Foie Gras... Where To Buy In Bangkok?

[junkofdavid2]

Where can I buy it?

What is the lowest price solution for this?

(i.e. can I buy Thai grown instead of imported? Where?)

If imported is the only available... where can I get it?

[ZukiSuzuki]

if most people knew how foie gras is produced, they would be horrified.

Foie gras, the French term for "fatty liver," is the product of extreme animal cruelty. It is the swollen, diseased liver of ducks and geese who are force-fed just up until the point of death before being slaughtered. Birds suffer tremendously, both during and after the force-feeding process, as their physical condition rapidly deteriorates. In just a few weeks, their livers swell up to ten times their normal size, and the birds can scarcely stand, walk, or even breathe. At this point, they are slaughtered, and their livers are peddled as a "gourmet" delicacy.

In modern foie gras factory farms, geese and ducks are confined, usually in either small pens or in tiny cages that virtually lock the birds in place. Thus restrained, the birds cannot escape the "feeder" and the mechanized feeding machine. One by one, the feeder grabs each bird and plunges the metal pipe of the feeding machine down the birds' throat. The machine pumps a huge amount of a corn-and-oil mixture directly into their gullets in just a few seconds, equivalent to one-fourth to one-third of the birds' own body weight each day.

This brutal treatment is devastating to the health of the birds. In a matter of weeks, their livers swell up to ten times their normal size. Breathing and walking become difficult as the liver pushes against other organs, causing respiratory stress due to decreased air sac space in their lungs, and forcing the legs to move outward at an unnatural angle. Ducks at foie gras farms have been observed panting and struggling to stand, using their wings to push themselves forward when their crippled legs can no longer support them. Struggling to move causes infection-prone open pressure sores to develop and fester on their hocks (legs) and keels (chest area).

http://www.nofoiegras.org/

I'm sure you don't need to buy it a badly as these poor animals need you not to buy it.

Edited October 12, 2007 by ZukiSuzuki

[LtLOS]

Villa, Emporium, some Foodlands in the deli section, never found any local foie.

[Naam]

if most people knew how foie gras is produced, they would be horrified.

all what you have stated is true... but [mea culpa] i still like to eat foie gras once in a while.

p.s. foie gras from non-tortured geese/ducks is available. problem is that it lacks proper marketing.

[JohnBKKK]

Hi ,

the only place I have seen fresh foie gras (not pate de foie gras) in bangkok is at Vila 33 in the freezer near the meat counter ... not exactly cheap though and rather large pieces -

love it too .. briefly fried in a hot skillet with no oil or fat added salt pepper and than enjoyed with some toast melba and sweet Sherry made into jelly by heating it and adding agar agar than cool it down

also great as part of Beef Wellington - placed on top of fllet of Beef which has been briefly seared on all sides than placed on puff pastry on a bed of sauted onions and mushrooms- which have been deglaced wit red wine and than reduced until the wine has but disappeared - add the foie gras on top of the beef - salt pepper - fold the puff pastry over and close - slice a nice pattern on the top coat with egg wash and place in the oven at 220C until the pastry is nicely browned - the fillet will be meium rare as it should be and the flavor is out of this world

John

Edited October 12, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[junkofdavid2]

Hi ,

the only place I have seen fresh foie gras (not pate de foie gras) in bangkok is at Vila 33 in the freezer near the meat counter ... not exactly cheap though and rather large pieces -

love it too .. briefly fried in a hot skillet with no oil or fat added salt pepper and than enjoyed with some toast melba and sweet Sherry made into jelly by heating it and adding agar agar than cool it down

also great as part of Beef Wellington - placed on top of fllet of Beef which has been briefly seared on all sides than placed on puff pastry on a bed of sauted onions and mushrooms- which have been deglaced wit red wine and than reduced until the wine has but disappeared - add the foie gras on top of the beef - salt pepper - fold the puff pastry over and close - slice a nice pattern on the top coat with egg wash and place in the oven at 220C until the pastry is nicely browned - the fillet will be meium rare as it should be and the flavor is out of this world

John

Thanks for the tip!

How much is "not cheap"?

Oh, and for the pan seared Foie Gras they usually serve in french restaurants (see pic; i ate that!)... is it usually the fresh foie gras or is it from pate de foie gras?

I'll try to replicate it at home!

