Question to Ian Hoare

My French is terrible, but wouldn't it be something like bloc de foie de poulet reconstitu� Chopped liver ain't duck, buddy!

I tink Mike refers to the various quality levels concerning foie gras de canard - if it is a whole piece of liver or what. If I remeber correctly, bloc de foie gras is various pieces of leftover duck liver pressed into a block, or, more likely, can.

I may be wrong though, after the article in Decanter we no longer partake of foie gras de canard.

Cheers

Nils

Your tripping over old American idiom: "It ain't chopped liver" meaning it's nothing to be taken lightly. (I almost said trifled with, but that's another food reference I guess!)

OK, I'll bite, and on the foie gras too. Do you still partake of the Goose version? What's the trouble with duck?

We buy only local foie gras (and not that often at that) as Normandie is the second foie gras region of France. Although in general the quality is perhaps not up to the south west, there are some good farms. Occasionally we have a duck or goose from said farms, though our birds for that sort of purpose usually come from different farmers.

-E

Nils, what's wrong with duck FG?

Never did appreciate the goose liver. THought more taste in the duck. (RIght now I am considering the kind of really horrible pun containing, at a guess, duck, bill, web ... that only a non-anglophone would dream of).

CHeers

Nils

The article sort of started out sympathetic, and they had found a producer who was the least industry-like they could find, still, we (as did the author, while still being largely sympathetic to the producer) found the rearing of the duck slightly on the iffy side. This side, it was only our private (and particularly Xina's AAMF) and higly subjective opinion, and not that of our employer.

I mean, we are not likely to picket the duck farms or spraying ducks with paint (no, that is fur, right?) nor, if we are treated to duck liver, spew condemnation on the host.

And, obviously, we still eat canard confit, with, if possible, a good wine.

Cheers

Nils

One canardly imagine what sort of pun you may give birth to.....but I'm willing to take a gander anwyay!

"Bill S." skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@j8g2000yql.googlegroups.com...

Geeze Bill, you are always spot-on! Anders

Your comments echo those in the letter of an anonymous vet in the July 08 Decanter. Graham

Ah, but Ian, as you know my disagreement is only of a nature that demands a live demonstration, at the table, in Forges or Six Fours, to convince me of your point of view. :-)

cheers m8

Mike

IanH wrote: > I completely share the unease people have about cruel treatment of

I only know of the farm of the Paressants in Normandy, and not only is the method not cruel (the ducks line up to be first to be fed, so it cannot be that bad...!) when practiced with care, but the resulting FG and even the meat is much better because the animals are not stressed.

Yes battery farms for FG production are as bad as industrial chicken farms and any other form of animal raising gone mad.