The elegant Gilbert Simon invited me for tea in her beautiful apartment in Nîmes, a city in the south of France dating back to the Roman Empire. Born in Lyon, Madame Simon, who is in her late eighties, married a Jewish “Nîmois” whom she met at a dance. But then the Nazis came in 1942 and started taking Jewish families away. “We left before they could find us,” she told me. “They were searching for my husband because he was a doctor here, working in the Resistance.” When they left Nîmes, the Simons hid in the mountains. “We found a house to live in with our two little girls. The peasants sold us vegetables; sometimes they killed a lamb; they brought us cheese and butter. When we returned to Nîmes, it was very difficult. There were not very many Jews left.” Today the majority of Jews are Sephardic, having immigrated to Nîmes in the 1960s from North Africa. Thinking back to happier and more prosperous times, this is the pâté she made through the years for her own family on Friday nights and the holidays, as well as for Jewish students who stayed with her while studying in Nîmes or nearby Aix-en-Provence.
*Fresh bay leaves can be obtained through the Web and in many supermarkets. I have a small bay tree in my garden. You can use dried, but fresh look more festive.
Recipe information
Yield
6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the broiler. Broil the livers on a rack 4 inches from the heat for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until there is no more blood. Drain the livers, and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Step 2
Heat the chicken fat or oil in a sauté pan, and sauté the onion or shallots slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, or until very soft and lightly colored. Add the livers, and cook until still lightly pink inside, just a minute or two.
Step 3
Place the livers, onion or shallots, eggs, and Cognac or port in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Process until smooth.
Step 4
Decorate the bottom of a 9-inch loaf pan with the bay leaves, placed shiny side down. Spoon the liver mixture on top of them, tapping gently to get rid of any air bubbles. Set the pan into a bain-marie, and bake for 20 minutes. Cool, then unmold. Serve with rye bread.
