Foie gras gets a lot of attention. It's expensive, it's extravagant, it's delicious. It's also controversial, the target of media campaigns directed at farming methods, restaurants have come under pressure to strike it from menus, animal rights activists have called for it to be banned, in some parts of the world successfully. I've been spending time in the Lot & Dordogne regions of south west France, traditionally the home of foie gras, where people speak with culinary pride about the traditions of their region, & indeed the industry shows no signs of waning. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
Foie gras (translation fat liver) traditionally from the Toulouse goose, more recently the Moulard duck, farmed for the qualities of the breed, mainly size, more recently temperament, the bird is fattened on corn, hand-fed additional rations in the last two weeks before slaughter, a process which fattens the liver. The whole bird is used. In specialty shops & supermarkets alike packets/jars/cans of the cooked foie gras, of pâté, terrine, rillettes & confit line the shelves, as well as breast meat & leg, carcasses for stocks, sausages & other small goods, all alongside the other products these regions are renowned for, walnut oils & vinegars, prune liqueurs, goat cheeses. Anyway, indulging in this kind of regional food reverie is one thing, serious investigation requires action.
In the mood for a little sightseeing, we stopped in at a foie gras producer & supplier's, quite a large place & all by itself, situated roadside just out of Cahors, for inspection & tasting. After buying as much foie gras in as many forms as I could, for research purposes, & stashing them back at home for later, the next stop was to see what happens up close.
The hope was to get me into an actual foie gras farm, to see what I could see with my own two eyes. There are loads of these places round here, but picking up a tourist brochure we found ferme de Grezelade, located between Payrac & Lanzac, where at 5pm on Tuesdays & Fridays we could join a group & see some ducks being fed. The farm was home to some 2400 ducks, kept in separate areas: younger ducklings being reared, maturing ducks grazing in the fields, ducks kept indoors for their final two weeks. What struck me was how clean everything was. What struck me next was how much space there was. Far from the horrors of the battery farmed hen, these birds roamed in great flocks through wooded hillocks & grassy paddocks, there were water troughs, feed stations & hay bales. Our farmer showed us round, demonstrated the skills of his border collie in rounding up several hundred ducks, described the routines of a day in the life of a foie gras farm, & explained the feeding process, known as gavage.
Troubled by rumours of agricultural atrocities committed in the name of this delicacy in hideaway corners of foie-gras-ville like this one, yet torn by my secret relish for the delectable delight that is foie gras, I was determined to remain impartial & kept a firm grip on my skepticism. Despite this, as I looked on I could not help but observe that, all in all, these were happy looking birds.
In a small pen, two ducks were held for the demonstration. The gavage process is one in which the bird is force fed during the final two weeks before slaughter. A fattening up stage. The bird is fed corn through a funnel of sorts. Held snugly, a kind of wind up mechanism atop the funnel feeds corn in a steady stream so that is directly swallowed. The bird's neck is massaged to help the corn down & the process is repeated. As if to emphasise to us who stood watching on, the nature of this process from the bird's point of view, the second bird waited impatiently for its turn &, when its time came, was attended closely by the first. At the end of it all both birds seemed more than willing to hoover up what stray kernels remained scattered at the farmer's feet. Through skeptical spectacles, I saw nothing I could call cruel. It's a sensitive topic, & talking to people round these parts reveals that while the industrial practices of some parts of Eastern Europe & elsewhere have been proven to be less than savoury, artisan produced foie gras on the farms of south-west France is a very different matter. Certainly in the grand scheme of industrial farming practices generally employed throughout the world, this seemed pretty mild.
Leaving our well fed ducks, our tour ended with a butchery demonstration. A butcher's block was set up in the shop, the farmer's wife bringing in a pre-plucked duck for the demo. These are big ducks. Bigger than the ducks I'm used to anyway. Two breasts feed four people. Everything is big. Breaking it down, the knife runs down the breast bone, breast & drum sticks removed & set aside (see last week's post: confit de canard). The liver, a light brown colour, is exposed in the area of of the rib cage. The picture below shows our farmer holding the bird up, breast meat splayed, liver, or foie gras, revealed. The foie gras is carefully removed, the connective tissue connecting them removed & both sides are de-veined in preparation for cooking. Wanting to be thorough, we left with a shopping bag full of more samples to help further our research purposes.
recipe#1: figues au foie gras.
ingredients:
figs/foie gras/sauterne/butter
method:
*gently squeeze open the base of the fig to create a cavity to stuff
*stuff the cavity with foie gras, so that it sits nicely
*line an oven proof pan/dish with baking paper, sit the figs on, knob of butter on top of each
*pour over a little sauterne, cover loosely with foil
*give the figs about 5 mins in a moderate to high oven
*remove, glaze with butter, pour syrup over figs to serve
Two points to consider:
1) this is usually made with dried figs, or semi dried so that they are still workable, & this is how you buy them at market, but i prefer fresh.
