pašteta

(Translation, Yugoslavia)

The paté. If you lived in the US only, you probably think there is only one variety, the braunschweiger, and maybe one more special in the deli. You should see how wrong you can be.

First off, it shouldn't be so dense. It's a spread, it's something you put on bread (fresh, preferably not toasted at all). So it should be something you spread, not something to slice. Sure it means it's more greasy, but then Serbia is (still) not* a nation of couch potatoes, people walk, ride bicycles and generally move a lot, so a few grams of fat in the pašteta do nothing.

Second, it shouldn't be wrapped in plastic. The proper liver pašteta should be in the pig's own gut. Or in a can.**

Third, my dictionary lists "liverwurst" as a translation, which is wrong. It's a german word, meaning 'liver sausage' - and what they call liver sausage (džigernjača) in Srem, is called bela kobasica (white sausage) elsewhere. Also wrong, because the liver pašteta is only one kind. There's also pašteta made of meat - pork, beef, young beef, chicken, goose, goose liver, quail (which is rare and something of a joke), turkey, even fish.

The cans go from 45g foils, over standard 100g and 200g, up to institutional sizes (not easy to find in retail, but any larger city had a meat processing factory, and they always had an outlet at the gates, where they'd sell mislabeled stuff, odds and ends). There were also tubes, where you could squeeze as much as you need for a sandwich, then cap it and it wouldn't oxidate.

BTW, it necessarily oxidates, and should go darker at the edges if left open in the fridge. If it goes a tad grayish where exposed to air, you got duped: they added soy. Cats may still love it.

Accidentally and for no good reason (perhaps the French may be guilty here, probably too late to summon a firing squad now), the same word is used for pogačice when they are cut in squares, as if it's a different staple when in different shape. The confusion is arbitrary.

The recipe is at 19-III-1997..

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* because I first wrote this while still in the US. Nowadays (2020 and on) there are just enough of american style fatsoes, obese from pure starch bread, molasses (aka HFCS) in everything, especially soda, spongy sausages and loneliness.

** now it's in plastic here too


Mentions: Differences from serbian version, january 1960., 15-VII-1968., july 1969., 17-V-1970., End of elementary, may 1976., by pics, 27-XI-1978., 18-XII-1981., 07-XI-1984., december 1987., 19-III-1997., pašteta recipe, 15-V-2000., 05-II-2005., 07-VII-2005., 04-VII-2015., 05-III-2018., 25-XII-2018., 04-IV-2020., 28-IX-2020., 24-IX-2022., 14-IX-2023., 13-I-2024., 24-II-2024., homemade, pogačice, in serbian