# Foie Gras... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 29, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289 "2011-06-29T18:22:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/61 "2011-06-30T00:44:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > For my money, heavily seasoned with salt, (remember, you’re capturing all the flavor essences here…sweet, salty, rich, bitter) scored and seared in a really hot skillet (no oil needed, soooo much lovely fat) and then finished in the oven is the best way to have it, especially with a chef like the ones I used to work for that would present the foie over a slice of toasted brioche and then garnish it with any manner of acid-bearing fruits (to cut the richness so it isn’t cloying in the mouth) like say, a pineapple gastrique with black pepper. Gee, I always took username to mean it was evil from the production standpoint, not the “I can’t afford to kill myself with it, alas!” standpoint. You live and learn, as dropmom says. Anyway, never had it, but I likes me some good liver. Saw a show about raising free-range foie gras ducks and they seemed as cool about getting food dumped down their gullets with no effort on their part as my newborn daughter did about feeding from a nose tube. She later found breasts WAY too much work and liked it when I opened up a rubber nipple so she could drain a bottle in 45 seconds. The ducks probably don’t appreciate their fates, but they are prey animals and something in their Collective Unconscious probably tells them they were lucky to last that long. OTOH, my daughter will eventually kill me. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/62 "2011-06-30T00:54:16Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > Ok, it is organ meat based, very french, not Pate, but it is served commonly as an appetizer, I think it may start with a P, but then again it may not. Please help! _Rillettes_ of pig intestine? ETA don’t order unless you’re sure what you want – French can cook a mean steak and fries, too! Why chance it? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/63 "2011-06-30T01:06:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > PS: When are you going to divorce Mr Athena and hook up with me so we can go on a whirlwind, righteous “foie gras around the world” tour? > > 😃 > > We’d be the Bill and Ted of the culinary world! > > **air guitar** He says no need for divorce; he’ll come too and carry our bags! > [@lindsaybluth](#): > > I know what it is, I have zero moral qualms about it and I’d be up for trying it but I never have since I generally don’t like liver. > If I were offered it at a friend’s home or one someone else’s dime I’d do it in a heartbeat but given the fact I dislike all other forms of liver (that I’ve tried) I wouldn’t pay for it in a restaurant because I probably wouldn’t like it. Knowing what I know of you from your posts, you’re really missing out on something you might really, really like. Foie gras does not taste like liver, as many others have mentioned. It tastes like heaven. You should just run right over to Whole Foods or whatever the equivalent is where you live and buy a small slab of Pate de Fois Gras, a baguette, and a bottle of Sauternes then thank me for telling you to do this for the rest of your life. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/64 "2011-06-30T01:17:47Z")
**FoieGras** , if you can’t convince **Athena** to leave her husband (or even if you can), I’m available for the whirlwind foie gras tour. Might I suggest we start in Japan, where searing is the _ **default** _ cooking method? My heart broke when on a visit to Paris I searched desperately for seared meat butter and was disappointed at every turn. In the meantime, this thread is going straight into my food pr0n spankbank. “Almost crispy, almost blackened…the salted, seared crust…” ::shiver:: I’ll be in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/65 "2011-06-30T01:18:18Z")
Foie gras totally tastes like liver – not like beef liver, but like chicken liver. Fine pate also tastes like liver. Everything with liver in it, tastes exactly like liver, just to varying degrees of intensity. Foie gras has a very dilute flavor because of all the fat, but its the flavor of liver. BTW, I find the butteriness completely revolting. I would puke if I had to eat a chunk of meat flavored butter. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/66 "2011-06-30T01:20:41Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I would puke if I had to eat a chunk of meat flavored butter. Hey – blind tasting at my apartment next week. Guess what’s on the menu? ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/67 "2011-06-30T01:30:49Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Knowing what I know of you from your posts, you’re really missing out on something you might really, really like. Foie gras does not taste like liver, as many others have mentioned. It tastes like heaven. You should just run right over to Whole Foods or whatever the equivalent is where you live and buy a small slab of Pate de Fois Gras, a baguette, and a bottle of Sauternes then thank me for telling you to do this for the rest of your life. 😃 > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You have to stop thinking about it as if its liver. I mean, it IS, but it\* isn’t.\* This isn’t the tough, iron-y tasting liver grandma used to fry up in a pan with onions that you had to choke back as a child that you could never seem to stop chewing because it was so dry (but so GOOD for you!). Its night and day. Forget that its a liver at all. There is no comparison. Shoot, I actually edited my post (time expired, so it never went up) saying something to the effect of “No liver taste? _Meat butter_? I’ve gotta find me some of this…” So in that case, I’ll just have to try it soon :D. Where would I find it in Whole Foods? At the meat counter? Also, where the heck can I find quail eggs? I had 'em for the first time last night and they were really quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/68 "2011-06-30T01:37:21Z")