Edited October 12, 2007 by junkofdavid2

[JohnBKKK]

its always the fresh liver that is fried or used in wellington - the pate is eaten cold as is- also nice but nothing can beat the fresh one - if i remember right it was a kilo for 2,800.00 or there abouts

better have some friends around .. or cut part off and freeze the rest - but due to its high fat contend it will not freeze for too long -

try also to drizzle a bit of a really good balsamico over the liver once on your plate - phantastic combination

Edited October 12, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[LtLOS]

Make sure what you buy is sealed in the original pack. Don't buy portions from an open pack, you never know how long it's been there, especially with a specialty product such as foie.

[LtLOS]

Also a Pâté de foie de volaille is a very good ingredient for Wellington, IMHO, don't think most folks will know the difference given the amount used versus availabilty and cost.

[JohnBKKK]

Also a Pâté de foie de volaille is a very good ingredient for Wellington, IMHO, don't think most folks will know the difference given the amount used versus availabilty and cost.

If budget is a question and or availabillity, instead of using foie gras you can use a tarragon enfused chicken liver pate for the Wellington - we've done that for a customer for whom we did a catering job and the result was more than satisfactory - outright delicious but the original calls for foie gras - in our chicken liver pate we use heavy cream and butter which compensates for the richness of the foie gras - and served with a dash of good old balsamico, toast melba and sweet sherry aspic i would put it up there with pate de foie gras - we actually had customers who preferred it

to forego any comments - we are not talking health food here but you would not eat this all the time and its a culinary orgasm when done right

Edited October 12, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[junkofdavid2]

Hi ,

the only place I have seen fresh foie gras (not pate de foie gras) in bangkok is at Vila 33 in the freezer near the meat counter ... not exactly cheap though and rather large pieces -

love it too .. briefly fried in a hot skillet with no oil or fat added salt pepper and than enjoyed with some toast melba and sweet Sherry made into jelly by heating it and adding agar agar than cool it down

also great as part of Beef Wellington - placed on top of fllet of Beef which has been briefly seared on all sides than placed on puff pastry on a bed of sauted onions and mushrooms- which have been deglaced wit red wine and than reduced until the wine has but disappeared - add the foie gras on top of the beef - salt pepper - fold the puff pastry over and close - slice a nice pattern on the top coat with egg wash and place in the oven at 220C until the pastry is nicely browned - the fillet will be meium rare as it should be and the flavor is out of this world

John

Thanks for the tip!

How much is "not cheap"?

Oh, and for the pan seared Foie Gras they usually serve in french restaurants (see pic; i ate that!)... is it usually the fresh foie gras or is it from pate de foie gras?

I'll try to replicate it at home!

Oh, as for that Foie Gras I ate, it was topped with some kind of caramelized peach sauce. Any idea as to what I can use as a sauce base in which I can caramelize the peach?

[WAERTH]

Found 3 different brans at the central Foodplaza in CentralWorld (former worldtradecenter) on the 7th floor.

Waerth

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

for the Peach sauce you will probably use canned peaches here since fresh once are hard to come by. Remove two peach halves from the can and let the syrup drip off - heat some butter and brown sugar in a pan until caramelized and thick and of syrup like consistence - puree the peaches in a blender and add to the caramelized syrup - cook for 5 minutes on slow heat than add a good measure of brandy and flambé

slice another peach into very thin wedges and place 3 of those on top of the portion of foie gras - use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of the sauce over the top and around the plate - garnish with a bit of mint - serve with toast melba

You may replace peaches with ripe mango - works also very well

If you are making a cold starter with Pate de Foie Gras - brin some white or red wine with a finely chopped spring of fresh mint to the boil - add pureed peaches or mangos and agar agar - let cool until moderate and place into refridgerator to set firm - you can also use various molds to obtain interesting shapes - otherwiese remove the block from the mold and cut into small cubes serve the pate de foie gras cut into 0.5cm thick slices faned out on the plate and sprinkle the gellee over the top with a pile in the centre- add some more finely chopped mint for decoration - serve with toast melba

Edited October 13, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[jazzbo]

Assorted Comments:

Frozen Peach-halves available at Makro / Duck liver is cheaper in Thailand than chicken liver -- cognac is cheaper in France / The guys that do roast ducks often give the rendered fat to hog farmers -- I explained to one such upscale Thai (ex-hotel) chef that he could use the rendered fat for confit and cassoulet so it may also be available for pate -- since I am limited in my room to a toaster oven, I have found that baking the livers leaves them very tender and not over-cooked versus frying --

The Chicago City Council BANNED the sale of foie gras in 2006:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/...in1550028.shtml

But for the faithful -- these folks date foie gras back to the Egyptians and the Romans:

http://www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com/ft3.html

[junkofdavid2]

