Sunday, August 16, 2009

Another Take on Foie Gras

This very interesting lecture is from the Taste3 conference, and features chef Dan Barber talking about a farm in Spain that has developed a more humane way to produce foie gras. Enjoy!

13 comments:

blogagog said...

It's interesting that they won. I saw Gordon Ramsay do a taste test on 'the f word' with that same person's goose liver, and Gordon said that it was not smooth and creamy like the force-fed type.

You asked if I had ever tried foie gras before (since I said 'liver is nasty'). The answer is no, and I don't plan to. I got tricked into trying Alaskan king crab about 10 years ago, and that mistake has cost me thousands of dollars, since it's now a 'must have' item on our holiday plates.

No one's tricking me into trying some new ultra-expensive food ;). The worst possible outcome would be that it tastes great.

Luatica said...

I donkt know how expensive is foie gras in the US but you don't have to ruin yourself in Europe to have some here and there.

Unless when you mean that the king crab did something awful to you and you had to spend thousand of dollars of surgery.

kindageeky said...

Great post, great follow-up to the last post with the spirited comments. Definitely following your blog now as I can totally relate to dealing with the inept dichotomous attitude the activists have on this subject.

blogagog said...

No, I just meant that it's expensive as heck, Lucia :). The legs + delivery cost about $175 every time we order them.

I guess I AM going to have to break down and try some foie gras though. It's been bugging me all day that Chef John said it doesn't taste like liver. I want to know what it DOES taste like :).

Anonymous said...

No offence, but who cares? You are making a mountain out of a molehill. I'd much rather hear your excellent recipes and cooking tips, than defences for the liver. You will never turn the hardcore foie gras haters/defenders so why even bother...

Asian Malaysian said...

Try to imagine the richest most buttery non butter food you can think of, blogagog. Its incredible. A lot of restaurants have dishes that include a good chunk or slice of grilled fois gras to a main course just to up the ante so I suggest you try that first before ordering stand alone portions to see if you love it. Some people like my dad just dont.

Btw, I love the clip! I wish I could link it to my facebook page!

Chef John said...

in blogging, making a mountain out of a molehill is also known as "generating traffic"

Unknown said...

I found that clip quite inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

Sheldon said...

Hey John, would you recommend for someone who hasn't tried it a restaurant in San Francisco?

Chef John said...

that's almost impossible! There are thousands! You have to be more specific. Also Yelp.com is great to find place based on style-price-cuisine, etc.

Unknown said...

Does anyone know where one can buy Sousa's Foie Gras? I love the taste of Foie Gras but the ethical concerns have always bugged me (less since your last post). So I'd love to get my hands on some of this non-forcefeed foie gras.
I live in France so it can't be too hard... right??

Eva said...

I will never ever eat Foie Gras. It's not something you will die if you don't eat. It's only for Man's pleasure & luxury -- and an animal doesn't have to SLOWLY suffer because of it. I really don't need to taste it.

I applaude Eduardo for his farm. But it doesn't make eating Foie Gras any less inethical.

Imagine yourself being force-fed. I already feel sick and get reflux when I overeat a little. Imagine being fed more than you can take, and feeling sick everyday of your life.

(Just my 2 cents worth. I know it's an old post but i just had to say something ;))

ItasF said...

The purpose of this vid is to illustrate that fois gras is naturally occurring in geese, and every other wild animal that gorges on food in the bounty of the summer to withstand the rigors of winter. The chef is a little hyper and does not state the obvious. The geese eat as many figs, etc. as they want. That means they forage. It is ethical to forage, I hope. There's no supermarket in the wild. Eduardo also states chefs are not worthy of the foie gras because they will use it for self aggrandisement rather than a celebratory experience of nature.