Foie Gras Terrine Chargrilled like in SauternesHome >> Recipes
Text-only version printed fromhttp://FXcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=29 I had this memorable terrine at Saprien, the restaurant in Sauternes, France, home of
Château d'Yquem. See how it's done - quite spectacular! People who say French winemaking is in crisis obviously haven't visited Sauternes. This tiny village near Bordeaux is so affluent you could swear you are in a posh Swiss or Bavarian suburb. Streets are clean and adorned with flowers. You almost expect an armed convoy of Rolls Royce tractors with gold plated rims to come out of the wineyards with their loads of precious nobly rotten grapes. So when we read in Gault Millau about a little Sauternes country inn specialized in grillades aux sarments (wine shoots grill) we knew we were in for a good meal. If the best selling starter at Saprien is not the Duos de terrines de foie gras: au Sauternes et grillé aux sarments, then people can't read. This combination of a classic Sauternes-marinated with a wine-shoots smoked foie gras terrine is so appealing, you would come only for that dish. What an extraordinary dish. South West chef Hélène Darroze, known for her profligate use of duck fat in her 3 Michelin stars Paris restaurant, also offers a foie gras freshly grilled over wine shoots with a grapes-figs port wine relish. A winning combination. Seeing the nice raw foies gras at Mulhaupt, my local supplier, I decided to try and make my own foie gras terrine. But which recipe? I found load of them in my library, but it did not take long for me to recall my most memorable foie gras terrine ever. Saprien in Sauternes. So I put the cookbooks back on their shelves and called ther estaurant. The chef, Monsieur Garrigue, kindly answered. "You can do this only with foie gras of the very best quality, otherwise they will melt as soon as you put them on the grill. Devein the foie and cut it in large slices. Prepare a wine shoots fire and wait until the ambers have almost died out, then grill the foie gras very quickly. Aller-retour (back and forth)" he said in his lovely South Western French accent. "So, what, a minute in total?" I asked. "Yes, something like this. All you want is to have grill marks on the foie gras. Then you season it with pepper and salt. We add some Piment d'Espelette" he added, sounding less confident. Perhaps adding chili to foie gras would shock a traditional gourment. Indeed, in the French culinary canon foie gras is to be very lightly seasoned and the relish must be sweet. But I like chilies and his terrine was great, so he carried on. "Then you put it in a terrine and cook for twenty minutes at 50°C. Stick a needle into it and check that it comes out lukewarm, not cold. Cover, put some weight, not much, and leave in the fridge for a night. That's it." I started work the next day. Watch me making Mr Garrigue's terrine: To devein it properly the foie gras must be around 18C°. If it's too cold, you won't be able to remove the veins. Cut the large lobe in the middle.
Find the two large veins and pull them gently to remove all of the smaller subveins.
Leave the deveined foie gras in a bowl of ice cold water for at least 30 minutes. This helps removing some of the bitter substances contained in the liver.
Prepare
ambers by burning either hard wood or, better, dry wine shoots like
they do in Sauternes. Don't do this with gas or charcoal, you won't get
the taste. You need to wait until the fire has almost died out.
The foie gras is put over the medium-hot grill when the ambers are almost dead, and left for less than 30 seconds per side or until well marked. We don't really need to cook it a this stage - all we want is the smoky flavor. Having woken up early on a chilly December morning and waited about 2 hours to get my ambers ready, I did not want to risk having to start my fire from scratch for waiting too long before grilling the foie gras. So my ambers were still quite hot when I grilled the foie gras, and you can see what happens on the picture above. The foie gras melts a little, and the melted fat flares up like a Kuwait oil well. A nice way to support your local oncologist!
Start to salt with coarse sea salt, black pepper and Piment d'Espelette. I believe powdered chipotles would do even better but the only chili officially used in French gastronomy is the Piment d'Espelette. Back inside the house, some more seasoning on the second and last batch of foie gras still warm from the grill. I must say it looks, smells and tastes so good at this stage it's really hard to give up eating it straight away and having to wait one more day.
You can make a terrine in any cake mold, but given the quality of my ingredient, I went shopping for a nice terrine dish and found this beautiful cast-iron enameled La Cornue terrine. Lay the foie gras piece by piece in the terrine. Some people wrap the sides with a thin layer of pork fat for better preservation and easier unmolding but I find this bit of pork meat very unappetising. You choose.
