IME, in the gourmet-goodies case at Publix or Sweetbay (or some liquor stores), you can find “pate,” but it’s made with pork livers, or sometimes duck. Without going to a specialty store, where can I find some of the real PETA-enraging deal, made with the artificially enlarged livers of hapless force-fed geese?
Reading your post I get the impression that pate is a relatively unusual food where you live. Is that correct?
I have no idea. I wouldn’t expect to find it at most restaurants unless they are definitely French.
Pâté is a supermarket staple over here in the Uck.
Pâté de foie gras - well, most of the big places here (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer) do at least one version of it each, whether artisan or canned.
From talking to American friends, how about Trader John’s? Even if you can’t get the artisan stuff, the canned stuff is pretty good.
What does “artisan” mean in this context? (The pork-liver pate I’ve seen in supermarkets is sealed in plastic, not canned.)
Probably like that: short-keep stuff, possibly made on a farm - or maybe a factory- that will keep maybe a month refrigerated, max. Whereas the canned stuff is produced (more) industrially, and will keep for years.
My wife’s family is a major importer of gourmet cheeses, foi gras, and other gourmet food products. We usually have some around although I find it neither great nor terrible. I can ask what stores it goes to in your general area. I can definitely say that it is available in lots of places in the U.S.
Is that the same as Trader Joe’s, or am I just confused?
The Wine Room in Orlando sells pate. It’s not real but it’s delicious… mmm…
Too bad you’re not in Ohio. I’ll bet Jungle Jim’s has it. I’m seeing friends there in a couple of weeks, and, having made one visit to this place, can’t wait to return.
You can’t get it in Chicago. There’s a city-wide ban on the sale of foie gras.
Oh, Jungle Jims, the mother of all supermarkets on the planet. My wife’s family sells both exotic cheeses and foi gras there. I even got a personalized tour once. You wouldn’t think a vegetable stand would grow to be a gigantic store with trains and its own little theater. It is Americana at its best. In between tour time, I even found big stalks of sugarcane which I delighted in munching on for the next day or so.
Ask at the deli counter at Publix. Mine has it. It ain’t great, but hey, we’re a captive audience.
And yes, Struan, pate is rare here. You just don’t see it lined up next to the cheese like in Britain.
Ralph’s (or maybe it’s Albertson’s) typically have a few versions of pate in the canned meats section. I guess canned organs is close enough. 
Why? Animal-rights activists?
Every once in a while, I like to know my meal really suffered before it died . . .
Yep.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/national/main1550028.shtml
It’s not the pit, so I’ll say no more.
Dartagnan sells the cholesterol-laden goodness which you seek.
I ordered a whole fattened duck liver once. Gad, that stuff was rich - now I know why a restaurant serving is only one or two small slices. It’s like eating fried butter. Next time I ever buy one, I’m going to split it with another foodie, because one is way too much for one couple.
I have not yet tried their pate products.