Do you like foie gras?
 

Hi! I am always reading about the foie gras in France. I think they are the livers of geese. I want to try some of the food that France(Paris) is known for when we go next year, but I am not sure about foie gras. I am not one that likes to eat organ meat. Anyway what is good about it and where is a good place to try it without breaking the bank?

Yes, I love foie gras, being a denizen of the Périgord. Foie gras simply means fat liver, and it applies to liver of duck or goose (goose is better). You can find it all over France. Good brands are Godard and Rougié.

Don't fear Tulips, it's like a paté in texture. If you buy some to take home make sure it's in a tin and not glass

I first introduced pate to my then 7 year old daughter when we were in Amsterdam; great picnic food on crackers. She promptly graduated to foie gras and it was her birthday request last year when she turned 12. Along with her fondness of traditional English high tea, one friend old me I'm raising a very expensive girl friend. ;-)

Most of the time, foie gras is actually pate de foie gras (which is fat liver, as StCirq said). We use the same word in English to mean mashed-up (sophisticated cooked term) items, mostly meat (usually raw), and usually with some salt, herbs, etc. that is steamed into a block-like shape, with a relatively soft consistency. You can get pate of lots of meats - see the prepared food section of many gourmet store, or the gourmet section of any supermarket for the canned variety. (You can even get vegetarian pate.) It's served like a spread, as you would with soft cheese, and most often with crackers or bread.

Pate de foie gras is a pate made using the fattened liver of duck or goose. It's a richer (meatier?) taste of pate than you would get from, let's say, chicken. To get an idea of the taste of pate de foie gras, I would say to buy a small amount from a gourmet store and see what you think. Keep in mind that the better (and more expensive) the pate de foie gras you get, the softer the texture and more refined the taste will be. (Unless you get country-style pate, which will be firmer and have pieces of cooked meat or other things in it. Also good, but different.)

You can get foie gras in other ways, however. Fancy restaurants in the U.S. and Europe serve foie gras, and this is something different. That's the fattened duck or goose liver, quickly pan-seared, and served with various garnishes (usually something sweet). It has a very rich taste, and the consistency is very soft, like butter. I would guess that there are quite a few people who like pate de foie gras who don't like foie gras (my husband, for one). In Europe, and occasionally in the U.S., you can see foie gras served in other ways, primarily variations on the pate idea.

Pate de foie gras, to me at least, does not resemble organ meat. Foie gras is a more unusual taste, and more people might liken it to organ meats.

Hi

just a few points .....

There is a fairly strong movement to boycott foie gras because of the way it is prepared.

It is actually a natural process in the wild. Birds gorge themselves before making long flights each spring & autumn.

Me, I love it !

Peter
http://tlp.netfirms.com

Beynac, France July 2001. The sickest I have ever been in my life was from eating about an ounce of foie gras......or was it the 13 beers I drank that night.

Larry J

Yummy

Hi tulip,

Most of the foie gras you will find is duck (de canard), not goose, liver.

Solid foie gras is extremely expensive. Pate de foie gras can be from gees, ducks or pigs. Check the ingredients list.

47 Rue St Louis en Lille. As good as any we had in Italy. They also have a shop at 4 Rue de Buci.

Across from Amorino (47 Rue St Louis en Lille) is a tiny shop selling foie gras de canard and confite de canard by folks who have their own farm. Well worth stopping in for a sample.

You will either be in heaven or you won't like it.

Amorino has excellent gelato.

I ADORE Foie Gras..
But I cant eat it and enjoy it anymore since I saw how the farmers force feed the poor Geese, to make them fats..

No more Foie de Gras pour Moi..

Fois Gras is amazing. If it will be your first time to taste it I suggest getting the very best so you know how good it can be. The highest quailty is Fois Gras Entier Mi-Cuit: Whole fatty liver half cooked.

The whole part means it isnt little pieces mashed into a loaf but rather a slice of solid liver. Sort of like the difference between a chicken breast and a chicken nugget from McDonalds (ICK!).

The Mi-Cuit part means that it has not been cooked at ultra high temperature to make it shelf stable. Mi-Cuit must be refrigerated and has a much shorter shelf life. It is also much creamier and more flavorful than the shelf stable Fois Gras.

I adore it... prefer the "entier" stuff rather than pates made from it - taste can often be more diluted in those...

Sauteéd on brioche.

It was one of the best things I've ever eaten. The only place I've ever had it was in the Dordogne. I think it was very very fresh, or at least the first version listed below was. I had it three different ways, which I'll list in order of preference, with my favorite first.
1. An entire goose liver was served to a table. It was only very slightly cooked. I don't know for sure, but I think it had been either slightly steamed or very lightly poached in a vegetable broth or maybe just water with herbs in it. It was delicious, not like anything I've had before, and not like what I'd expected. It had a distinctive, but mild flavor and aroma. The texture was soft, not crumbly, smooth, fat, creamy, and silky. 2. Another time, I think slices had been sauteed until they were a little browned but not hard on the outside. I'm not sure whether this was a duck or goose liver. It was tasty, with a firmer texture like "normal" food and not the incredibly silky creamy texture of the first version. 3. As a pate. It was a nice pate and I liked it, but it just was not nearly as special as the pure whole liver, especially the first version, which had been so exceptional.

I've never observed the force-feeding process. It sounds misreable. However, I saw big flocks(?) of chubby farm geese who looked like they were having a pretty nice life in the Dordogne, splashing in a clean pond, waddling around on clean grass, lots of them together, but not confined, and, while I don't know whether they appreciated the view behind them of a castle on a cliff rising out of the mist, I did.

CMT I agree that the smooth, silky and subtle texture and flavour of a lightly cooked liver surpasses even the better pates made from it.

I'm with MKingdom (much though it pains me to say it ; ) on the brioche accompaniment...

Count me amog those who love it, even though I hae only had it really, really fresh, lovely and good - - both times in the midwest (US) - - in Chicago, and in Columbus.

There is mention today - - in the Choice Tables" of www.nytimes.com - - of a Seattle restaurant offering (Sonoma) foie gras, poached in red wine. Does this mean that Californians can produce it, but can't sell it to California restaurants (I was told in May of this year that new state regulations have forced its removal from the menu at Anton et Michel's in Carmel - - they still do have abalone, however, albeit at outrageous prices).

Best wishes,

Rex

If you ever have a chance to witness the gavage, you will see the geese and ducks actually fighting with each other to be first in line to be force-fed. It does not hurt them, and as Peter pointed out, it mimics their natural urge to force feed themselves before migration.

I don't eat anything I can't pronounce.

Two different preparations of foie gras are being discussed and are available widely in France. The tinned foie gras is partially or totally cooked and is similar in texture to pate and is spread on baguette or possibly served with a salad with a simple vinaigrette. The sublime foie gras is the rapidly seared foie gras often served with a fruit compote of some sort and a glass of a sweetish wine such as a Sauternes. It is seared very quickly and served a bit rare--otherwise the fatty liver would become a very expensive oil in the frying pan.
Just was treated to foie gras with apricot at Jean Georges in NYC.

Truffled apples are a superbly indulgent accompaniment...