>>Do you remember the name of the place where you had the "mi-cuit foie gras & Sauterne"?<<

It's called "Maison de la Truffe" - Truffes-Foie Gras, Traiteur - Cave. I have a picture of myself standing in front of it, when we were there in Dec '96 also.

It's directly on the Pl Madeleine - Fauchon is at the northwest corner, and this place is on the west side of the square. The awning outside says "Foie Gras" in big letters - easy to spot. I got there about 12, and it was filled up by 12:30 - reserve or get there early.

Stu Dudley

What you may be able to buy in the US is easily double what you pay in France and it will usually be a pate instead of the entier or bloc of foie gras. Dartagnan has foie gras for sale by mail.

I brought back pate de foie gras which was in a glass container. It was sealed and had no problems at all.

Monica ((F))

PS: The jar was sealed with the rubber ring.

To bettyo70

De rien !/You're welcome !

Here is the list of the "Comtesse du Barry" shops in Paris, I don't know if their products can be found in shops/stores selling other products than theirs, since the brand "Comtesse du Barry" is "une franchise" :

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
13 bd Haussmann-75009 PARIS

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
111 avenue Victor Hugo-75116 PARIS

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
93 rue Saint-Antoine-75004 PARIS

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
317 rue de Vaugirard-75015 PARIS

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
88 bis avenue Mozart-75016 PARIS

EUROSHOPS FRANCE
Corner
Eurostar Terminal
Gare du Nord-75010 PARIS

Boutique Comtesse du Barry
1 rue de Sèvres-75006 PARIS

Cordialement. Marie

Thanks again, Marie and Stu!

Happy Eating...

:-) to bettyo70 !

Won't be able to post much next week because of the surgery of my right hand carpal tunnel, sniff :-( !!! See you !/Au revoir ! Marie

That is interesting about being able to bring in the glass container. That is processed less that the tinned variety. Might just try it next time.

BatChick & LoveItaly - I agree 100% with your views on fois gras.

There is no way I could eat the stuff and maintain a clear conscience. But to each their own.

Marie,

Good luck on the operation! You'll have to reward yourself with a nice glass of Burgundy when you recover...

Gretchen: I heard that the foie gras in a jar is not legal to bring back home per Customs. The tins are okay.

That was why I was interested. You could probably just get it through but I wouldn't take the chance. We have never been checked and I always declare it.

It's interesting how everyone who is violently opposed to force feeding geese spells the product "fois gras."

Fat times, indeed. I'm inherently opposed to those, too. Now, if you want liver, that's another story..........

I'm actually sorry I opened this thread, as I hate to think about foie gras and it production method. However, since I'll be in the Dordogne for 2 weeks in May, I'm sure I'll eat some - but not with a clear conscience.

Say 10 "Hail Mary"s and 10 "Our Father"s and sin no more.

Left to their own devices, that is to say in the wild, geese and ducks manufacture their own foie gras - after deliberately stuffing themselves, their livers acquire fat deposits that will be used as energy during long migrations.

As an alternative to an outright ban on the product, which seems an extreme and ultimately impractical solution to me, I would like to see producers given time to consult experts who could conceivably figure out a way to induce birds to overfeed themselves, the way these birds would do if in the wild, prior to migration. (My idea? Screen movies of approaching autumn to the birds....:) )

Back to the question at hand - I've had tinned foie gras, can't say it even remotely compared to the fresh stuff.

To bettyo70 :

Merci pour les gentilles paroles de réconfort !/Thanks for the kind and comforting (correct ?) words :-)

I really wouldn't say I'm violently opposed to eating foie gras, I just honestly believe that many people - obviously not all! like LoveItaly and Madison would choose not to eat foie gras if they understood the production methods. I eat at restaurants that serve the stuff, I just don't order it. And my French sucks in general, not just when it comes to issues which concern me. (Thank you for the spelling lesson, StCirq, though I do have to admit to being a little confused about the point you were trying to make.)
I hope you realize, Sue xx yy, that there is no comparison between force feeding an animal to the point the liver becomes diseased in order to produce foie gras, and an animal fattening themselves up for a migration or winter. I do, however, fully support any alternate method of satisfying the gourmands amongst us, and at the same time treating the animals we eat humanely. Unfortunately I suspect that the liver of a fattened up wild goose ready to migrate, or a domesticated goose encouraged to grossly overeat, would not satisfy a person looking to eat foie gras.

BatChick:

The livers do not become "diseased." We clearly couldn't and wouldn't eat them if that were the case.
Foie gras was first eaten by the Egyptians, who followed the eating patterns of the birds themselves just before migration. There is no difference between a liver naturally fattened by a naturally overeating goose and a liver fattened by gavage. The hysteria over people fattening birds' livers is mainly an American phenomenon.

Sue4: Since you'll be visiting the Dordogne, I hope you'll take the time to visit a goose or duck farm and actually watch the process. As you'll see, the birds roam freely and happily over large areas (despite PETA's consistent claims they are penned in tiny cages), and if you're lucky enough to be there at feeding time I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how eager those birds are for those corn kernels.
This is not to say that in China and Romania and other places there aren't nasty force-feeding practices going on - perhaps there are, and I would be opposed to that. But foie gras production in France just doesn't meet any but the most over-reactive standard of cruelty.

StCinq:
Of course fatty liver is a disease, it's called hepatic steatosis. I believe it is a disease that is also caused by alcoholism.
I'm very impressed that you took the time to visit a factory - unless perhaps it was for the free samples? :) Seriously, I really do respect the fact that you took the time to get some firsthand information. When I am in France I will take the time to visit a foie gras farm to see for myself. (And I promise to behave!) However, it's not the free-range portion of their lives that concern me, it's the last 15 days or so.
Check out http://www.frenchentree.com/france-f...le.asp?ID=2361
It is not an anti foie gras article, but very middle of the road, and in fact I suspect the author - a Brit - will continue to eat foie gras. The salient point, for me anyways, was the comparison between ethical and industrial production. (Both of which exist in France.)
Also, if you google European Union and foie gras you will find out there actually is extensive concern regarding production methods in Europe. The Brits can be pretty radical animal rights advocates. I heard (have not confirmed) they even made the practice of cropping dog's ears and tails illegal, but then that is an entirely different subject!
BatChick

Batchick

On the subject of accuracy, I believe a bat is a mammal, not a bird, and that the correct term for a juvenile bat is a pup, not a chick.

Alas, this being a travel board, I cannot entertain myself (and bore into a stupor just about everyone else) by launching into a discourse on comparative physiology and pathology, but suffice it to say that there are a great many differences not only between mammals and birds, but between the various species comprising each category. These differences extend to the diseases affecting each species and the causes of same. (I note that by your understanding of disease, all birds suffer from osteoporosis....)

I go now, as I've transgressed the boundaries of the board rules on acceptable subjects too many times as it is.