No. 1403 — Pâté in a Dish with a Woven Pastry Cover
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 1403 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
To make a more decorative pâté, roll a pastry disc the size of the serving dish, place the overturned dish on the pastry lying over paper and cut around it with a sharp knife.
Cut the pastry from the outside into equal strips about three or four fingers wide at the base and tapering toward the centre; leave the central circle intact and cut a hole in it with a small glass.
Once the dish is filled with forcemeat, carefully slide the pastry from its paper so the centre rests over the centre of the filling.
Spread the strips so each slightly overlaps the next. Prepare four additional similarly tapered strips, about two vershoks longer, and position them at four opposite points.
Tuck their extra lengths under the centre circle and shape the protruding ends into a four-loop rosette.
Brush with egg, butter and water and move directly from the cold into a hot oven.
For still more ornament, cut a scalloped edge along one side of each pastry strip so the scallops overlap the neighbouring strip.