Jump to content

Re: Foie gras - recommendations


chessfou
 Share

Recommended Posts

[quote]Labeyrie ( within my price range) any good?[/quote]

Never tried it; probably won't be too bad but unlikely to be very good - they're always advertising on TV so it's obviously not artisanale. Having said that, Nespresso are always advertising on TV and most of their coffees are rather good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Labeyrie an enormous publicity campaign on TF1!!!!! Cheapest " compressed stuck together bits" € 15 Dearest € 50-80 per kilo depending on source. A link to a delightfully constructed "foie gras" web site, unfortunately I cant give a live link but just copy and paste in your address bar... well worth the bother. http://www.lesmafoi.fr/

As if by magic ! [:)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On television the other day there was a blind tasting of four foie gras - two expensive and two el cheapo.  The expert classified the two inexpensive ones (Ed and Marque Repere Leclerc) as being 18/20 and the other two (Labeyrie was one of them) as 12/20. 

I always make my own mi-cuit, that way I know what I'm getting. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]How can you make a prediction of "Probably won't be too bad but

unlikely to be very good "?  Why not just buy some, try

it and then give your opinion after![/quote]

No, ta; have you ever found an industrial foodstuff that was a patch on really good stuff? If so, please divulge what. The closest I have ever found is Nespresso's coffees (some of them).

There's also the question of what kind of foie gras - oie ou canard, frais (cru even, though I've never tried that), mi-cuit or cuit and also "entier" or "bloc avec morceaux" and then there are parfaits, médaillons, terrines, galantines and mousses, having generally less of the good stuff as you progress down the list.

I'll stick to the best foie gras I know (entier/frais/bloc):

La Drosera Gourmande

http://www.la-drosera-gourmande.com/presentation.htm

and the stuff my wife prepares (raw ingredient from our local butcher),

although I have found that the stuff from Godard (in Figeac) is far above average and there are, of course, loads and loads of very good producers here in Midi-Pyrénées. (There's a man who has tasted something like 4,000 Champagnes; I sometimes dream of doing the same with foie gras [:D]).

The Labeyrie simply won't compare with those, so there's no point (for me) trying it (it doesn't even come top of the "industrials"). If you're happy with industrial stuff, there's a comparison here:

http://www.linternaute.com/comparatif/categorie/111

and another here:

http://www.ciao.fr/Foie_Gras_37239_5

(can you believe "Crumble"? Is that really meant to be a dessert?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Puzzled,

It's certainly a bit of a minefield (at least as tricky as cheese or wine). I'm not sure I can tell which is which between the two (duck and goose) when it comes to foie gras (although the roast/grilled meat is totally different).

If you just want to try it, I would suggest that you can't go far wrong with the smallest (100gr) canard entier from La Drosera Gourmande - it'll set you back €13.50 (which sounds much better than €135 per kilo!):

http://www.la-drosera-gourmande.com/produits.php

They do mail order.

That way you will find out what it ought to taste like (irrespective of whether you like it or not).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not impressed with any of the ready cooked fois gras you can get... I would say if it is a 2 for 1 special then get some, otherwise take the 1 hour time to knock some up yourself.

btw: if you make it yourself you need to eat it within a week or so.... if you buy it ready made then it will last a few years... accumulate the 2 for 1's and buy fresh for special occasions.

osie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well timed thread - spent Thursday afternoon killing & plucking 30 ducks with our neighbours. Out of the 30 we have 2 for the foie and confit etc etc. I am just about to divi up the foie as we like it natural, just warmed through in a pan. This afternoon is stuffing a neck with foie gras and confit production .

yum yum

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand, brucampbell.  I never serve it in my house but have had to eat it once or twice in other people's houses and when it was absolutely unavoidable.

I tend to keep quiet though because it's all about choice in the end and we make right and wrong choices about this as we do about everything else.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, another bit of the minefield.

At one extreme there are the Labeyrie & Delpeyrat battery farms. At the other extreme lies the "natural" gavage (spotted by the ancient Egyptians and Chinese) of ducks and geese preparing to migrate. Somewhere in the middle of the continuum lie the artisan producers. You pays yer money ...

[I am not a vegetarian but would not dream of touching anything from a battery farm, which probably leaves me somewhere in the middle of that continuum]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="brucampbell"]Would I be out of place to point out that the manufacturing of fois gras involves much cruelty?
[/quote]

But certainly less than legal cock-fighting in Pas de Calais and Pay du Nord, supported by the Belgian betting fraternity.[:@]

Edit Oh Dear! a censored bit; please read "fighting between two adult male chickens"[:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...