panade

Advanced 🍳 Food / Culinary

Definition

A paste of starch and liquid used to bind forcemeats and maintain their texture, preventing your pâté from turning into expensive cat food. The unsung hero that keeps delicate preparations from falling apart both literally and metaphorically.

Example Usage

The quenelles fell apart because someone forgot to add the panade, and now we're serving 'rustic dumpling soup.'

Origin

French, from Latin 'panis' (bread), originally referring to bread soaked in liquid

Fun Fact

Traditional panades use bread, but modern chefs often substitute potatoes, rice, or flour because we've apparently evolved past bread as a binder.

Source: Classical French charcuterie terminology

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