# Is goose liver pate (not foie gras) any good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562 "2011-12-27T21:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/1 "2011-12-27T21:00:00Z")
Animal-rights activists have made [foie gras](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras) so controversial . . . What if you used ordinary non-force-fed goose livers? Would the pate be any good? FTR, the only “pate” I’ve ever had was made from pork livers, that’s my only basis for comparison. Never even **seen** any other kind for sale in supermarkets or even liquor stores. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/2 "2011-12-27T21:24:04Z")
I think so, I’m no food snob but the first time I ever ate any (without knowing what it was) I was, literally, gobsmacked. I thought it was simply a chicken liver pate and had it on a chunk of crusty bread with a sour cherry conserve. Blew my tiny mind. I know the objections to its production but still…it tastes wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/3 "2011-12-27T21:28:20Z")
Sure it would. Poulty/fowl liver is rich and delicate even from birds that have not been force fed. It tends to be softer than pork liver, so you could actually have a coarse-textured paté that is still completely spreadable. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/4 "2011-12-28T00:48:00Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I think so, I’m no food snob but the first time I ever ate any (without knowing what it was) I was, literally, gobsmacked. I thought it was simply a chicken liver pate and had it on a chunk of crusty bread with a sour cherry conserve. Blew my tiny mind. > > I know the objections to its production but still…it tastes wonderful. Could you tell a difference from chicken liver pate? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/5 "2011-12-28T00:51:04Z")
BTW, apparently there is such thing as [free range foie gras.](http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/2009/08/free_range_foie_gras.html) Its production is made possible by the fact that, when winter is approaching, geese will stuff **themselves** with food if you let them, they instinctively fatten up for the winter. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/6 "2011-12-28T01:39:13Z")
Yes, it’s very tasty. I haven’t done a side by side of force fed versus free range, but the non force fed is really good. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/7 "2011-12-28T02:53:41Z")
Goose and duck livers are very good without cirrhosis, and distinctly different in taste from chicken and turkey liver, and each other. If you like one, I think you’ll like the rest. ---
**Author:** ![notsoheavyd3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@notsoheavyd3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsoheavyd3)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/8 "2011-12-28T04:56:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > BTW, apparently there is such thing as [free range foie gras.](http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/2009/08/free_range_foie_gras.html) Oh, is this how it’s made? [http://www.wohlmut.com/kevin/Recipes/TomDBug-FoieGras.gif](http://www.wohlmut.com/kevin/Recipes/TomDBug-FoieGras.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/9 "2011-12-28T15:11:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Could you tell a difference from chicken liver pate? If I couldn’t it would be because someone had made the most astonishing chicken liver pate ever! But yes, I think having now eaten both there is a textural element that is a give-away. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/10 "2011-12-28T15:19:29Z")
Huh. Timely thread. I’ve never had foie gras before, but have had it twice now in a the last couple of weeks. I’ve never had chicken liver pate, or any other kind. It’s a very buttery, very rich. As a spread on crostini or toast, it would indeed be pretty wonderful. But the places I had it didn’t serve it that way; rather, you got a slice of foie gras along with some other nibbles for an appetizer. Straight up, I think it’s too much - it needs something to cut through the fat. It’s good, but not my favorite. I don’t know that I’d search it out again, really. But, to each their own. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/11 "2011-12-28T16:07:47Z")
What is the **point** of turning a goose’s liver into a foie gras, anyway? Is it just to make it bigger? Or to increase the fat content? ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/12 "2011-12-28T17:14:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What is the **point** of turning a goose’s liver into a foie gras, anyway? Is it just to make it bigger? Or to increase the fat content? I think it’s the latter: that the increased fat content gives it that smoother texture and affects the flavour. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/13 "2011-12-28T18:34:57Z")
It’s very good, but I like veal too, much better than beef. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/14 "2011-12-28T23:11:21Z")
> [@AndyLee](#): > > It’s very good, but I like veal too, much better than beef. You can **taste** the suffering! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/15 "2011-12-28T23:57:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > You can **taste** the suffering! 😃 The best foie gras is made from geese that have been force fed veal. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/16 "2011-12-29T00:36:56Z")
> [@Hallucinex](#): > > I think it’s the latter: that the increased fat content gives it that smoother texture and affects the flavour. It also makes it bigger, though; an article in the Globe & Mail about a free range foie gras farmer in Quebec said that his livers were about 400 g instead of 1 kg. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/17 "2011-12-29T01:19:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It also makes it bigger, though; an article in the Globe & Mail about a free range foie gras farmer in Quebec said that his livers were about 400 g instead of 1 kg. What does a goose’s liver weigh before it (for whatever reason) fattens up? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-goose-liver-pate-not-foie-gras-any-good/607562/18 "2011-12-29T05:17:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What does a goose’s liver weigh before it (for whatever reason) fattens up? No idea. One more thing: in the article, it also stated that force-feeding a goose will fatten the liver in about two weeks as opposed to several months the free range way.