Paste (food)

[1] Pastes are often highly spicy or aromatic, are often prepared well in advance of actual usage, and are often made into a preserve for future use.

A paste made of fat and flour and often stock or milk is an important intermediary for the basis for a sauce or a binder for stuffing, whether called a beurre manié,[2] a roux[3] or panada.

Often pastes are steamed, baked or enclosed in pastry or bread dough to make them ready for consumption.

Traditionally salt, sugar, vinegar, citric acid and beneficial fermentation were all used to preserve food pastes.

In modern times canning is used to preserve pastes in jars, bottles, tins and more recently in plastic bags and tubes.