While the streets and stores have emptied during the coronavirus pandemic our kitchens have become quite packed. Whether it is from everyone in the house trying to learn how to cook or the cramped space in our fridge and pantry from all the incredible ingredients we are trying out. People have fallen in love with cooking again during the quarantine period and it is a little bit heartwarming. During this time we have been introduced to some incredible recipes and creations. Yet we have also seen a couple of horror shows in the kitchen. The latest recipe we came across just left us confused.
Pate is a paste consisting of meats and spice that people usually spread across crackers. Traditionally the most common meat is liver but people do branch out occasionally. Pate is considered by many to be a fancy appetizer at a dinner party and is usually sure to impress. The latest pate recipe we found did not achieve that status.
White castle is an American institution. It is credited with being the first fast-food chain in America as it was founded in 1921 and today has 377 locations across 13 states. The company is famous for its small square burgers and even featured a prominent role in the hit comedy “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”.
One thing White castle is not famous for is its pate. Yet one twitter user recently shared a discovery she made while going through her grandmother’s belongings. The user who has the handle ‘Idrinkh20’ shared a photo from a recipe book that she found belonging to her grandmother. The recipe book was created by their local church.
Hidden among the pages of standard recipes was something submitted by church loving Judy Holt. What she called ‘White Castle Pate’. The incredible recipe requires 10 white castle burgers. You must blend the burgers together, slowly adding water to create a pate. The recipe encourages sour cream as a topping and to be served with crackers. Nothing more is required. The sheer idea of blending a bunch of fast food burgers in our home blender boggles the mind but to do it with the aim of producing a pate is really strange.
While we thought this was a one-off strange occurrence, the post has gone viral. Many people are sharing the tweet because it is so strange but others are sharing it because the recipe has a special place in their family too. Another user shared a different photo of an updated ‘White Castle Pate’. This recipe was also found in a church cookbook but now included some white wine, garlic, and black olives. Incredible.
The story gets even better because White Castle actually features a recipe for this pate on its website. The official version takes thing up a notch, adding Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, bbq sauce, mustard, and hot sauce. They clearly found the original recipe a little dry. Interestingly on the recipe, they encourage blending the entire burger, not just the meat. They instruct fans to blend the bun, pickles, and everything else that comes in a white castle burger.
Part of me knows that this recipe is strange and disgusting. I know that fast-food burgers should never be the foundation ingredient of any home recipe. However, there is another part of me. There is a part of me that knows that if this recipe has spread across the mid-west of America and featured on the official website, it must be really delicious. Why have pate with liver, when you can have delicious burger pate? If that is true then why have spaghetti bolognese, why not spaghetti boloBurgerKing? This discovery has changed my entire view of cooking and I am not sure life will ever be the same again.
