time, was self-sufficient, with an abundant supply of eggs, milk, cream, fruit, vegetables, and meat In summer I would go there to help cut the hay and make haystacks, hard work for a kid in the August heat I didn’t appreciate it then, but now it is a wonderful memory I will never forget the food I ate there Nothing was raised or grown with chemicals, and the vivid flavor of these products will always be engraved on my palate I’ve never tasted milk that compares to the superfresh milk I drank at my grand-parents’ farm Alsatian pâté chaud, unlike other French meat pâtés that are served cold, is a warm meat pie made with pork or a mix of pork and veal wrapped in puff pastry The meat is traditionally cut into strips, though it can also be cut into cubes, marinated for a day in Riesling with shallots, parsley, herbs, and spices, and arranged on a large rectangular strip of puff pastry The pastry is gathered up around the sides of the filling like a package, and another rectangular sheet of puff pastry is set on top Then the dough is decorated with the tip of a knife in a herringbone pattern and brushed with egg wash so that when it bakes it comes out shiny and ornate A marvelous exchange of flavors takes place as the meat roasts inside the pastry, filling it with its juices while on the outside the pastry becomes crisp and flaky Until I began working on this book it had been a while since I’d made pâté chaud; there was little demand for it in the bakeries I worked in around the world As a child, though, it was a special dish that we always had when we went to see my grandparents for family ... on a large rectangular strip of puff pastry The pastry is gathered up around the sides of the filling like a package, and another rectangular sheet of puff pastry is set on top Then the dough is decorated with the tip of a knife in a... out shiny and ornate A marvelous exchange of flavors takes place as the meat roasts inside the pastry, filling it with its juices while on the outside the pastry becomes crisp and flaky Until I began working on... grand-parents’ farm Alsatian pâté chaud, unlike other French meat pâtés that are served cold, is a warm meat pie made with pork or a mix of pork and veal wrapped in puff pastry The meat is traditionally cut into strips,