What food can be more Frenchy and Christmasy than a foie gras? Translated from French as "fat liver", foie gras is a delicacy made of the liver of a duck or goose. Its flavour is described as rich, buttery and delicate, unlike that of an ordinary duck or goose liver. It’s an extremely popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine, especially in Alsace and Southwest of France, the two regions which claim its paternity. French law states that "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France”.
Foie Gras is mainly referred as French product, however this delicacy has a very ancient origin, dated back to the Egyptians (about 2500 BC) and the Greeks, followed by the Romans. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the tradition of foie gras developed in Central Europe. This dish reached the pinnacle of its popularity during the reign of Louis XVI.
It has become a good tradition and a team building event that every year with LPB Market Team we do our own foie gras from scratch over 2 nights (1 night for marinade, 1 night for cooking) at a chef's kitchen who is a friend of ours. 5 Years ago we did 30 jars, 5 years ago 90, 4 years ago 120, 3 years ago 150, 2 years ago 190, last year 200, every year running out of stock before Christmas. This year we have topped up to 215 jars (and this is the max we can do)!
For the last 6 years we did 2 recipes (classic and Alsace with Christmas spices). Last year we've introduced a truffle foie gras and it was a blast! It's not a standard 3% summer Chinese truffle with eastern Europe foie gras that you can find at a supermarket. We are talking about Rolls-Royce of foie gras here. It's an 8% Italian black truffle with foie gras from South West of France, which holds the Label Rouge (Red Label), a distinction of a high quality. And on top of that it's home-made!
HOW TO COOK A HOMEMADE FOIE GRAS "WINTER SPICES"
A quality foie gras is first and foremost a liver that is carefully deveined by hand before being cooked.
Prep Time: 30 mins. Cook Time: 50 mins. Servings: 6 people.
Ingredients
- 1 (1 lb) lobe duck liver
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and clove
- 5 tablespoons Sauternes (or other sweet white wine)
Instructions
- De-vein the lobe of foie gras.
- Dissolve the salt in the wine, then add pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and clove.
- Pour this mixture over the foie gras and let stand covered over the night (12 hours) in the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 250 F / 120 C with a water-filled container for a bain-marie.
- Arrange the marinated foie gras pieces and pack them in a jar. Cover and bake by placing the jar in the water-filled container.
- Lower the oven temperature to 210 F / 100 C, and cook for about 50 minutes. The interior temperature of the foie gras must be 120 F / 50 C.
- Allow cooling. Remove excess fat and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Foie gras can then be enjoyed immediately, or even better within 5 days so that it reaches optimum maturity. Once cooked, you can keep foie gras up to 6 months in the fridge.
Bon appetit!
Cheesy Yours,
LPB Market Team