Put additional pieces of chargrilled seasoned foie gras in the terrine until full. If you have too much foie gras, you can eat the extra foie gras on a piece of toasted bread.
The foie gras is really beautiful - what a pity to have to wait an extra day before eating it!
Lay the terrine or cake mold in a large ovenproof dish and fill with water. You can rest the terrine on two knives to prevent direct contact with the dish. The idea is to provide smooth, uniform heating so that the foie gras will not melt around hotspots. <> Put in the oven and cook for 20 minutes at 50°C. Usually foie gras
terrines cook longer and at higher temperatures but here the foie gras
has already been cooked on the grill. This process will tenderize the
foie gras so they can later be pressed into a tight terrine.
Let the terrine cool down to room temperature, then wrap in kitchen film.
Add a piece of board or cardboard that covers exactly the inside of the terrine so that you can apply even pressure and obtain a regular shape.
Put in the fridge with a weight over the cardboard - here I used two packs of tomato passata. You do not need an awful lot of weight but it has to be spread relatively evenly across the surface.
The next day, remove the weights and unwrap ...
The foie gras is ready to be served. See below for better pictures.
Heat a kitchen knife blade over a flame and use it to cut a slice of foie gras.
Serve with toasted brioche bread or here our lovely Swiss saffron-infused cuchaule and my Quince Balsamico Chutney. A big success! If I may contribute about the ethics of foie gras, I do respect the people who care more for the goose's well-being than for their appetite. Without demand for foie gras many geese would probably never have been born. Is a two week force-feeding ordeal worth a goose's life? You find your own answer. Let me just say that I cook foie gras with greater respect than many ingredients save perhaps truffles. To have lunch or dinner at the restaurant: Restaurant Saprien
14, Rue Principale 33210 Sauternes France Tel : +(33) 5 56 76 60 87 343983 views |
26 Comments
- #1
- Comment by chef josh
I have tried to grill foie before and had disastrous results. Mainly me being screamed at by a chef for a half hour about why I thought that would work. But I knew there had to be a way and you sir have found one for me. The chilies are a crazy touch sounds interesting and I think I might just try it out.- #2
- Answered by fx
Chef Josh, thank you for your comment! You need to wait until the embers are almost finished and leave the foie gras on the cooking grate no more than 60 seconds in total or they'll melt down in the most expensive flare known to man. The freshest the foie gras, the better the result. Let me know how you fare!- #3
- Comment by doris
I have been to this nice restaurant. I love his terrine de foie gras with the Sauternes Jelly. Thank you for this recipe, I will try it when next in France.- #4
- Comment by chef steve
The terrine recipe looks very interesting as does the restaurant picture. It has been a long time since I was in France, mainly due to living in Thailand. We have some great restaurants here (including my own) but never quite the same.- #5
- Comment by Curt
Now I'm upset that I didn't grill my foie gras. I have a few slices left, so I'll have to try it to see if I can do it quickly without it falling through. I try to do anything I can on the grill. Nice article, and, as usual, great photos.- #6
- Comment by Baitte
hmmm....very interesting! Thanks google- #7
- Comment by Beatrice
Francois, what do you think of using caul fat instead of plain pork fat? I use it for other terrines; might it work to offend you less? I often use chiles when tradition calls for sweetness; there is a certain sweetness in the heat, and perhaps it stimulates the same area of the tongue...- #8
- Answered by fx
Beatrice, you might probably substitute the pork membrane with another one, the purpose is only to prevent oxydation of the foie gras. There are so many different chiles - some melt in your mouth while others make your mouth melt!- #9
- Comment by Beatrice
I "cheat" on French traditional cuisine by using San Marcos chipotle peppers in adobo. It's a Mexican product, but I've found it on the shelves in Barcelona. It has a lovely sweet-smoky flavour and doesn't overwhelm foie gras. A teaspoonful in pumpkin soup is spectacular!- #10
