The history behind the curious british petit pâté from Pézenas
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The tops
What’s this?
A curious recipe! This sweet and sour Indo-British speciality, with its bobbin shape, was created at the end of the 18th century by an English lord...
This pâté with its golden crust is made with mutton meat, sugar and citrus fruits peels.
You can eat it hot as a starter.
The little history
An English meal with Indian flavours... here, in Pezenas? Where did it come from?
Lord Robert Clive, governor of India, brought the recipe with him when he came in Southern France, to take rest in castle of Larzac, near Pezenas.
His Indian chief cooked him this pâté in March 1768...
Clive loved them, so did his guests! He gave the recipe to a baker, Roucayrol, whose shop was located rue Saint-Jean in Pézenas.
Originally, these pâtés looked like sugared meat pies. In England, they are known as "Clive's pies": they are made with brown sugar, curry and raisins.
Pezenas bakers innovated: they replaced raisins by candied citrus fruits peels!