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Like Adam and Meg before me, I was recently given the opportunity to sample some of the foie gras from Mirepoix USA, arguably the best distributor of foie gras in the country and certainly the most accessible. Unlike my fellow bloggers, however, I opted to go for the already prepared Whole Duck Foie Gras w/ Armagnac Au Torchon Style instead of starting from scratch with the whole duck liver. I invited a group of friends and family, ranging in ages from 10 to 80, over to share the foie gras. For most of them, it was their first experience with the product and everyone seemed excited about the impromptu dinner party. Almost everyone had some prior knowledge of the controversy that surrounds the delicacy, but any pangs of conscience were overridden by hunger pangs and curiosity. That may be a bit of an overstatement, so let's just say that no strong feelings either way were expressed.
Having encountered it more than once in a restaurant, I am not a complete neophyte to foie gras, but I had never before prepared it or served it at home. I opted to serve the foie gras in two ways. First, I served toast points with slices of foie gras and fig preserves. The liver is very fatty (obviously) and the jam serves to lighten the heaviness of it on the palate, as well as to add some dimension to the flavor.
The second preparation of the foie gras was for the main course. I served filet mignon, seared and topped with a slice of foie gras, drizzled with a generous splash of a balsamic red wine reduction. Roasted potatoes and a small salad accompanied the filet.
A foie gras-free pear bundt cake and coffee were dessert and the plusses and minuses of the meal were discussed. Everyone preferred to have the foie gras with meat, rather than on toast, and they preferred very thin slices (pictured above) so that its richness did not overwhelm the meat. While no one seemed ready to run out and buy some for themselves, most said that they would eat it again if the occasion arose. That said, it is worth noting that none of my guests would shed any tears over the loss of foie gras if it was banned, either.
The sauce, by the way, was such an overwhelming success that everyone, excluding the 10 year old, went home with the recipe. You don't need to serve foie gras to enjoy it; the sauce goes well on meat, potatoes and vegetables, and can even be incorporated into pasta sauce when some extra liquid is needed. The filets that I served it with here were just sprinkled with salt and pepper and seared on both sides over high heat.
Balsamic-Red Wine Reduction(from Epicurious)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp red wine
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 shallot, peeled and halved
1 tbsp butter, cut into 2 pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
In a saucepan, cook wine, vinegar, and shallot over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and remove the shallot. Whisk in butter and season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Keep warm over very low heat until ready to serve.
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12-20-2006 @2:06PM Jessica said... "Almost everyone had some prior knowledge of the controversy that surrounds the delicacy, but any pangs of conscience were overridden by hunger pangs and curiosity."
Oh man, what terribly enlightened thinkers you all were to override your moral principles for a snack! Too bad you didn't have anyone on the fence at your party - you could have force fed it to them and then everyone could have understood even better how their dinner got to their plate.
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12-20-2006 @2:44PM Candace said... Oh Jessica give it a break. Not everyone in the world cares about the same things you do. It doesn't make you morally superior to the entire planet, though you like to think it does.
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12-20-2006 @3:53PM Jonny said... Come on Jessica, is how this is produced any worse than farm chickens or farm cattle? Candace, you got it right. Views like this are arrogant and misplaced.
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12-20-2006 @3:40PM Roger Thomas said... U make me sick! nasty! ewwww. you are horribllle for eating poor ducks' most liquor processing organ. how will i get them drunk for my annual beer duck roast. Shame on UUUUUU!
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12-20-2006 @3:54PM Dmnkly said... Nice, Jessica!
Way to show people the merit of your position through intelligent, reasoned discussion and a willingness to engage an opposing view, rather than simply asserting the truth by resorting to righteousness and hyperbole!
Oh... wait...
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12-20-2006 @3:54PM And0 said... Jessica, you seem to have accidentally left out the next line from your quote:
"That may be a bit of an overstatement, so let's just say that no strong feelings either way were expressed."
Doesn't sound like any moral principals were overridden.
Nicole, thanks for the interesting post. It seems foie gras, like many things, has a few lovers and haters; most people find it interesting but not worth getting worked up about (for better or worse).
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12-20-2006 @10:55PM Veron said... Great post! I will try your balsamic reduction next time I prepare foie gras.
