Best foie gras purveyor in Montréal? (price, quality)
This is for a visitor to Montréal who is of course asking me this. I'm not a great foie gras aficionada; I'd just as soon prepare regular duck livers. But he wants his quarry!
Somewhere in centralish Montréal - from NDG to eastern Plateau, from downtown to Jean-Talon market area, accessible by public transport as he'd be on a business trip without a great deal of time, though perhaps I could buy it for him if there is a wonderful source farther afield, but still public transport accessible.
What would be the average price per kg or lb for various types and preparations?
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I always go to le canard libèré at 4096 St Laurent. You take the métro to St Laurent, then the 55 bus to Mont Royal, get off, cross the street, then back track about 100 feet.... Voilà. I live in Vancouver now. It's always on my list. A huge chunk of foie gras costs between $35-$45. It goes by weight.
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I've often wondered about making friends in the resto industry and getting them to order extra foie gras at wholesale prices... I wonder how much that could save me... It would be great to be able to have it more often.
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re: The Chemist
rawmilk
Dec 1, 2009 03:06 PM
To start with, there is three grade for Foie Gras: A: the top one with not apparent defect,
B: with some red point (blood vessels that were broken while handling the Foie), C: bruises and larger red spots mainly used for patés and terrines.
The price wholesale for local:
A: 75$ to 82$ per kg
B: 60$ to 65$ per kg
C: 45$ to 50$ per kg (you usually don't find that one for retail, but some merchants abuse and sell it for grade A or B as most people don't know the difference)
Imports:
A: 50$ to 55$ per kg (from Europe)
B: 35$ to 40$ per kg (from Europe or USA)
C: 28$ to 32$ per kg (from Europe or USA)Most of the Foie Gras are handled frozen. To get fresh one is not easy. But to do torchon you need very fresh Foie Gras.
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carswell
Sep 21, 2009 06:41 AM
Haven't checked the foie gras selection at Canard Libéré but if you go there you should inquire about which breed of ducks the foie comes from. Their specialty is Brome Lake ducks, which are pekins, not the superior moulards bred specifically for foie production.
There aren't a ton of local foie gras producers and, in my limited experience, not a lot of difference in the quality. If you're looking for a whole liver, you could do worse than head to the Jean Talon or Atwater markets and comparison shop from butcher to butcher. Some places sell foie gras scallops, too.
For foie au torchon, you'd be hard pressed to find better than Le P'tit Plateau's. Don't know if chef Loivel sells foie gras in other formats, but you could always ask. Also, Au Pied de Cochon used to sell individually wrapped foie scallops and terrines at fairly reasonable prices; don't know if they still do but it might be worth checking out.
CDN's Boucherie de Paris sells whole lobes and a decent foie au torchon.
You could also search the Voir archives for an article that appeared in the lead-up to the holidays a few years ago and profiled a Plateau-based purveyor (a young woman) who specialized in everything foie gras. It also recommended several other sources.
Not to clear on prices. IIRC, a couple of years ago, the last time I purchased an entire foie, it ran a bit over $50.
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I’m not sure if you’ll consider it “centralish Montreal”, but you can find different foie gras at Terrines et pâtés in the Atwater Market. No idea about the price, but you can call them: 514-931-9559. Latina has also excellent home made duck and goose foie gras. (might be more $$)
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