Hi,

for the Peach sauce you will probably use canned peaches here since fresh once are hard to come by. Remove two peach halves from the can and let the syrup drip off - heat some butter and brown sugar in a pan until caramelized and thick and of syrup like consistence - puree the peaches in a blender and add to the caramelized syrup - cook for 5 minutes on slow heat than add a good measure of brandy and flambé

slice another peach into very thin wedges and place 3 of those on top of the portion of foie gras - use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of the sauce over the top and around the plate - garnish with a bit of mint - serve with toast melba

You may replace peaches with ripe mango - works also very well

If you are making a cold starter with Pate de Foie Gras - brin some white or red wine with a finely chopped spring of fresh mint to the boil - add pureed peaches or mangos and agar agar - let cool until moderate and place into refridgerator to set firm - you can also use various molds to obtain interesting shapes - otherwiese remove the block from the mold and cut into small cubes serve the pate de foie gras cut into 0.5cm thick slices faned out on the plate and sprinkle the gellee over the top with a pile in the centre- add some more finely chopped mint for decoration - serve with toast melba

Actually, I was also served the cold starter, but it wasn't as kick a_ss as the rich huge slabs!

I have a very fat 4 year old nephew back home... his dad is a chef with a nice restaurant. This 4 year old fat nephew's favorite meal is slabs of Foie Gras with highly buttered mashed potatoes! He walks into his father's kitchen and gets it for himself! I wana try that horribly unhealthy and delicious combination myself!

Edited October 13, 2007 by junkofdavid2

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

for the Peach sauce you will probably use canned peaches here since fresh once are hard to come by. Remove two peach halves from the can and let the syrup drip off - heat some butter and brown sugar in a pan until caramelized and thick and of syrup like consistence - puree the peaches in a blender and add to the caramelized syrup - cook for 5 minutes on slow heat than add a good measure of brandy and flambé

slice another peach into very thin wedges and place 3 of those on top of the portion of foie gras - use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of the sauce over the top and around the plate - garnish with a bit of mint - serve with toast melba

You may replace peaches with ripe mango - works also very well

If you are making a cold starter with Pate de Foie Gras - brin some white or red wine with a finely chopped spring of fresh mint to the boil - add pureed peaches or mangos and agar agar - let cool until moderate and place into refridgerator to set firm - you can also use various molds to obtain interesting shapes - otherwiese remove the block from the mold and cut into small cubes serve the pate de foie gras cut into 0.5cm thick slices faned out on the plate and sprinkle the gellee over the top with a pile in the centre- add some more finely chopped mint for decoration - serve with toast melba

Actually, I was also served the cold starter, but it wasn't as kick a_ss as the rich huge slabs!

I have a very fat 4 year old nephew back home... his dad is a chef with a nice restaurant. This 4 year old fat nephew's favorite meal is slabs of Foie Gras with highly buttered mashed potatoes! He walks into his father's kitchen and gets it for himself! I wana try that horribly unhealthy and delicious combination myself!

The very fat nephew is going to be lucky to reach puberty before his first heartattack - but once in a while . yea why not

the french way of making mashed is the best anyway with lots of butter and rich cream .. just a pinch of nutmeg ... combine this with fresh foie gras fried ... yes please ... and to top it of some onion marmalade

Edited October 13, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[Naam]

Oh, as for that Foie Gras I ate, it was topped with some kind of caramelized peach sauce. Any idea as to what I can use as a sauce base in which I can caramelize the peach?

aren't these kind of perversions against Thai law?

[JohnBKKK]

Oh, as for that Foie Gras I ate, it was topped with some kind of caramelized peach sauce. Any idea as to what I can use as a sauce base in which I can caramelize the peach?

aren't these kind of perversions against Thai law?

nope lol I guess someone is having the dribbles -

Edited October 13, 2007 by JohnBKKK

[frenchFARANGbkk]

Where can I buy it?

What is the lowest price solution for this?

(i.e. can I buy Thai grown instead of imported? Where?)

If imported is the only available... where can I get it?

The cheapest is at Carrefour Rama 4, but they moslty have it for Christmas / New year.

Quite the same prive as in France, 1000 THB.

[junkofdavid2]

in Carrefour... is it fresh or canned?

Update: I found the 3 brands in Central World supermarket, but it was only the canned ones.

I found it fresh (frozen) in Siam Paragon supermarket, but very expensive (about 4500 per kilo).

[Acquiesce]

Discusting animal cruelty at it's worst. Reminds me of the Sun bears in China.