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12-20-2006 @10:54PM Vitor Hugo said... Oh... foie gras! If I can choose, I prefer never eat it. Soo fatty.. and poor ducks =~
Take it easy, folks! Flame war isn't the way.
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12-21-2006 @9:59AM Blarg said... I agree with Jessica. If the post had said something like "Everyone was aware of the controversy, but nobody at the table had a problem eating foie gras", that would be different. But the way Nicole phrased it, it sounds like people worried about the moral issues, then ate the foie gras because they were hungry.
If you actually belive that eating foie gras is morally wrong, you shouldn't eat it. If these people did think it was wrong and then ate it, then they compromised their own morals, which makes them worthy of criticism. It has nothing to do with whether YOU think foie gras is wrong.
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12-21-2006 @9:53AM Jessica said... Okay fine.
Re: Dmnkly, I think it is wrong to justify treating other living things in a way you would never want to be treated yourself just because you think their livers are tasty. Feel free to discuss, or tell me where the hyperbole was in my initial post.
Re: Candace, I always find it odd when someone responds to a morality argument by telling the person they must think they're morally superior to everyone. Is it just because some people are willing to maintain their moral principles when others are not? This is consistency, not superiority.
Re: Jonny, you're right! It's worse, but not that much worse. For this reason I am a vegetarian. And what about my view is arrogant/misplaced? Just because it is different from yours? Lots and lots of people, and the city of Chicago, feel the same way.
Re: And0, Nicole edited the post after I commented. She added that line later.
And I agree flame wars aren't the way. I'm sorry my sarcasm offended so many people (foie gras lovers?), but I have yet to hear anyone (Anyone) explain to me why it might not be morally wrong to produce/eat foie gras. Beyond "they're just animals and who cares", which is fairly morally repugnant.
Anyone?
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12-21-2006 @1:34PM Ashley said... Just like with every thing else in the world there are lovers and haters. If you don't like something, then don't buy it. If you like it, have your fill. No one should be told what they can and can't produce. I may not agree with how the stuff is made (or like the flavor), but I am not going to tell someone else that they can't have it because of my beliefs... TO EACH THIER OWN.
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12-21-2006 @10:52PM Lisa said... Jessica,
I don't believe it is morally wrong to eat foie gras, any more than it is to eat Foster Farm chicken. Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman articulate why better than I. Jeffrey Steingarten has a good article on the controversy as well.
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12-21-2006 @10:52PM Lisa said... Link to the Bourdain Ruhlman article:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/10/05/ruhlman_bourdain_foie/index_np.html
Link to the Steingarten article:
http://www.mensvogue.com/food/articles/2006/08/21/foie_gras
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12-21-2006 @10:51PM Dmnkly said... Jessica...
To answer your questions directly, I believe foie is sometimes okay, depending on the farm producing it. I do NOT believe that gavage is an inherently torturous process, provided that it is done properly and with concern for the animals' welfare. I base this conclusion on a full reading of the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare's report on Welfare Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese (which actually supported a ban, but I felt their conclusions greatly overreached their data, often by their own admission) and the press releases of the American Veterinary Medical Association on the subject. I consider these reliable sources.
As for the hyperbole, while I absolutely agree that letting tastiness override morality or ethics is bad, this is the portion that I thought was out of line:
"you could have force fed it to them and then everyone could have understood even better how their dinner got to their plate"
No, they absolutely could not. Force feeding me isn't going to teach me about what it feels like to be a foie duck any more than lying naked in the snow in the arctic is going to teach me what it feels like to be a polar bear. This logic, frequently trotted out in soundbyte form, that we shouldn't do anything to animals that we don't do to ourselves has absolutely no basis in any logic whatsoever. There are things animals do naturally that would be horribly torturous to humans, and the converse is equally true. To draw a comparison between human and duck physiology in an illogical attempt to make a point that may or may not otherwise be valid is hyperbole.
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12-26-2006 @4:16PM Jumper said... I am well aware of the controversy surronding foie gras and I find it quite tasty.
I think that if you are so opposed to the enjoyment of eating foie gras, you probably shouldn't be reading any blog posts about it and commenting about them. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I don't like needlepoint and if I see a blog post or any thing else about it, I just don't read it or spend anytime on it. Hmmmmm
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2-25-2007 @8:11PM D said... I made your balsamic reduction tonite & really enjoyed it. What else have you got that is good, really good?
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