What is it about Foie Gras

On the show they were making a dish using Foie Gras, and this is what I just want to give a few facts on, as opinion is still divided on this topic.

Foie Gras in English means, “Fat liver”. It is made from the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened, this process is called “gavage” i.e. force-feeding.  This practice is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt, and this is where the problem comes in, as the process of force-feeding the birds is a controversial issue.

The correct method is to force-feed the bird just until the point of death, which is when the bird is slaughtered.

According to wikipedia- Fattened liver can be produced by alternative methods without gavage, and this is referred to either as “fatty goose liver” or as foie gras (outside France), though it does not conform to the French legal definition, and there is debate about the quality of the liver produced. This method involves timing the slaughter to coincide with the winter migration, when livers are naturally fattened. This has only recently been produced commercially, and is a very small fraction of the market. While force-feeding is required to meet the French legal definition of “foie gras”, producers outside of France do not always force feed birds in order to produce fattened livers that they consider to be foie gras, instead allowing them to eat freely, termed ad libitum.

Click on this table below to see the main producers of foie gras

I just want to let you know that I am staying neutral on this matter. Yes I do have an opinion but I would rather keep it to myself, all I am trying to do here is just show you why so many people object and choose not to eat foie gras because of the cruel method of producing the foie gras.

Cooking with old friends

I know Steve and his lovely wife Sam through my brother. Steve asked me  to come around and teach him and his friends something unique in the kitchen and have some fun whilst doing it –  it just so happened to fall on Halloween.

We had a big menu to get through, so I made sure that we started early enough to ensure that we wouldn’t be eating too late. On our menu for Halloween was a scrumptious starter of Fresh Green Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce along with a Marinated Salmon and Crab dish.  For main course we made individual Beef Wellingtons with seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes. For dessert I came up with three choices as everybody was keen to learn something different; we made Eton Mess with a twist, Chocolate Fondant and for Gordon, Passion-fruit Soufflé.

 A few of the guests already knew how to make the basic dishes, but what I hoped to show them were the little secrets of each dish that would make them just that little bit special and based on the feedback it looks as if I achieved my goal.

The cooking went well with everybody enjoying themselves and getting involved but what is an evening of cooking without great wines?  We started with chilled champagne, moving on to a smooth Sancerre.  My favourite however, was a lovely bottle of Tignanello 2005 and we then rounded off the meal with a Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1995 (a sweet wine) with dessert.

I am going to leave it there as I think the photos say it all  –  just wanted to say thank you to Steve, Sam, Charles, Gordon and Nadyne for a very enjoyable evening. See you soon guys!

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Tignanello 2005

 I first had this wine when I was cooking at Stephen Kempen’s house on Halloween; his good friend Gordon McKie had introduced Steve to this wine.

Tignanello is made exclusively from the vineyard of the same name, which is situated on limestone and tufaceous soil on the Tignanello estate covering 47 south-west-facing hectares at altitudes between 350 and 400 meters.

This was the first Sangiovese to be aged in barriques, the first modern red wine blended with non-traditional varieties like Cabernet, and the first red wines in Chianti not to use white grapes.

Tignanello, originally “Chianti Classico Riserva vigneto Tignanello” was first made from a single vineyard in the 1970 vintage, when it contained 20% Canaiolo and 5% Trebbiano and Malvasia and was aged in small oak barrels.

With the 1971 vintage it became a Tuscan table wine and was named Tignanello. In 1975 the percentage of white grapes was definitively removed. Since 1982 the composition has remained the same. Tignanello is only made in the best vintage years, and therefore was not made in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992 and 2002.

Very intense ruby red colour. Nicely expressed varietal aromas with hints of black berry fruit. The palate is weighty, dense and vibrant with complex structure thanks to support of the acidity. Long and lingering with hints of chocolate, coffee and marmalade in the aftertaste.

The beautifully handled tannin from the wine and wood blend making Tignanello a very complex, stylish and sophisticated wine.