[OT rambling – a _Sauternes_ sounds about right. Who’s going to take the “Pepsi Challenge”? Step up, would-be culinary stars hamstrung by an aversion to organ meats.] ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/69 "2011-06-30T01:39:35Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > So in that case, I’ll just have to try it soon :D. Where would I find it in Whole Foods? At the meat counter? > > Also, where the heck can I find quail eggs? I had 'em for the first time last night and they were really quite good. Whole Foods usually has a few different types of Pate de Foie Gras close to the cheese area. Not the best in the world, but plenty plenty tasty. I find quail eggs at my local coop, but I’m in the middle of nowhere. I’m not sure where those of you in the real world find such stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/70 "2011-06-30T01:41:48Z")
Oh and for the record? Marrow is much more like meat butter than Foie. Fat content ftw! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/71 "2011-06-30T01:47:09Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Oh and for the record? Marrow is much more like meat butter than Foie. Fat content ftw! Ooo, good call. Yummy marrow. OK, marrow is “meat butter” with the emphasis on the butter, and foie gras is “meat butter” with the emphasis on the meat. As for quail eggs, it’s a complete crap shoot where I find them. My local Mexican-targeted supermarket always stocks them, for whatever reason. It’s not something I’d expect to find there, yet it is. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/72 "2011-06-30T02:00:37Z")
Excellent, in the cheese area. I’m excited! I’ll ask about marrow there too. The place I get free range eggs from are trucked in to Whole Foods from a farm an hour away ☹ so I don’t wanna go there. Guess I’ll just ask around at the farmer’s market and so forth. ETA: We just got our first Mexican market a year ago, so I’ll try there too. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/73 "2011-06-30T02:22:57Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Excellent, in the cheese area. I’m excited! I’ll ask about marrow there too. Marrow you get from marrow bones. Talk to the guys at the meat counter, and they should be able to help you. If you have trouble finding marrow bones, you can get at least a single serving of marrow from the bone in a portion of beef or veal shank. (I believe that’s where marrow bones are usually from, anyway.) Spread it on a a toasted baguette cut crostini-like, sprinkle some kosher salt on top, and yummy! ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/74 "2011-06-30T03:02:17Z")
Like. In fact I like anything with liver (even braunschweiger). Taking it a step further, I’m fond of just about any kind of organ meat (although I have yet to try kidneys). I’m the only one in the family that likes chicken giblets…whenever a fowl is being prepared I’m right there waiting for the entrails to be brought out. Toss 'em in a hot skillet with a little olive oil and minced garlic…appetizers extrordinaire! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/75 "2011-06-30T04:28:21Z")
I think I had it once, and if that’s actually what it was, I found it completely unremarkable-- Pretty much like any other sort of meat-based spread. Although I do like the liver of large animals. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/76 "2011-06-30T04:46:49Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > My heart broke when on a visit to Paris I searched desperately for seared meat butter and was disappointed at every turn. > > In the meantime, this thread is going straight into my food pr0n spankbank. “Almost crispy, almost blackened…the salted, seared crust…” > > ::shiver:: > > I’ll be in my bunk. Seared foie gras isn’t seared all that much over here. They just throw it in a hot pan, quick, quick, flip it, quick quick and put it on a plate. So it doesn’t end up crispy and blackened, but almost liquid and raw inside with a brown, fat-caramelized exterior. It’s like an angel’s coming in your mouth. It’s also the devil to digest. Plan a siesta or two. But totally worth it, twice. There’s a joint in my neighbourhood that does it just _perfect_ (among other foie gras delicacies - it’s their specialty, that and _cèpes_). If you’re ever in Paris again, send me a PM, I’ll give you the address 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/77 "2011-06-30T12:10:31Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Seared foie gras isn’t seared all that much over here. They just throw it in a hot pan, quick, quick, flip it, quick quick and put it on a plate. So it doesn’t end up crispy and blackened, but almost liquid and raw inside with a brown, fat-caramelized exterior. > > It’s like an angel’s coming in your mouth. An angel fellatio? Sounds weird on every level. And yet, so enticing… > [@Kobal2](#): > > There’s a joint in my neighbourhood that does it just _perfect_ (among other foie gras delicacies - it’s their specialty, that and _cèpes_). If you’re ever in Paris again, send me a PM, I’ll give you the address 😉 Please share publicly, some of us here live on the proper shores of Civilization, and are interested (what’s the price range btw?). