Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1888-12-27
The pnie De Sole esras.

The Pate De Foie Gras.
At Comar, in Alsace mas just dice ia his
list year worthy bourgeois named jean
Mangod, who, in the opinion OF all, save
some members of TIE medical profession, de-
served we'll, not only OF his own country,
but of the whole world. Colmar, the anti.
QUO Columbaria CT the Romans, next to
Strssburg, is unsurpassed for the fabrication
of ''pate de foie gras.n The friends of the
late NJ. Maugold, indeed. who vas for many
years the leading pastry cook st Coimar,
claim that his pies were even superior 10
those made at Strasburg. NJ. Mapgold wss
poet to boot, and composed 6 large mum.
her of Iocol idyls, satires, vaudevilies, and
songs for music But il will bo with his pies,
and not with his poems in his hand that he
will probably 70 down to posterity. Itmight
be desirable in Tho outset TO stigmatise as
wholly apocrypbal the story TO which Alex
andre Duma9 The elder, III 'iir "DctlODnaire
do Caisina," has given currency rs 10 'hc
horrible fortunes inflicted on tbs AlsGt!aa
geese in order 10 lallen thclf iiyeis to lhe
degree required Dy the pastry cooke. Start
ing with tho postulate That the liver ui The
bird can only bo fattonod by The hetumefacton
OF that organ, and that for pemakiug pur-
poses tho goose livers should be ten CT
twelve times tho normal elze. The author uf
Monte CIiston goes on 10 say that the
wretched bipeds are nailed by their web
feet TO boards, that the eyes are put out,
and that they are necessarily stuffed with
pounded nuts and deprived OF water. An
other alarmiat, improving on Alexan-
DIRE Dumas, asserts that the aeiled
down geese ere placed before ras
ging fire and allowed 10 driDk as much water
as they like, thus leading To enlargement
Of tho liver As maticr of fact the
birds, like capouS and turkeys. arc no doubt
systematically orammed, usually with
paste made Of indian corn and mlllet bat
there is no more truth in the wild stories Of
the nailed down feet, the binding, aud the
seui-roasting in front OF au ardent fire than
there is in tho tales that turtle soup is made
Of conger-eel, and the sauce called soy from
cockroaches.
Toulouse, in the south of France. RuiFec,
in the Charente, snd Nerac, in the Borde
lais, have, in modern times, rivalled Stras-
burg and Colmar in the making of "pates dc
foie gras;n anG there are culinary anti
quaries who maintain ihet pa ties Of fatted
goose livers are Gallo Roman survival of
Apician origin. The mode of (a.!ening the
geese was somewhat cruel. The birds were
cooped in solitary confinement ia very mar
row cages three times day they we're
gorged with maiza. sud, on the twenty
second day of cramning, spoonful Of pop
DIV oil was added 10 the corn water was
freely given them. but it was always mixed
with sweet wort from the brewery. at the
end of forty-two days the goose became so
fat as to be in danger of sufocation, and
was therefore killed. Its proper weight
should then be about sixteen pounds, out OF
which the liver should weigh thirty-two
ounces Another quicker but more equivo.
cal way of fattening the geese was to mix
antimony with the farinaceous paste with
which the birds were crammed. At Stras-
burg the construction of o paste is serious
and even solemn affair. Six fatted lVers
are the ordinary pabulum for pie; they
must frat be washed in many waters and
then parboiled, and are next scrupulous!y
trimmed go as to free them from al hbrous
substance and from any matter approach
ing bitterness in flavor. Each liver is
then cut in two, and, and out OF the
dozen, three are chosen to be beat
en- in mortar and passed through sieve,
with bacon, shalots, parsley and mushrooms,
80 as to make farce" or forcemeat, which
Is UOlIeu Slu lUIUlS luS UsaSlo VI Ilio ptS' IhO
other halflivers are then larded with the
finest Perigord truffles, cut in the shape of
dice, and the contents of the pie are made
to consist of layers of liver, truffles and
forcemeat. Two hours are sufficient to bake
this dainty dish, ft to be set before whole
congress of kings and emperors. When the
pie is Withdrawn from the oven the top
crust should be delicately lifted and large
glass of Madeira poured into the interior.
Then it should be Theoretically closed, SO as
to be fit to be at once packed and dispatch
ed to the uttermost ends of the earth.
1t remains, however, to show how these
famous pies came to be made at Strasburg
and Colmar at all. Only 100 years have
elapsed since the French military governor
Of the province of Alsacs, Marshal dc Con-
tades, brought with him to Strasburg as
cook Norman by the name of Close Al
SAGE was already remarkable for lis ter
rinesn of fat goose livers, which were pre-
served in esrtheu pipkins with a layer of
clarified butter under the cover. They were
somewhat rudely prepared, and lacked one
supreme accessory. The artistic Close prnc.
tioally exclaimed, "Pipkin, thou shalt he.
come pier' He discarded the earthea jar
and imprisoned the rich livers in . casket Of
pie crust. "The body is there continued
the enthusiastic Chef I'VE must now give il
soul :" and he found a spiritual element
for his pie in the exciting perfume OF the
Perigordian ttuffie. Close, the Norman,
must assuredly be considered as the invent
or ofthe Strasburg pie.-London Daily Neics.