New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Foie Gras Article

post #1 of 14
3/19/09 at 8:09am
Thread Starter 
Interesting article in Salon today (Thursday, 2/19/09) concerning foie gras. Perhaps, not so much an article as a brief response to a recent book -- and its predecessor. Since we've had threads on the topic, I thight it might be of interest to more than a few forum members.

Here you go: Review, "The Foie Gras Wars" | Salon Life

PS. Salon has an advertisement pre-play shield. Give it thirty seconds, it will display a "close and enter" sprite. When you close, you should be directed to the linked article.
What were we talking about?
 
http://www.cookfoodgood.com
Reply
post #2 of 14
3/19/09 at 8:42am
Excellent article, thank you for this
Reply
post #3 of 14
3/19/09 at 9:45am
Great article.
Thanks BDL
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Reply
post #4 of 14
3/19/09 at 8:58pm
Thanks for the article BDL!!! I was active in the fight to get the foie ban repealed in Chicago, flooding the Inboxes of the city council and supporting my chef friends that refused to stop serving foie, so I was glad to see yet another article dispelling the misinformation out there about foie production.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
Reply
post #5 of 14
3/20/09 at 3:37am
I'm a big fan of the first guy slapped with a fine for this in Chi: Hot Doug, of Hot Doug's Encased Meats Emporium and Sausage Superstore.
Reply
post #6 of 14
3/20/09 at 10:51am
It sounds like its a really big battle, is Foie gras really that good to fight for it so furiously? iv wanted to try it but theres no resturant that serves it and no store that sells goose liver so im out of luck for now :(
Lets all enjoy some perspective shall we.
Reply
post #7 of 14
3/20/09 at 11:38am
The question isn't whether foie is good enough to fight for, but rather, should the choice to eat or not eat it be taken away from us?

edit to add: thanks for the article, boar_d_laze
Reply
post #8 of 14
3/20/09 at 1:08pm
Good article, thanks BDL.

Foie poses a question for me....I've never tried it, but am wondering if anyone know if the taste from a force fed goose is different from that of a non-force fed goose?

I'm assuming it must be, having a lot more fat in it, but does anyone actually know from experience?
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
Reply
post #9 of 14
3/20/09 at 1:44pm
not to be especially out of it, but the "thing" refers to consumption of an enlarged liver - which is only created by forced feeding - so there's no such thing as an a"unforced fed" foie gras.

it's like veal - if you like veal, you have to come to terms with eating a baby.
okay, a baby cow - but my wife doesn't look at it that way,,,,,
<lamb - you don't wanna know.....>
Reply
post #10 of 14
3/20/09 at 1:54pm
(Thanks for the article BDL!!! I was active in the fight to get the foie ban repealed in Chicago, flooding the Inboxes of the city council and supporting my chef friends that refused to stop serving foie, so I was glad to see yet another article dispelling the misinformation out there about foie production.)

Most City dwellers have no idea how our food is produced and gets to the store or restaurants. Repeating falshoods about animal crualtie etc. in Agriculture is very prevelant. PETA is the biggest misinformant in the world. As to foie, I have never even seen it much less tasted it, let people have it and raise the geese for it. I love Liver but were I live I cant even get a decent piece of Calfs, Beef or even Chicken Liver. So I grow some of my own veggie's and fruit ( no farmers market in over 100 miles ) and get angry about how snobbish some people become over food.
Reply
post #11 of 14
3/20/09 at 2:17pm
Thread Starter 
Significantly.

I think it's worth noting that most foie gras in the US is actually duck liver and not goose. It's pretty easy to get a hold of duck liver. Try it sauteed in butter to medirum rare. Duck foie gras (foie gras d'canard) has a much mellower taste, and a far more unctious texture. It doesn't explode in your mouth, but melts and leaves more of an "afterglow" than aftertaste.

Know that it has more fat in it from direct, personal experience? Not exactly. However, even though I haven't measure it myself ... For an "A" or "B" American foie gras d'canard, about 24g fat per 2 oz serving. For a normal duck liver, about 3 grams of fat per 2 oz serving. I don't know the figures for a "C" foie gras de canard, but I'd speculate that it's in the 15g neighborhood.

A really good foie gras d'oie (goose foie gras) is slightly fattier than a really good foie grad d'canard. From a high-end culinary stanpoint that means that foie gras d'oie is favored for cold pates while duck is the foie gras of choice for warm service. In turn, that means that foie gras d'canard is almost always what you see in restaurants.

I don't know the fat content for foie gras d'oie offhand. Your turn to use teh googles. I'm exhausted.

BDL
What were we talking about?
 
http://www.cookfoodgood.com
Reply
post #12 of 14
3/20/09 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
I thought lamb was raised free-range and grazing -- at least after the first eight weeks. Was I wrong?

Is lamb, even baby lamb, raised under conditions similar to factory-farm veal? Many years ago I was a "silent partner" in a farming operation which inclded running a band of sheep. Everything was humane there and then. The rancher was the shepherd at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (as it was known back in the day) before he moved down to Falbrook to ranch/farm, and our actual shepherd was some Basque guy we were forced to hire in order to do business (sheep ranching was controlled by the Basques at the time, if you didn't go along you didn't get along). Basque or no Basque, the whole thing was fairly natural and certainly humane.

Since I was a kid, I had a very good idea of what the cattle business was (and is) like. But hadn't heard the same about sheep ranching. As I said, my own experience was different than what you imply is the normal state of affairs. Were we different? Have things changed?

BDL
What were we talking about?
 
http://www.cookfoodgood.com
Reply
post #13 of 14
3/20/09 at 3:15pm
<lamb - you don't wanna know.....>

clarification: the reference refers to my wife's opinion on the eating of babies.
lambs are cuter than calves.

I imply zero.zilch commentary regarding the "treatment" of the babes scheduled for slaughter. that's another issue.

how she manages to handle eggs is not an area I'm prepared to discuss with her.
Reply
post #14 of 14
3/22/09 at 10:29pm
Didn't mean to wear you out:)

I am not in America, am in Australia, and have never seen foie of any sort on a menu (ok I don't eat high end enough). Its a bit of a different world here.

All I was looking to see if anyone had actually say, for example, had foie from a goose (or duck), which had not been force fed, say a breeder of the animal, and had had a chance to compare the taste. I am not prejudiced either way on the issue, was just curious.

The closest I can get in my cultural backwater here is chicken liver..... I am sure it does not compare.

Thank you for your detailed reply BDL. I was thinking if an animal had a higher calorific intake, there would probably be more fat stored in the liver, and hence the difference in taste. As it's said, fat is flavour.

DC
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Food & Cooking