Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-12-13
Pate LIE les Gras.


Ducks and geese have to undergo a
very cruel treatment in order to provide
US monsters with those excellent Joies
gras that are found nowhere so good as
in Paris. The unfortunate amphibious
bird Is fastened down to the floor of a
dark cellar where a high degree of
temperature is kept up and is fed to re-
pletion on a preparation OF oatmeal,
barley and corn. In a few weeks its
liver attains an extraordinary size and
then the bird is killed. 1t Is with this
liver that is prepared one of the greatest
gastronomic Gelicacies. These hvers
sometimes weigh four pounds apiece.
Such liveTs readily command from thir-
ty to forty cents apiece for ducks, and
from forty-to-siXty cents per pound for
geese. These gigantic livers for the
most part come either from the south of
France or from Strasburg, those from
the last named place being the most
highly esteemed. Some also from Aus
tria, but those do not command such
high prices.
The difference in the price between the
Ivers OF ducks and geese is that the
former lose very much in volume when
placed over the fire and not on account
of the dish when made.
At Toulouse, which is famous in
France for this, duck livers are preferred
to those of geese, but at Strasburg,
whose reputation for foieS gr0S is world
wide, none but geese livers are used.
Delicious as foieS graS is, when proper
" prepared, it is an exceedingly indi-
gestible dish, and few, even of those
favored with the strongest stomachs, can
venture to make on it a square meal.
Still, as some of my young lady readers
may like to try their fair fingers at COM
pounding a terTi7ae de f0ie gTGS with
which to astonish their friends, will
give the following recipe, which is ac-
cording to the formula in French fami-
lies: Place the livers, five or six of them,
according to their size, in cold water
for several hours in order that whatever
coagulated blood they may contain may
be soaked out. Then place them over
the fire in saucepan filed with cold
water and bring the water slowly to the
boiling point, after which again place
them in cold water for q few minutes
and remove all fbrous portions, and es-
pecialIy all portions that may have
touched the gall-bladder. Hash up
about one-siXth of the livers with a
pound of the best bacon, some tWigs of
parsley and a small quantity of mush-
rooms and truf1es; add a little salt and
pepper and place over the fire for fifteen
or twenty minutes until it is thoroughly
melted, and then spread it out on fat
plate to cool. When it is cold add the
yelks of two perfectly fresh eggs, which
have first been we'll beaten up. The
terri7ae is an e;.rthen dish, with q close
fitting cover, several inches deep and
able to stand the fire. Spread layer of
the mixture over the bottom of such a
dish and place on this one or two of the
| remaining ivers, cut in halves; add a
little salt and pepper and cover them with
| slices of truffles and then add other
layers of the mixture. More livers, salt,
pepper and trut1ies according to the
| depth of the teTYI71e in a moderately hot
oven and let it remain there for two
hours. When you take it from the oven
pour a small glass of old sherry over II,
and as soon as it is cold it is ready for
the table; but it gains a great deal by
being kept over for a few days, SO that
the flavor of the trufffes may permeate
the whole dish equally. If the dish is
not intended for immediate use it may
be preserved for several months by not
filling the terri72e to the brim and by fill
ing it up with a layer of fine melted
lard, which will dramatically seal it.
Paris Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.