I don't like it at all. Has nothing to do with animal rights... I just don't like the taste (either pate or real foie gras).

Rex, I am afraid you were bamboozled by your restauranteer. That legislation in California is still on the table. And if it gets voted in there is a 7 plus year phase out period.

http://avar.org/foiegras2.html

truffled fois gras? yes please.

best with a '91 sauternes. what an appetizer course. bring it on!!!

ps - the norcal firebombings are a real bummer.

I admit to being a lover of foie gras, but don't like that the geese are force fed to achieve the makings of it.

My husband once learned how to make it from a friend of ours who is an award winning Belgian chef. Thank goodness, however, that we stick only to ordering it in restaurants or I'd be as big as a house.

Eeeeeeewwwwwwwww!!! Egads!, Statia!

"My husband once learned how to make it from a friend of ours who is an award winning Belgian chef." Don't you mean "...WAS an award winning Belgian chef"? Did your husband find the recipe in the _Joy Of Soylent Green Cooking_ cookbook?

Yes, thank goodness you now stick to ordering it only in a restaurant!


:)

Foie gras is my favourite food in the entire world!!! If I were on Death Row, it would be my last meal, along with a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem 1963.

I would eat it every day, but I would no longer be Thin and Gorjus :)

Hmmmmm . . . wonder if that's why I'm no longer thin or gorgeous? Oh, wait, I'm still gorgeous! Tulips, put the thought of overstuffed geese out of your head and eat the wonderful pate' stuff on great bread and imagine you have gone to heaven. This ain't organ meat, honey. (Well, alright, yes it is, but it doesn't taste like organ meat. Trust me, dearie - it's divine.)

I love it, but, yes its literal meaning is liver-fat, latter being the key word...There is so much fat in the darn thing (more than fries or chips, and this is *animal* fat, mind you, the kind that seriouslty clogs arteries)...Best enjoyed sparingly!!!
But still- enjoyed!! that y

Gretchen, in addition to the canned partially cooked liver, and the pan-seared fresh liver, there's the FRESH (not tinned) liver that is then partially cooked and served. That is available in goose country, but maybe it isn't in Paris (though I think it should be available somewhere in the city).

Sempronia, I'm not so sure that this is artery-clogging fat. It seems like it must be. Yet, the incidence of cardiac and arterial disease is supposedly very low in the Dordogne, where duck and goose fat are used a lot in cooking and where the foie gras is a specialty. I was in that area for only a week or so, but I was very surprised that in addition to being delicious, the food didn't make me feel bloated and "off" the way I usually feel when I eat too much animal fat or even fairly small amounts of cream. It's a mystery. Maybe because ducks and geese are basically aquatic animals there may be some chemicals in their fat that are more like the acids in fish fat, which is healthful for humans to consume. But I don't know anything...just wondering....

Oh, ThinGorjus, you really do know how to turn this girl on. Foie Gras and d'Yquem...yum.

Unfortuantely, many people don't know the difference between <b>fresh</b> (pure whole liver), <b>pate de</b> (pur&eacute;ed and mixed with other ingredients), and <b>mousse de</b> whipped to smithereens and mixed with other ingredients to resemble an airy, spreadable pudding texture. There are a million variations. A fresh preparation by a master chef (Jean-Georges is fine with me) is my preferred choice.

Animal activism has its place until it becomes terrorism. I wish more people would direct their need to love in a more meaningful way while these same people get educated in veteran farming methods and the natural behavior of animals. That said, I'm not convinced force-feeding in the extreme is all that necessary. Here's an interesting article on the subject:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/10/pf/goodlife/foie_gras/

Second the recommendations for a great Sauternes with same - '75 0r '76 Ch Rieussec in my case, but the '01's look VVG.
M

Cmt, I think it is because the ample amounts of fois gras they consume are usually accompanied by red wine, as TG mentioned...

Numerous studies have been conducted on this matter (once people noticed that the French wallow in cheese and fois gras and still do not have as high incidence of heart-attacks as, for example, Americans).

It turns out that red wine has a very high concentration of quinones, which are polyphenols, &quot;one of the most numerous groups of plant metabolites...Their function is to protect plants from pathogens and predators...[and] in humans they help prevent and treat cancer, heart disease, ulcers, allergies and infections.&quot; So, the short of it is basically that the French consume a substantial-enough quantity of red wine to counteract the effects of foods like fois gras...

