Food and wine pairing
Petits pâtés de Pézenas and Pour les Amis
Said to have been handed down by the cooks of Lord Clive during his stay in Pézenas in the 18th century, petits pâtés have become the town’s gourmet emblem. Lamb, brown sugar and lemon zest: a delicately spiced sweet-and-savoury combination that calls for a supple, fruity red. Pour les Amis, a Saint-Chinian from Château Gilbert & Gaillard, lives up to its name for sharing them.
The recipe
Petits pâtés de Pézenas
Serves 8Preparation 50 minCooking 30 min
Ingredients
- Pastry: 500 g T45 flour
- 250 g lard (or half lard, half butter)
- 15 cl water
- 8 g salt
- Filling: 400 g boned shoulder of lamb
- 80 g veal or beef kidney fat
- 120 g soft brown sugar
- The finely grated zest of an unwaxed lemon
- 6 g salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 egg yolk for glazing
Method
- 1
Prepare the filling: finely mince the shoulder of lamb and the kidney fat (with a mincer on the fine plate, or ask your butcher).
- 2
Mix the minced meat with the brown sugar, lemon zest, salt and a good grinding of pepper. Keep in the fridge.
- 3
Make the pastry: heat the water with the lard and salt until the fat has melted and the mixture is simmering.
- 4
Pour it all at once onto the flour and mix briskly with a spatula, then by hand as soon as the dough is easy to handle. It should be smooth and supple. Leave it to cool for 10 minutes.
- 5
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Take two thirds of the pastry and shape it into 8 balls. Mould each one around a small floured glass or cork to make small timbales about 5 cm high.
- 6
Unmould the timbales and fill them with the filling without packing it down.
- 7
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out 8 discs. Place them on the timbales and pinch the edges to seal well.
- 8
Glaze with egg yolk and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is nicely golden.
- 9
Serve warm, with a green salad.
Why this pairing works
Pour les Amis
The petit pâté de Pézenas is a balancing act: the brown sugar softens the lamb, the lemon zest awakens it, the lard pastry wraps it. It needs a red that will not overpower it. Pour les Amis, a blend of syrah, grenache and mourvèdre, offers a supple palate whose fruity intensity answers the sweet touch of the filling. Its spicy notes accompany the pepper and the warmth of the lamb, and the freshness that underpins it plays the same role as the lemon: it lightens the whole. Finally, the discreet mineral background of its nose brings clarity against the richness of the pastry.
Petits pâtés can be made the day before and reheated for 10 minutes in the oven at 160 °C: so you can entertain without leaving your friends.
Page updated on 19 October 2026