Where can I buy a whole lobe of foie gras?

[Morton the Mousse]

Grade A, as fresh as possible, in SF or the East Bay. I assume it would be from Sonoma FG, correct? Will I need to order it ahead of time?

Thanks

[Karen_Schaffer]

The Made in France warehouse (211 South Hill Drive, Brisbane) is having one of their public warehouse sales today (2-6) and tomorrow (8:30-1:30).

[jbgd]

Update: it seems that this holiday season, the butcher in the Rockridge Market Hall is selling foie gras from Canada, not Sonoma. It's grade A, whole lobes.

[capriana94555]

I bought a lobe of Hudson valley Grade A foie gras from Polarica in SF @ $38 per lb yesterday.
IT IS VERY FRESH and TASTY!!!

http://www.polaricausa.com/

Telephone:[phone] or [phone]
Fax:[phone]
Address: 105 Quint Street, San Francisco, CA 94124

[Pollo]

I second the once a month Made in France/ Village Imports warehouse sales. Sign up for the e-mail heads-up notifications and go on the first day (Friday) of sales for best selection. They have A and B grades of foie gras and if remember correctly Grade B goes for ~$35/lb...which is quite reasonable...plus no shipping costs.

[SLRossi]

Cafe Rouge Meat Market!

[jbgd]

The butcher in Market Hall, Rockridge, sells whole foie gras (A grade) throughout the holiday season. Its from Sonoma. Try Robuchon's whole roasted foie gras recipe in Patricia Well's cookbook from the 1990s.

[Karen_Schaffer]

I'd like to know what you plan to do with it once you've got it! We had a foie gras feast a few years ago where I prepared foie gras 4 or 5 different ways. My personal fave was the foie gras creme brulee which tasted fantastic and used up the scrappy bits.

I got my foie gras (Hudson Valley, I think) from the Made in France/ Village Imports warehouse in Brisbane that opens to the public once a month or so. Here's a link. They're not showing the November dates yet, but I suspect it'll be the weekend before Thanksgiving.

http://www.levillage.com/Page.bok?tem...

[Morton the Mousse]

I'm just going to sit around and drool while Mrs. Mousse does her magic. She was contemplating searing it with some sauteed apples and a side of bitter greens. We have Ginor's book, Foie Gras A Passion, which is chock full of ideas and recipes.

[Dissident]

Check with Dean at Golden Gate Meats in the Ferry Plaza, they usually have decent A's on hand all the time...
DC

[Sebby]

Yes, I saw some here last weekend at the Ferry Plaza.

[vulber]

anyone know current prices on their foie gras?

[Paul H]

Sixty-five dollars per pound, maybe? (from memory). Polarica USA usually is much better priced (though you need to buy a whole liver).

[vulber]

is that for grade A?

and do you know about the other grades?

[Paul H]

Yes, Grade A. I don't think either place carries cheaper grades

[wolfe]

You got something against getting it straight from the goose's mouth? 415-861-3800
7543 Foie Gras "A" (pc)
7545 Foie Gras "B" (pc)
7547 Foie Gras "C" (pc)

[wolfe]

One could always ask. 415-861-3800
http://www.goldengatemeatcompany.com/...

[maria lorraine]

Hello, Morton, how are you and Mrs. Mousse?? I've loved your latest postings.

Buying foie in lobe form means you get the freshest foie and also the best buy. Foie gras does comes in grades, as you indicate (Grade A, Grade B, etc.). I urge you to read up on how to clean the lobe and prepare it for cooking. There is a lot of info on the web about this.

Remember to cook it very quickly in a hot pan, and I find a reduction of peach juice, 25-year-old Jerez sherry vinegar and some duck demi-glace (purchased pre-made) make a wonderful pan sauce. The fat in foie gras needs an acid to cut its richness, the reason behind using a fruit component in the sauce. To cut the richness of the foie in the mouth, remembering that you and the Mrs. are not wine drinkers, I'd suggest a white grape juice with good acid, like a verjus, or the same in a sparkling form. Were you imbibers, I'd recommend a Sauternes, or other world-class late harvest (botrytised) wine -- one with apricot, fig, and honey flavor notes.

Seared foie gras and Sauternes is my favorite food and wine pairing of all time.

Three foie gras producers stand out:

D'Artagnan
http://206.204.3.133/dir_aaa/sup_dartagnan.html
280 Wilson Avenue
Newark, New Jersey 07105
UNITED STATES
Phone: [phone] (Ext. 0)
Fax: [phone]

Sonoma Foie Gras -- don't know if they're still in business, though!
http://www.sonomafoiegras.com/
4333 Lovall Valley Rd
Sonoma, CA zip code
Phone: [phone]

Hudson Valley Foie Gras
http://www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com
80 Brooks Road
Ferndale, NY 12734
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

About foie gras: please read about the controversy in the New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/din...

Let me know what you and the Mrs. do, and all best...Maria Lorraine

[Melanie Wong]

D'artagnan sells Sonoma and Hudson Valley. You can also buy Sonoma Foie Gras from Joie de Vivre -
http://www.frenchselections.com/fresh...

Used to be able to get duck carcasses and duck fat for cheap from them, don't know anymore.

[Morton the Mousse]

Thank you so much for the detailed reply. Glad you enjoyed the Napa series. I've got Michael Ginor's book so I think that will provide most of the information I need to know on cleaning and preparation. I will definitely have to consider splurging on a bottle of wine for this (it's not that I don't drink wine, I'm just terrified of what developing a taste for wine will do to my budget).