The idea that you can consume as much fois gras as you want, only if you wash it down with enough red wine has, clearly, been hotly debated as common sense would tell us that this is not exactly a diet of champions...Turns out it is probably combined French habits that render the French less prone to cardiovascular diseases. For example, French do not have large fridges and go shopping for fresh food practically every day. &quot;This &quot;freshness factor&quot; means that there is an abundance of natural enzymes in the &quot;live&quot; food. This is a critical factor to immune health and efficient digestion of the entire meal. Another French habit is to eat a high enzyme food at the end of the meal. Salads are often eaten at the end of the meal instead of for the first course. And even though the French are famous for sweet pastries and desserts it is very common in France to finish the meal with fresh fruit, traditionally made cheese from unpasteurized milk, or yogurt, which is also rich in enzymes and friendly bacteria.&quot;

The fact remains: fois grois, although delicious, is bad for you. And, apparently, if you do it, do it &quot;a la francaise&quot; all the way! More frequent amorous encounters notwithstanding (good for the heart too). ;)

I'm glad others are still enjoying foie gras from the kitchen(s) of Jean Georges Vongerichten. When I sad I had had it in Chicago, it was at his restaurant there as well - - Vong - - now long gone, but not forgotten (by me).

I like foie gras a lot, but I also like sauteed calf's liver (which used to be a staple on many cafe/bistro menus but is becoming rarer for some reason). I like the kind that is often served as a first course (entree) in many French restaurants, often a choice in the prix fixe. I don't think I've had the spread or mousse-y type. It is quite fatty, of course, so some people might have trouble digesting it if they rarely eat high fat foods.

It is liver so has that flavor, so if you don't like liver at all (which doesn't have much to do with other organ meats, to me, they are different flavors), you are most likely not going to like it.

As I said, this isn't that unusual to find as a choice on a moderately-priced restaurant's menu as one of the starters, so if you really want to try it, why not just order it once and see. If you don't ever like eating liver, don't order it.

Have to add - as an anemic child, was force-fed liver (oh gag!)and so was reluctant to eat pate de foie gras - but I love it. So just because you don't like liver, that doesn't mean you won't like the pate. Of course, anything with garlic and herbs - even little slimey crawly things with shells on their backs - is soo-o-o-o good with garlic, butter and herbs.

I can take or leave foie gras (pate or otherwise)...if it's served to me I'll eat it, but I never buy it or order it in a restaurant. Last year, however, I had dinner with a prominent French cardiologist and foie gras was the appetizer. I asked him, wasn't this bad for you--all that fat and richness? He said French (of course) studies show that eating foie gras has not had any bad effects on health and that, in fact, eating foie gras was healthier for you than eating calf's liver (something to do with livers from birds being better for your health than livers from mammals).

FYI, this particular cardiologist (who was speaking at the 2003 European Society of Cardiology meeting), is a world-renowned expert on arterial remodeling, has published extensively in leading medical journals like Heart, heads a multinational work group on interventional cardiology and coronary pathology, has both an MD and PhD and teaches cardiac medicine at a leading French hospital. I was very surprised to hear him say that foie gras was perfectly ok to eat regularly (although he didn't say it was ok to eat every day) and wouldn't hurt your health. Given his credentials, I figure he knows at least the teeniest bit what he's talking about. Nonetheless, that dinner at Morwald's in Vienna was the last time I had foie gras.

Here's an article on how foie gras is produced.

http://www.wspa.org.uk/index.php?page=179

I used to enjoy calves' liver until 2nd year of med school and pathology course in the 60's. None since.
However, I love foie gras (and sweetbreads)!
Given my French heritage, I concur with the cardiology professor.
M

BTilke: Did the cardiology professor say that the liver that was not harmful to our arteries was just the liver of any bird, or specifically aquatic birds' livers? I'm trying to find out whether my hunch (see several posts above from yesterday) could possibly have any truth to it. Do you remember whether he mentioned anything about the fats in an aquatic bird's liver having certain acids or other chemicals similar to what's found in fish oils and did he say why?