- Answered by fx
Beatrice, I too am a fiend for chipotle! I have them in adobo sauce, dried whole and even powdered. They are lovely with sweet potatoes and in chilis too!- #11
- Comment by joseph
What is the terrine history?thanks.- #12
- Comment by JAY WITHAM
MARVELOUS ARTICLE. YOUR PHOTOS ARE SUPERB. I like CAUL FAT BUT PORK LARD TASTES BETTER. THNX FOR ALL THE HARD WORK. JAY- #13
- Comment by JAY WITHAM
ADDENDUM TO PREVIOUS SUBMISSION. I TAKE EXCEPTION TO THE REMARK THAT THE GEESE SUFFER AN ORDEAL OF TWO WEEKS FORCE FEEDING. I'M SURE YOU HAVE WITNESSED A REPUTABLE GOOSE FARM IN OPERATION AND MUST HAVE OBSERVED, THE GEESE CAN'T WAIT TO BE FED THEY LOVE THE CORN FILLED CROP AND ARE NOT INJURED IN ANY WAY. THEY ARE ALSO VERY HUMANELY DISPATCHED FAR MORE CIVILIZED THAN CHICKENS. LOVE YOUR WORK. RESPECTFULLY, JAY WITHAM CALIFORNIA USA- #15
- Comment by Nan
I've been looking for a lovely preparation for foie gras. This looks just the ticket! Thank you for the recipe and wonderful preparation photos. As a photographer, I'm pleased with the clarity and logical steps shown. As a traveler, I will make the restaurant a must visit! As a cook, can't wait! Thanks again.- #17
- Comment by Elaine
I have been looking for a decent recipe for foie gras for ages so am looking forward to trying this. The pics were very helpful.Many thanks
- #19
- Comment by ani
Me encanto tu explicación de terrina estaba buscando informacion de como realizarla y me distes varios tips,es la primeras vez q realizare una y te agradeceria si tuvieras una receta sencilla con la cual comenzar hacer una terrina- #20
- Comment by Jose Luis Fernandez
Distinguido Sr.Casualmente encontre su blog leyendo en algunos articulos de cocina, le felicito por sus brillantes comentarios y es un placer leer sus articulos, siga siempre asi para placer de los aficionados a la gastronomia.
Saludos desde Sevilla.
- #21
- Comment by Yana
I can't thank you enough for your article and lovely pictures! I just bought a lovely fresh duck foie gras to do a homemade terrine. My mom's terrine is outstanding, a recipe she got from Hubert Keller more than 20 years ago. As she is currently incommunicado on a cruise ship, I was unable to ask her for the recipe. What a relief to find your wonderful recipe and insightful comments. I shall adapt it to apartment cooking...maybe a hibachi grill or until I get one searing it will do for now. Many Thanks!- #22
- Comment by Michael Wood
If you want to spend 150 to 200 dollars to try to make this terrine which you better be ready to eat in no less than 3-5 days than go rite ahead and whip it out. Id just like to mention that this is a recipe from a michelin starred restaurant. For the home cook a good practice for grilling foie gras would be to chill some chicken fat and throw it on the grill. Let me just save you some time and tell you to go to the closest restaurant you respect thats serving foie gras and order it. The most important part of a chefs skillset is how to utilize applied heat sources (theyre playing with fire) and given that, aspect with the medium being foie gras, Id say leave it to the experts.- #23
- Comment by Yana
Here I am a year later and so happy I found your recipe again...this time I printed it to treasure for years to come as everyone loved the one I did last year! Happy Holidays and thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe...- #25
- Comment by Cambo
FX, We ate our way through france last year for our honeymoon, it is with great sadness that i missed out on such a nice restaurant. But we had such lovely food everywhere in france. Thank you for your recipe, i've been looking forever for a beautiful foie gras terrine. Now to find myself some GOOSE LIVER....its so hard to find any in australia....such a shame!- #26
- Comment by fabrice
hi, this is very similar to the receipe used at "le carre des feuillants" where i was working there. the most difficult (adding several critical points to the basic receipe) but also the most rewarding reciepe to treat the best quality lobes. thx for making it available to everyone here. Also, nice explanations and photos.PS: on the receipe i know there is also 2g of ascorbic acid by Kg, maybe the slight increase in acidity is worth it to exhaust the flavours. fell free to try with small quantities to taste the difference.