French tips on pâté de campagne

The French are masters of using cheap cuts of meat which would otherwise be wasted. A traditional pâté de campagne needs good pork meat, fat and liver, and should be well seasoned with good sea salt and black pepper. Use any rough cut – you get different textures from a mixture of meats. Belly is perfect because it contains lots of fat. Mix it together, add a couple of bay leaves and leave it to set for six hours before coarsely mincing it.

I always add a glass of white wine. It’s an old trick of my grandfather’s – he was a butcher and swore by this addition, and it’s not the same without it. Traditionally, pâté de campagne is wrapped in caul fat before you cook it. It should come out really brown and caramelised on top. Leave it to sit for two or three days before serving with a really good pain de campagne and some cornichons – pâté always needs something acidic to go with it…