pâte

Pâte is a French culinary term that denotes a dough or paste used as the base for many dishes. In its broad sense, pâte encompasses both doughs intended for baking into crusts and pastries, and cooked pastes used for fillings or shaping. The common elements are flour and a liquid, with fat such as butter or oil and often eggs, salt, or sugar. The texture and handling of pâte depend on the intended use: some are rolled and baked, others are stirred or cooked.

Typical pâte forms include pâte brisée (shortcrust), a dough in which cold butter is cut into flour and a small amount of water is added, yielding a crisp crust for tarts and quiches; pâte sablée, a richer, sandier dough with higher fat and sugar that yields a tender, crumbly crust for cookies and delicate tarts; pâte sucrée, a sweet, structured pastry used for crisp tart shells; pâte feuilletée (puff pastry), a laminated dough built from alternating layers of dough and butter to create many delicate sheets; and pâte à choux, a cooked dough enriched with eggs to form light puffs and éclairs.

Other varieties include doughs such as pâte à pizza or other savory doughs, with exact ratios varying by recipe and purpose. In French cuisine, the term pâte is centered on structure, texture, and flavor balance appropriate to the dish being prepared.

Note: pâté (with an acute accent) refers to a meat or liver spread, known as pâté, and is not the same as pâte. The term pâte remains the generic label for doughs and pastes in culinary contexts.