Ooooo. I am not usually such a fancypants about my diet (last night I gave myself permission to order the smothered burrito with chicharrones- those ought to be in controversy too, but gawd, I slurped it up!), but you make a strong case and are certainly getting my attention. It certainly looks like a great treat, and the serving size looks much larger in the first example than what I expected. I think I will go ahead and put it on my ‘list of things to do before death’ list, though I better do something worthy in advance to atone for the poor bird’s suffering, such as it is.
Well, I don’t eat like that hardly at all anymore. When I worked in various higher-end restaurants and sold fine wines for a living back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, I had a lot more opportunity to try these things and eat out.
Now I’m married with three kids, and if I can sneak a little onion powder into our scrambled eggs on a Sunday morning, that’s high-falutin’ eating anymore!
Ah. I used to be pals with a chef, and learned all kinds of interesting foodie things. Foie gras came up, but I don’t think the whole thing really ‘stuck’ at the time. A well prepared duck, however, stuck like glue 
I managed to avoid marriage and kids so far, and I have hung on to my good job. While growing up a little garlic powder on anything was pretty exotic. Now, foie gras is in my future if I want it! Mostly though I want to invest my dough… Kids are a great thing to invest in too though, don’t take me wrong. I’m a little jealous really…
I like how you put that…“managed to avoid”…
Sometimes I wish I’d managed that trick too. Sadly, no.
Anyway, since you’re a swinging dick with no parental responsibilities, then try the shit. You only live once and if you don’t like it, at least you tried it. Try everything, omit nothing. A good motto for life.
But you’ll love it and crawl on your knees for it and…oh, was I still talking?
Ooops!
Yah well sometimes I can’t decide if it is an achievement or a failure. Looks like what we have here is a case of the grass is greener…
It looks like I have discovered food porn if nothing else thanks to you. Omit nothing is a decent motto I suppose, but it can bite you in the ass. If you ever have the chance to order the Sea Cucumber- don’t! You are not. missing. anything.
Ok now, you’re going back into ‘gateway drug’ territory. If foie gras turns out to be the evil Pharaoh of the food world, and once introduced I will be bound to do its will forever, well, what if I cease to be a man of even modest means? Would I be haunted the rest of my days by the memory of a bird liver which I could never taste again?!? :eek:
I like liverwurst every now and again. I usually get a couple of thick slices from the deli and make a sandwich. I’d like to try foie gras sometime.
Well, I don’t have my username for nothing! I am haunted by my inability to eat at the high table of culinary goodness…but memories will suffice until NEXT TIME!!
I like crap like braunschweiger too, which is spreadable meat paste, essentially, but foie is on its own level. Try it. If you don’t like it, at least you can say you tried. The only problem is failure of preparation, which many restaurants are prone to. Its too bad really. The best examples are spectacular, the worst fail miserably and not only are expensive, but turn people off of it forever afterwards.
It has to be done right.
In my braunschweiger/liver sausage thread a month or two ago, a poster gave me the suggestion of searing slices of it as though it were foie gras. Well, braunschweiger is AMAZINGLY better seared in a pan. Another poster mentioned eating it with red jam, and I now eat the seared slices with lingonberry preserves (not too sweet). It balances it out perfectly. Try it! I was further inspired by other posters to try goose or calf’s liver sausage, which I also tried (from a German deli). They are sublime. I usually start the pan off with a bit of bacon fat, and then a bit of the fat from the slices melts off too.
Yeah, that’s a similar concept to my favorite foie preparation. Any time you have something that full of fat, er, FLAVOR, a nice acidic fruit always accompanies it very well, standing up to the richness of the food so it isn’t cloying.
I haven’t had Braunschweiger in awhile, I might have to pick some up!
Hey!
Protesters!
Leave the Liver Alone!
All in all it’s just another organ in the gut!
Add me to the list of those that completely misunderstood the OP’s username. I’d always pictured him as a PETA-type animal rights activist, solely based on his username.
I have enjoyed fois gras in a variety of different ways. My eldest offspring usually makes some for Yule each year. I prefer it seared as mentioned by others.
When I discovered how fois gras was made, I was initially upset, but when I discovered that ducks naturally gorge themselves in order to sustain long periods without food, and that the domesticated method was quite similar, then I was no longer upset and could enjoy the marvelous and incomparable delight.
Ditto.
Yeah the birds will happily overeat. My understanding is that the people that feed the birds (apparently they are generally women, something about the birds responding better to women) have their little gaggle of them and they will eat and eat from the feeding tube that’s inserted into their esophagus (they have no gag reflex) and once they are gorged on food they become very thirsty and drink a ton of water, which of course abets the liver expansion process.
As for my username, well…sorry guys. I hate PETA, unless you’re talking about the offshoot group People Eating Tasty Animals.
No problem. We have much in common.
Yah well the ethical treatment of animals is a worthy goal, and they do yell about foie more than, say, fishing, but the organization seems to lack the gravity of their cause.
I agree about minimizing the suffering of animals meant for human consumption, but in no way do I advocate stopping eating them. And frankly, PETA’s just fucking loony-tunes.
We just explain Foie Gras to our daughter yesterday (along with a lot of other Food Facts), and we managed to freak her out. I think she’s given up eating for a while.
The thing is, we weren’t trying to “sell” it one way or another, and weren’t demonizing anything. But the actual nature of the stuff we eat can sometimes freak you out when you first learn about it. Now she’s looking askance at the “creme” filling in her Oreos.
Personally, I love foie gras, though I’ve only had it a couple times. I also love veal. When I first met my gf I made her an incredible dinner, with veal shanks as the entree. She loved everything. After, we were sipping after dinner drinks when I used the term “veal shanks” for the first time.
She kinda freaked. Turns out she had never had veal as an adult, due to concerns about the whole humane thing. It was a sobering moment for both of us (I though for a bit that I’d really fucked up). We have had veal a few times since.
I think personally that veal production is more “animal ethics” problematic than foie gras, but its still really, really tasty. I mean, baby anything is almost universally better (or at least, more tender) than its adult counterpart. Veal, lamb, suckling pig, etc. Take them early in their lives with less chance to exercise (toughen) their muscles.