In my years of cooking, I’ve come across all sorts of new things.  New fruits, vegetables, adjectives, technical terms, types of food, and even concepts.  We have julienne, umami, mise en place, and most recently, rillette. I’ve never come across this term before, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned.

According to Antoine Westermann, “rillettes are meat, fish, or poultry that’s been chopped or shredded, seasoned with salt and pepper and preserved slowly in its own fat, the fat of another animal, olive oil, or butter to make a thick spread for sandwiches, crudité or pasta stuffing.” If you’re familiar with confit, this will sound familiar — the difference is that confit items are usually cooked and served whole, whereas rillettes are the result of shredding the confit. 

To me, that sounds like it could be a terrine too. So, I turned to Antoine Westermann, again and here is what he said about that. “A terrine is is a dish of ground meat, organ meat, seafood, vegetables, boiled eggs, herbs and/or other seasonings packed or layered in a ceramic or steel loaf-shaped mold, cooked in a water bath, cooled, turned out and sliced for serving. Sometimes an infused gelatin (called aspic) is set on top for a decorative effect that also adds an additional layer of flavor. Terrines can be par-cooked, wrapped in puff pastry and baked for ‘pâté en croute.’”

This made me think of a paté and again the famous chef came to the rescue. A paté is “a ground blend of meat, organ meat and herbs or seasonings. Some pâtés contain milk (for a smoother texture), egg (which helps it set in its mold), or bread (which helps stretch the ingredients and forms a firmer loaf). Pâté is often one element of a layered terrine, but it can be as simple as chicken liver mousse.”

Learning all this was a wonderful experience.  I’ve done so much in the kitchen already, but how joyous that there is so much more to learn!  All these variations, and I’ve never made anything more than chopped liver! When I saw this recipe, I knew I have to make it. These different preparations don’t sound like they are hard to make but I have a feeling it takes a lot of skill and experience. However, this particular appetizer was very easy and came together like a salmon salad would, with a little cooking involved. I also substituted parsley for the cilantro, because I just do not like cilantro– I’m sure many of you agree with me.

Turns out this rillette was a really fun way of trying to cook something completely new to me. The salmon combines deliciously with the dill, parsley, and capers. These ingredients are impeccably perfect together. The butter and mayonnaise gives it a creamy texture. The grainy Dijon mustard (along with the capers) give it tiny bursts of delicious flavor in every bite. The lemon zest added that tang and the scallions give it a touch of heat.  I love this and I know you will too. Serve it with a baguette, and you have an exquisite appetizer.

This recipe is courtesy of Dorrie Greenspan and will serve 6 people who will be inspired to try something new as well.

Ingredients for Honey-Mustard Salmon Rillettes:

2 scallions, trimmed, white and green parts minced
1 lemon
1/2 cup white wine, or white vermouth
1/2 cup water
Fine sea salt
6-8 ounces salmon fillet, fresh or frozen skin and any pin bones removed (see headnote)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon), rinsed and patted dry
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound smoked salmon, cut into thin strips or small squares
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard, (preferably french)
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, patted dry and finely chopped if large
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 tablespoon fresh minced cilantro
Crackers, toast or dark bread, for serving
Fresh herbs, minced or thinly sliced for serving (optional)

Toss the dark green scallion parts into a medium saucepan, add the wine, water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.

Drop in the salmon and lower the heat so that the liquid just simmers for a minute (3 minutes if the salmon is frozen), then remove the pan from the heat, cover and set aside for 10 minutes.

Drain the salmon (discard the cooking liquid) and transfer to a plate; refrigerate for 20 minutes. (You can refrigerate the salmon for up to 1 day; cover it once it has cooled.)

Using a flexible spatula and working in a medium bowl, beat the butter until it’s spreadable.

Grate the lemon zest over the butter, squeeze the juice from half of the lemon into the bowl and add the reserved minced scallions, the shallot, a pinch of salt and a few grinds
of pepper.

Blend thoroughly, then stir in the smoked salmon.


In another bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey and capers.

Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the bowl and stir in some pepper.

Scrape this out over the smoked salmon mixture and blend well.

Remove the poached salmon from the fridge, cut it into bite-size pieces and gently stir them into the smoked salmon mixture — even if you’re extremely gentle, the salmon will flake and flatten; go with it.

Fold in the dill and cilantro, then taste for salt, pepper and lemon juice.

You can serve the rillettes now, but the flavor and texture are better if you pack them into a sealed container and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Serve with bread or crackers and, if you’d like, put out minced herbs that can be sprinkled over each serving.

It’s that simple!