Other Meaty Goods.
They simply say, “A terrine is a type of pâté or forcemeat that is baked in a mold, also called a terrine.”
I don’t know about you, but this answer, and Jacques Pepin’s answer, speak to me the most. So confident, so clear, so black and white.
The final word: What The Culinary Institute of America says about pâtés and terrines
In Garde Manger: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen, Fourth Edition, The Culinary Institute of America uses these three terms: forcemeat, terrine and pâté en croûte. They say, “Terrines, the shortened name of a dish classically known as pâté en terrine, are traditionally understood to be forcemeat mixtures baked in an earthenware mold with a tight-fitting lid.”
Much like the fellas at the Cincinnati Technical College, The Culinary Institute of America connects the word pâté to en croûte (the crust) and terrine to the dish.
Conclusion
So, there you have it: pâtés and terrines are basically the same forcemeat, dressed differently. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about this simple question as much as I have! And is it just me, or do you also have an urge for pâté right now?