Foie Gras - Why doesn't it taste the same?
 

We bring back several (many) tins of foie gras but it never seems to taste as good as even the worst that I have had in France.
We buy foie gras de canard and oie entier.
We chill the tin, remove it about 30 minutes before serving, wipe it down.
Serve it with Paris toasts and confit d'oignons or figues.
Have a sweet wine with it.
Nothing. Not even close. Any help?

This is pure speculation on my part: I think foie gras that can be brought into the US is processed differently (due to Agricultural requirement)? I remember a friend who is French had her mother bring foie gras from France and the kind she bought, according to my friend, was not allowed in the US--basically smuggled it. But boy was it good!

Have you tried getting it from a French restaurant in the US?

Do you mean the very same foie gras that you consume in France tastes different when consumed back home in the States?

I've not had that experience. I bring it home every year from the Périgord and it tastes the same when I open it in my US kitchen.

There's no difference in the processing of foie gras products that can be brought into the States. There have een bans on certain meat products in the past, though, so there have been times when you couldn't even bring foie gras home.

But to the original question, if I'm understanding it right, perhaps it's just that the "ambiance" is different. To me, almost all French food products just taste better when consumed in France.

Thanks for the replies. It may be that what we have in France is never tinned as Kealoha implies. I have never been impressed with what we have been served in restaurants here either.
It tastes like any other pate when we serve it from the tin here.
Before I am asked - I buy Lafitte in France to bring home.
Do you "stir" it up from the can or just leave it as a "blob" (sorry about the choice of words).

If you have cold (not sauteed) foie gras at a restaurant in France, it is prepared mi cuit - barley cooked. It never sees a can. At a store or market, you can buy it shrink wrapped by the slice, or shrink wrapped in a "log". Stuff you get in the can is not mi cuit - it's cooked quite a bit which makes it a different product. The stuff in cans is inferior to mi cuit, IMO and also according to Patricia Wells.

The first time we went to France 30 years ago, I brought back the cans & wondered, just like you, why it tasted so different.

Here is what Patricia Wells has to say:

Foie Gras cru - raw liver - the ultimate in Foie gras. Must be eaten right away.

Foie Gras mi cuit or nature - lightly cooked - the best way to sample foie gras for the first time. Must be refrigirated. Depending on packaging, it should be eaten in several days or several months.

Foie Gras entier - lightly seasoned & cooked in a terrine or glass jar. Must be refrigirated. Not as good as mi-cuit.

Block de Foie gras - by law, composed of either 50% duck or Goose. Also includes 10% pork fat Not the best buy. Shelf life of several years.

Stu Dudley

Stu , beat me to it. I have never seen it tinned EXCEPT in a paté which makes it a different product.
And St Cirq is right that it doesn't have the same ambiance as when you taste it at its birth. I'm a pastis lover, and on a hot summer night, it still is not as good as in Provence

Robjame: yes, if you're bringing back tins of it, that is a "low-end" foie gras product (everything's relative, even foie gras), and tinned products will not taste like what you normally get when you order it in a restaurant in France.

To answer your question about stirring it, no, you don't stir it. You should chill it for a minimum of 45 mins and then just plop it down on a plate. If it's got lots of congealed fat on it, which some brands do, you may wish to remove that (and save it and fry up potatoes and garlic and cèpes in it to make pommes de terre sarladaises).

miam, miam, potatoes sauted in goose fat is heavenly!!!

Good luck bringing it back even tinned. I had over $100.00 worth confiscated at JFK a few months ago..Bird Flu is the new reason...so they said! Been bringing it home for years with no problems.

So now I'm just going to buy it from D'Artagnan and forget about it. At least it's in slices and can be seared.

Thank you all for your replies - I guess to have anything like I remember in France, I wait until France - not at all bad.
Do any of you buy the "cru" or the "mi cuit" and prepare it in your gites or homes in France? or do you wait until you go out to the restaurants?
If yes, do you have a way to make sure of quality and freshness?

jody! that's a loss! I agree about Artaganan, she has great products. I wish I could afford more from her.

robjame:

I buy it at the markets in the Périgord all the time - usually the whole lobes packed in the shrink-wrapped stuff. I sear it quickly on both sides at home and serve it with onion or fig or apple confit....or, if no one's looking, just wait until it cools down and jam it down my gullet ;)

I know it's de rigeur to serve it with a Monbazillac or a Sauterne, but that's way too rich for me and I just don't like sweet white wines to begin with. I much prefer to pair it with a St-EMilion or even a Cahors. Not the prevailing wisdom, I know, but I know what works for me.

I have never even considered the issues of quality and freshness of any product I buy at a French market. It's when I come home and go back to the Safeway or Giant for the first time after a trip that those issues become a real problem.

Not to be facetious, and the points above about fresh vs. canned are well made, but it's a fact of life that no French food will ever taste as good at home as it did in France.

A local wine seller told me he is plagued with people who return from Europe and have him track down specific wines for them that they LOVED in Europe. Invariably, if he finds it for them and they buy it, they return and say "it just doesn't taste like the same stuff we drank sitting in that little cafe on the left bank looking at the Seine." Well, duh!

robjame:
Seared fresh foie gras seems to be appearing more and more in Canadian restaurants. Last month in Winnipeg I had an unusual, but delicious pairing of seared duck foie gras with sweet potato and maple butter. And I’ve had it in Halifax with a more-traditional port wine reduction with apple and fig chutney. So there’s hope ...

StCirq - it sounds delectable - can't wait till I try that
Neo - I was hoping that it wouldn't be as obvious as that however there is a lot of truth behind what you say
Margriet - I can't wait to try some of the restaurants at home for that. Are we getting this foie gras from France? I wonder if Anselm will add it to the menu of seared scallops that he has promised for the dinner in Paris!?

The foie gras in the can will taste different according to the producer. I think that you might be able to taste the different foie gras in the regional products indoor market (ex-church) in Sarlat, and you definitely can try out different foie gras at the Périgueux market. In any case, what is in the can, which is not necessarily inferior, just a different product, is not the same as fresh foie gras seared in a pan.

Foie gras always tastes better when someone else cooks it for me.
:)

robjame,

The foie gras probably came from Quebec—it's big business there (though it's possible that what I had in Winnipeg was Manitoba grown).

The richness of foie gras would be an excellent balance with the seared scallops. Perhaps we'll give it a try on our visit to Paris next month. The challenge will be balancing our love of cooking with our love of dining out.

I just want to say how refreshing it is to see a thread about Foie Gras that isn't being attacked with hundreds of "political correctness" rants.

Neo.. I was just thinking the same thing. Lets wait, shall we? They will come, and have entertaining diatribes.