The Bánh Patê Sô is a Vietnamese savory pastry made from fragrant puff pastry filled with a flavorful mixture of ground pork, liver pâté, mushrooms and pepper.

▶The history of Bánh Patê Sô (internationally known as Pâté Chaud) is a perfect example of how Vietnamese cuisine absorbs foreign influences.

▶During the period of French colonialism in Indochina (which began in the mid-1800s), the colonists brought their own tastes: puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) and liver pâté.

▶The Vietnamese were fascinated by these baking techniques, previously unknown in the region, and replaced some ingredients with local ones like shallot and black pepper (Vietnam is one of the world’s largest producers).
▶They introduced fish sauce (Nước mắm) and added wood ear mushrooms (Nấm mèo) to create the textural contrasts typical of their cuisine.

The name is a curious phonetic play. When Vietnamese people heard the French say “Pâté Chaud”, the word “Chaud” (hot) sounded similar to “Sô”. Over time, the French term was transliterated into Vietnamese and officially became Bánh Patê Sô.

Unlike many other Vietnamese dishes that originated in rural areas, Pâté Chaud is typically an urban product.

It became a symbol of the modernity of Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City).

In the 1950s and 1960s, it was the favorite breakfast or snack food of students and office workers, often accompanied by strong Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk.

In Vietnamese, the word Bánh (pronounced almost like “ban”) is a generic term that refers to almost all foods made from flour (rice, wheat or tapioca):