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/78 "2011-06-30T12:24:26Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Please share publicly, some of us here live on the proper shores of Civilization, and are interested (what’s the price range btw?). Heh, what do you know, they have a [website](http://www.aupetitsudouest.com/index.html). Saves me the trouble of figuring out the actual address :D. Their directions are rather unclear, but I guess that’s what Google Maps is for. It’s also a 2 min. walk from the Pont de Levallois-Bécon subway station (use the exit on the tail side of the train) As for the price range, it’s the only reason I don’t live there. You can get away with a ~25 euro meal, but the average is more around 40 (not counting the wine). Which is on the expensive side for my broke self. Still, culinary bliss and pro-level artery clogging. Can’t put a price on that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/79 "2011-06-30T12:41:50Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Funny thing is, I only very rarely bought it as a raw ingredient for myself to prepare. I usually only ate it when I went out because one fatty goose liver is A LOT of liver. Those things are big and rich. Even with my girlfriend at the time, we couldn’t finish one before we got sick of it. For me, it’s a once in a while treat. Too heavy and rich for every day dining. > > I suppose I could have made a confit and preserved it in fat, but back in those days, the idea didn’t even occur to me. Yeah, a whole lobe is overload for sure. I don’t think I could put away more than about 4oz at a sitting. Unless I wash it down with a foie gras milkshake. > [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Liver paté is something I’ve had thousands of times, and I love it. > Foie gras is different - the animal suffers before dying in order to make the liver ‘tastier’. It is entirely your choice to eat it if you wish, but it is my choice to avoid it. Hard to parse this, **Ministre**. > [@fruitbat](#): > > Ok, forgive me for barging into this thread, but I need help. I love foie gras, so let’s get that out of the way. > > There is something I keep ordering at French restaurants and then I forget I don’t like it. Something is wrong in the wiring of my mind because I conflate it with Foie Gras or my brain seems to think it should taste like Foie Gras. > > Ok, it is organ meat based, very french, not Pate, but it is served commonly as an appetizer, I think it may start with a P, but then again it may not. Please help! Sweetbreads? Also very, very good by the way. > [@Athena](#): > > He says no need for divorce; he’ll come too and carry our bags! A foie gras threesome! YES! > [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > **FoieGras** , if you can’t convince **Athena** to leave her husband (or even if you can), I’m available for the whirlwind foie gras tour. Might I suggest we start in Japan, where searing is the _ **default** _ cooking method? > > My heart broke when on a visit to Paris I searched desperately for seared meat butter and was disappointed at every turn. > > In the meantime, this thread is going straight into my food pr0n spankbank. “Almost crispy, almost blackened…the salted, seared crust…” > > ::shiver:: > > I’ll be in my bunk. Where’s the “I’ve met my soulmate” smiley again? > [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Foie gras totally tastes like liver – not like beef liver, but like chicken liver. Fine pate also tastes like liver. Everything with liver in it, tastes exactly like liver, just to varying degrees of intensity. > > Foie gras has a very dilute flavor because of all the fat, but its the flavor of liver. BTW, I find the butteriness completely revolting. I would puke if I had to eat a chunk of meat flavored butter. Spoilsport. 😃 > [@Athena](#): > > Oh and for the record? Marrow is much more like meat butter than Foie. Fat content ftw! Marrow is more spreadable than foie, so your comparison is apt. I am trying to think of a French dish whereby you eat marrow soup and the next course is where you scrape the marrow out of the bones from the soup you just ate and spread it on toast. Damn, where’s my “Food Lover’s Companion”? > [@SeldomSeen](#): > > Like. In fact I like anything with liver (even braunschweiger). Taking it a step further, I’m fond of just about any kind of organ meat (although I have yet to try kidneys). I’m the only one in the family that likes chicken giblets…whenever a fowl is being prepared I’m right there waiting for the entrails to be brought out. Toss 'em in a hot skillet with a little olive oil and minced garlic…appetizers extrordinaire! Ah, braunschweiger. I love that stuff too. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289/80 "2011-06-30T12:52:32Z")
Best Foie Gras I ever had was in a [bar](http://www.thelondonnyc.com/gordon_ramsay/the_london_bar.cfm) in Manhattan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foie-gras/587289.md?page=5)