I would happily sit down at a table and enjoy this with whatever salad or sides you’d want to put in front of me. And perhaps in my younger days I might have attempted this. But no longer. Be sure to take pictures and send them along if you make this!

Slice at the table and serve with a bowl of green salad. This paté or loaf in crust keeps well in the refrigerator.

—Master Chef Louis P. De Gouy, The Gold Cook Book (1947)

“Pâté Froid de Volaille, Ma Façon”

COLD CHICKEN LOAF MY WAY

“Plump, young” 5 lb fowl, boned carefully, “the whole skin should be removed,” carcass laid flat on a wet board
½ lb lean raw veal
¼ lb raw ham
½ lb lean raw pork
¼ lb fresh mushrooms
½ C heavy cream
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
A few grains cayenne
Ground nutmeg
Generous pinches of thyme ground cloves, and ground allspice
Bread, soaked with milk, enough to yield a full cup when squeezed in a dry towel and pressed down
2 Tbsp onion, grated
1 C dry cracker crumbs
¼ lb (about) fat back pork, cut into long narrow strips and rolled in finely minced fines herbs (“parsley, chives, tarragon, and the like”)
Rich pastry, “puff pastry may be used,” enough to line a large oval mold when rolled out
Egg yolk mixed with a little cold milk

Preheat oven to 350˚ to 375˚. Run veal, ham, pork, and mushrooms through a food chopper using the finest blade, blend mixture with heavy cream, season with salt, pepper, cayenne, ground nutmeg to taste, thyme, cloves, and allspice, bread, onions, and cracker crumbs, and run this mixture through food chopper again “to ensure smoothness and thorough blending.”

Divide stuffing evenly into 3 parts. Use 1 part to stuff boned fowl. Reshape stuffed bird into its natural form and lard through and through with prepared fat back pork strips. “Do not tie the bird, but roll it up as you would a jelly roll.”

Line a large oval mold with pastry rolled out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and spread bottom and sides of pastry with second part of stuffing, pressing down well with a spatula. Place reshaped fowl in center and spread with remaining part of stuffing on top. Bake 2 hours 30 minutes. If the top browns too fast, cover with buttered paper.

When done, remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 425˚. Unmold loaf onto a baking sheet, brush crust with egg wash, and return to oven “to crisp and brown the crust.” Let cool thoroughly before serving.