GOODLIFE - Duck me not - urvashi and taraana vaswani

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Duck me not

Foie Gras, prepared from the fattened liver of geese and duck, curries favour as a
fine gourmet food

	Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat, fat, fat. Please put a penny in the old man’s hat. The true import of the words in this old Christmas carol may not have struck us as children. But now, having sampled the Foie Gras, we are a little wiser. Carving an irreplaceable niche in the realm of fine foods, Foie Gras (pronounced as fwa gra), has been a coveted favourite of gourmets and gourmands alike for centuries now. While the process of procuring Foie Gras has raised the hackles of many a humanitarian, the fact remains that today, the delicate buttery flavour of Foie Gras is increasingly finding favour worldover. Foie Gras or ‘fattened liver’ refers to the liver of geese that have been fattened by force feeding them with figs. Hence the term ‘foie’ (fig) and ‘gras’ (fat). The origins of this gourmet delicacy date back to 5th century BC, the earliest reference noting Egyptians raising fattened geese, though Foie Gras as a distinct food earned its own identity only during the
Foie Gras Framboise
Roman period. Yet another school of thought believes that the tradition was kept alive by the Jews, who are said to have learnt the method of fattening geese during the Roman colonization of Israel or perhaps, even earlier, from the Egyptians. Today though, the biggest consumers and producers, as well as importers of Foie Gras are the French.
Foie Gras can either be that of goose – Foie Gras Doie – which is considered gastronomically higher, or of duck – Foie Gras de Canard. The grey Toulouse goose or the Moulard duck, which is a crossbreed of the male Muscovy duck and the female Pekin duck, are the most preferred birds for procuring Foie Gras from.The best variety of Foie Gras comes from Perigord in France.

The very premise of producing Foie Gras is to fatten the liver, thus creating a rich, buttery flavour. Geese and ducks, both being migratory birds, possess the capacity to store excess fat in their bodies for their migratory flights during winter. Fattening the geese may sound simple enough, but in France, the process is taken seriously enough for them to put a legal definition to it, with a stage-by-stage technique called ‘gavage’ used to plump up the birds. Gavage involves force feeding the birds with corn boiled with fat – four times a day for geese and twice daily for ducks – to make them gain weight.

Truffles Mushroom

In USA, Foie Gras is classified as grade A, B or C. Grade A has the highest fat content and is best suited to low temperature preparations as there are also relatively fewer veins and the non-visibility of obvious blood makes for a pleasing appearance. Grade B works well for high temperature cooking as the higher content of protein in it gives the liver more structure after being seared. Grade C is preferred for making sauces and in other preparations, as the veins do not impair the aesthetic appeal of the dish.

Whole Foie Gras or Foie Gras Entier is something of a rarity in terms of accessibility. It is usually available only during Christmas in France. There are other forms such as Foie Gras made of smaller pieces of liver assembled together, or Bloc de Foie Gras, a fully cooked block, or load of Foie Gras that must contain at least 98 per cent or more of Foie Gras. If it is labeled Avec Morceaux (with pieces or morsels), it must contain at least 50 per cent of Foie Gras pieces for goose and 30 per cent for duck. The most popular forms of Foie Gras though, and also relatively easily available, would have to be the Pâté or Mousse de Foie Gras, both of which comprise of at least 50 per cent Foie Gras or the Parfait de Foie Gras which has 75 per cent or more.