Where to get foie gras

Foie Gras.jpg@HealthyDelish asked via Twitter

Thoughts on where to get foie gras in the 518? (Not @ a resto... need it for a recipe)

@reneemca suggested Adventure in Food in Menands. We followed up on that and it turns out they carry several types:

Pre sliced foie gras from the Hudson Valley goes for $38.95 per lb.
Flash Frozen grade is $44 per lb.
Flash Frozen Grade B is $36.20 per lb.
Cubes (great for stuffing or rissotto) go for 20.75 per lb.

We also checked in with Putnam Market in Saratoga. You can get it there during the holidays and racing season, but it's not in stock right now.

Anyone have other thoughts?

Photo: Flickr user SimonDoggett

Comments

I'm not a fascist vegan type, but please rethink fois gras. It's so sad...

Why would anyone want to eat something that is created by torturing an animal?

b/c meatbutter is morality-crushingly delicious.

Was there a request for morality? I thought the person was asking about acquiring a food item which is legally available in every state in our country.

Get it while it's still legal.

There's a lot of misinformation out there about foie gras production. It's a lot more humane than the process that brings your typical grocery store eggs, boneless chicken breast, or ground beef to your table. Not saying that there aren't some issues with some producers, but if you're concerned with humane treatment of livestock/poultry there are much better places to start.

I haven't sourced it around here but if you want to eat some truly amazing food, are fond of foie gras and find yourself in Montreal I recommend you head to Au Pied de Cochon. So very yummy. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaplanbr/2623738314/ Eat this, die happy.

@mirdreams: The few times I've walked past Au Pied de Cochon, the people eating inside have looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Nah, sorry B, that's a bit hypocritical. While you can get eggs, chicken, or beef that has been produced in an 'ethical' or 'humane' way, you can't quite get foie gras the same manner. There *are* alternative methods to create foie gras, but it's not only a very very small fraction of the market, but it's also not quite "considered" a similar product; force feeding is required to meet the French legal definition of "foie gras". Now, you would say, who the f* cares about the French, but sadly, we barbarians own about 80% of that market, so if you like foie gras, and have tried foie gras, then chances are, that party in your mouth was force-fed foie gras. And god knows I love it. This is not unlike Champagne: you can produce a similar sparkling wine, but real Champagne is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, etc.

-S, I think we're on the same page here. My point is that if we're really concerned about humane treatment, we have options in other markets -- markets where many more animals are treated at least as badly, if not worse -- and this is a change we can and should make before tackling what's honestly a fairly small problem. Foie gras production is like a holy grail to some people though, because:

1) It's a luxury food, invoking the specter of class warfare;
2) It really sounds horrible and wasteful to force feed animals to the point that they're essentially made "sick", specifically for the one part of them that is made "sick"; and
3) Ducks and geese are so golldarned cute!

But the fact is, the majority of meat bought in the U.S. is from operations where the animals are treated essentially the same way, just on a massively larger scale. These animals are made so sick they require daily antibiotics for most of their brief lives.

There are also some very good debates, with great information on both sides, about exactly how inhumane foie production is, but I'm not going to start that fan because we know what will hit it. But for those interested, it's not hard to Google.

Anyway, my point is, if we're really concerned about animal cruelty, there are bigger fish to fry. The real hypocrisy is screaming about foie gras and then sitting down for some of that nice juicy chicken that was $0.79 a pound. Now excuse me while I carve off a big piece of roast unicorn.

PS: I'll retract the earlier "a lot more humane" statement, that was dashed off quickly and not what I was going for. But comments like "Why would anyone want to eat something that is created by torturing an animal?" really get to the heart of it; most of the meat consumed in the U.S. is created by torturing animals.

...which is why I'm a vegetarian.

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