2) the oven time is to warm the fruit thru, melt the butter to glaze, allow the sauterne to semi-poach & reduce to a syrupy consistency
recipe#2: foie gras entier (version1)
ingredients:
whole liver, both sides, deveined, roughly 350-500g
armagnac, roughly a cup or two, enough to cover
method:
*preheat oven to 180°
*lay out the foie gras, seasoning with s'n'p
*place the foie gras (entier=whole/entire) in a pottle/small casserole, pressing to fit -the idea is that it fits snugly inside
*pour over the armagnac (other recipes call for whiskey or brandy, sherry is nice, I've also used sauterne & am thinking i may use a local prune liqueur next time)
*cover the dish & cook in the oven for 15-20mins
*bring it out & sit on the bench to cool.
*using a piece of cardboard, or something similar to fit over the top inside of the dish, sit it on top & place a weight on top of that. i use a piece of wood & sit a jar of water on top at each end. The idea is to press down on the foie gras, pushing excess liquid (armagnac & fat) to the top, to set.
*leave in the fridge overnight.
*next day, remove weights & lid, melt the set film of armagnac/fat & pour over the top of the foie gras. Set once more in the fridge.
*to serve, place casserole in a warm water bath, to loosen the foie gras inside. Turn it out as one piece to present, slicing off servings. I like a glass of something on the side, here in France a local sauterne, or nice liqueur of some kind does nicely.
recipe#3: foie gras entier (version2)
ingredients:
whole liver, both sides, deveined, roughly 350-500g
a splash of armagnac
method:
*on your bench, spread out the foie gras & knead it gently with your fingers to spread it out further & form a rectangle. With such a high fat content, the liver is quite soft & maleable
*splash a little armagnac (or sherry etc) over the top, season with s'n'p
*let it sit for a few hours, to let the flavours absorb a little
*divide the rectangle into two or three equal sizes, place on glad wrap, & roll each into a long thin sausage shape, taking care not to roll the gladwrap inside the foie gras,
*repeat with another layer of gladwrap & tie a knot in each end so water doesn't seep in
*poach these in barely simmering water for about 3-5mins, depending on thickness
*set cold in the fridge overnight
*to serve, slice 2 inch disks & unwrap. place on end on a plate & garnish with fresh raspberries & a little quince paste, perhaps some berry compote if raspberries are out of season, either way the marriage of berries & foie gras works very well.
recipe#4: escalope of foie gras on brioche with grapes
(from 'A Table in the Tarn - living.eating & cooking in south-west France'' by Orlando Murrin)
ingredients:
1 fresh foie gras/a little icing sugar/a little flour
8 slices of brioche/2 eggs/60ml cream/2TGrand Marnier/2Tsugar/butter
a small bunch of grapes
s'n'p/chopped chives
method:
*using a hot knife(dip in hot h2o) slice across the foie gras into 8 equal slices
*dust the slices with the icing sugar & flour & set aside in fridge
*slice the grapes in half, skin & remove seeds if you wish, set aside
*make a dipping mix of egg/cream/GM/sugar
*in a hot pan, melt butter & fry golden brioche slices, after dipping in eggy mix
(keep warm in the oven while the rest of the dish takes shape)
*same pan, add a little more butter, toss the grapes at a sizzle, set aside
*turn heat up, wipe pan clean, & when the pan smokes flash sear the slices of foie gras for 30seconds to a minute on each side. The fat will quickly melt so you must work quickly
*assemble the dish: brioche first, foie gras next, grapes on top, chopped chives scattered over & a little sea salt to finish. Serve immediately.
Sally & I cooked this recipe here in La Brugue the other night, using Cointreau instead of Grand Marnier, & grapes from the vines that grow around the potager. Alan, a master with the bread maker, baked brioche. Two more dedicated food lovers I have rarely had the pleasure of meeting &, during my stay here in their beautiful home, it would be fair to say that a large percentage of our time has been spent in the pursuit of gastronomic indulgence. Our investigation into all things foie gras has been well & truly a joint effort
(great photos Nick!)
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