rillettes

American  

[ri-lets, ree-yet] / rɪˈlɛts, riˈyɛt /

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. an appetizer made usually of pork or goose meat that is diced, seasoned, cooked, and then pounded or ground to the consistency of a spread.

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Etymology

Origin of rillettes

Borrowed into English from French around 1885–90

Example Sentences

The honor of the pre-dinner nosh, meanwhile, usually falls to charcuterie, a category of cooked or cured meat like dry-aged ham, potted pâté, or rillettes.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2023

You’ll find marvelous “piggy” rillettes, bordered in an inch of fat, under the heading “French things we pretend are Italian,” for instance.

From Washington Post • Mar. 11, 2022

Appetizers like croquettes, sardine toasts, smoked bluefish rillettes or a terrine can be followed by larger plates like roast chicken.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2021

Expect a play on Parker House rolls, shellfish in a smoked-bacon broth, smoked trout rillettes, cornmeal cookies with pink peppercorns and 7-spice rolls.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2019

We have not yet tasted the rillons and rillettes so prized by the school children of Tours, and so longed for by Félex when he beheld them in the baskets of his more fortunate companions.

From In Château Land by Wharton, Anne Hollingsworth