Pork pate a French recipe

Remove rind from pork and chop all of the meat and fat roughly. Peel and chop onions, shallots and mix all these ingredients together.

Mince once or twice in a mincing machine according to the texture preferred.

Mix in the brandy, parsley, chives, spices and seasonings. Blend this mixture thoroughly with the hands and pack into a heavy earthen ware dish.

Put the bay leaves on top and streaky bacon arranged over them in a criss cross pattern. It must cover the surface completely.

Place in a bain-marie and cook in the oven for 30 mins. Then reduce the heat to 150c or 300f gas 2 and cook for a further 1½ to 2 hours.

Test with a metal skewer plunged into the centre if it comes out hot and the juice is clear remove the pate from the oven.

Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper Put a small plate on top with a weight of not more than 1lb on the plate.

Leave until quite cold allow to mature for 24 hours. Do not remove the fat as this preserves the pate.

To serve cut the required number of slices from out of the dish.

Place cling film against the cut side to prevent drying out and cover.

Remove all the fat from slices and serve.