Our Chef's Di Domani Restaurant will see a new lunch menu beginning this Monday, July 25th. Many new and exciting dishes will be featured. Chef Jonathan Groth will be taking over as Chef Instructor in the restaurant, and brings a different look, as well as some time honored classics. One of the appetizers is a Seared Foi Gras with a Pineapple Gastrique. For those of you not familiar with what Foi Gras is, please see the article below. Come visit us in the restaurant from 11am-2pm, Wednesday-Friday Lunch, and 5:30pm-9pm for Dinner.
Foie Gras
The practice of fattening migratory birds may go as far back as Ancient Egypt. Bas relieves at the Necropolis of Saqqara, dated to be from around 2500 BC, show a scene of geese being force-fed by slaves. Moving from Egypt up the Mediterranean to 5th century Greece, we find the earliest written reference of goose fattening from the poet Cratinus. King Agesilaus mentions it again after his visit to Egypt in 361 BC.
Egypt maintained a reputation for exporting the delicacy through Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic age and on to Rome. The Roman Apicius, author of the only cookbook remaining from the time, may be the father of foie gras as a dish. According to Pliny the Elder, the dish was made of a fattened liver of a goose that had been over-fed with dried figs. The Latin name of this liver is iecur ficatum, meaning fig-stuffed liver.
Rome falls hard and the method of over-feeding geese narrowly escapes. Jews in Roman-colonized Israel preserve this knowledge and foie gras has its first bout with controversy. The Judaic dietary law did not allow the use of lard as well as several other practices in the production and consumption of food. Still it survives and migrates back into Europe.
The passing of the dark ages from Europe brought the need for delicacies back into cuisine. The over-fattened liver of a goose is used in Opera, a cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi, published in 1570. It is served for Popes, Kings and lords and is refined into what is eaten today.
France is now the largest producer and consumer of foie gras in the world. The production in France only accounts for about 97% of what they eat. Hungary is the number two producer and exports most of what they make. Bulgaria and Canada are also known for the production of foie gras.
Regardless of where it is produced the methods are the same. The feed is given to the bird using a funnel and long tube. Two methods of forcing down the food are used. An auger, when used feeds 1000 grams of food in about 60 seconds. The pneumatic systems can deliver the same amount in less than five seconds.
The French have a few different presentations of foie gras ranging in cost. Some examples are:
• Foie Gras Entier: one or two whole liver lobes
• Foie Gras: pieces of livers assembled together
• Bloc de Foie Gras: fully-cooked, molded block
Foie Gras is generally cooked using low heat so that the fat does not melt away. Other methods include smoking or sautéing with goose fat and eaten warm or allowed to cool. It can be flavored with truffles or liquors. Used in exotic dishes such as Sushi or alongside classics such as steak tartar, foie gras is still a delicacy. As such it demands other indulgences for accompaniment, a nice glass of a dry white from Alsace or a rich dessert wine.
Foie gras faces its biggest challenge with the concept of animal cruelty. Birds that are over-fed can die in the process. They also have been known to show impaired liver function and several other issues. This has prompted a growing political controversy. The city of Chicago has banned the sale of foie gras. Even in France animal rights groups are gaining ground.
The producers of foie gras argue that the birds have no gag reflex and are not in any pain. They also contend that wild geese and ducks will fatten themselves up for migration. This old industry is doing what they can to stay afloat but is facing an ever increasing wall of opposition. It may be that this dish will soon be a piece of culinary history.
http://www.plattcolleges.edu/Culinary/Culinary-Disclosures.htm Since 1979, Platt College exists with one purpose; to create a workforce of professionals with the skills and training necessary to answer the needs of today's and tomorrow's workplace. The college is located in Tulsa, Moore, Lawton, Central and North Oklahoma City as well as in Dallas, Texas. For more information call 405-946-7799, or visit www.plattcolleges.edu.
Foie Gras
The practice of fattening migratory birds may go as far back as Ancient Egypt. Bas relieves at the Necropolis of Saqqara, dated to be from around 2500 BC, show a scene of geese being force-fed by slaves. Moving from Egypt up the Mediterranean to 5th century Greece, we find the earliest written reference of goose fattening from the poet Cratinus. King Agesilaus mentions it again after his visit to Egypt in 361 BC.
Egypt maintained a reputation for exporting the delicacy through Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic age and on to Rome. The Roman Apicius, author of the only cookbook remaining from the time, may be the father of foie gras as a dish. According to Pliny the Elder, the dish was made of a fattened liver of a goose that had been over-fed with dried figs. The Latin name of this liver is iecur ficatum, meaning fig-stuffed liver.
Rome falls hard and the method of over-feeding geese narrowly escapes. Jews in Roman-colonized Israel preserve this knowledge and foie gras has its first bout with controversy. The Judaic dietary law did not allow the use of lard as well as several other practices in the production and consumption of food. Still it survives and migrates back into Europe.
The passing of the dark ages from Europe brought the need for delicacies back into cuisine. The over-fattened liver of a goose is used in Opera, a cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi, published in 1570. It is served for Popes, Kings and lords and is refined into what is eaten today.
France is now the largest producer and consumer of foie gras in the world. The production in France only accounts for about 97% of what they eat. Hungary is the number two producer and exports most of what they make. Bulgaria and Canada are also known for the production of foie gras.
Regardless of where it is produced the methods are the same. The feed is given to the bird using a funnel and long tube. Two methods of forcing down the food are used. An auger, when used feeds 1000 grams of food in about 60 seconds. The pneumatic systems can deliver the same amount in less than five seconds.
The French have a few different presentations of foie gras ranging in cost. Some examples are:
• Foie Gras Entier: one or two whole liver lobes
• Foie Gras: pieces of livers assembled together
• Bloc de Foie Gras: fully-cooked, molded block
Foie Gras is generally cooked using low heat so that the fat does not melt away. Other methods include smoking or sautéing with goose fat and eaten warm or allowed to cool. It can be flavored with truffles or liquors. Used in exotic dishes such as Sushi or alongside classics such as steak tartar, foie gras is still a delicacy. As such it demands other indulgences for accompaniment, a nice glass of a dry white from Alsace or a rich dessert wine.
Foie gras faces its biggest challenge with the concept of animal cruelty. Birds that are over-fed can die in the process. They also have been known to show impaired liver function and several other issues. This has prompted a growing political controversy. The city of Chicago has banned the sale of foie gras. Even in France animal rights groups are gaining ground.
The producers of foie gras argue that the birds have no gag reflex and are not in any pain. They also contend that wild geese and ducks will fatten themselves up for migration. This old industry is doing what they can to stay afloat but is facing an ever increasing wall of opposition. It may be that this dish will soon be a piece of culinary history.
http://www.plattcolleges.edu/Culinary/Culinary-Disclosures.htm Since 1979, Platt College exists with one purpose; to create a workforce of professionals with the skills and training necessary to answer the needs of today's and tomorrow's workplace. The college is located in Tulsa, Moore, Lawton, Central and North Oklahoma City as well as in Dallas, Texas. For more information call 405-946-7799, or visit www.plattcolleges.edu.
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