What to serve with foie gras?
Foie gras is a must for the festive season and special occasions. A refined dish par excellence, it reveals its finest qualities when accompanied by the right products. Discover the best accompaniments for foie gras to delight your guests at your next receptions.
Duck or goose, from Alsace or the South-West, whole, in blocks, in jars or in logs, truffled or plain: foie gras can be adapted to suit your desires and offer an infinite number of gourmet combinations to its fans.
What to serve the foie gras with ?
As a starter, foie gras whets the appetite and coats the mouth with its soft, round notes. To enhance it, several options are available depending on the desired effect. It may be interesting to opt for a sweet and sour combination with fruit or fruity products, or to use a few herbs to bring out its raw flavours.
Which bread to choose for foie gras?
It is not always necessary to break away from standards to shine in the kitchen. Bread is a key accompaniment to foie gras, and for good reason: it brings substance and crunch to this product known for its melting, makes it easier to eat and, depending on the type of bread chosen, constitutes a major element of your plate.
You can choose to stick to a classic rye bread with a little toast, or turn to special breads containing dried or candied fruit for example. Gingerbread toast is also a good choice to accompany foie gras. Its deep taste of cinnamon, star anise, cloves and ginger is an obvious accompaniment to this delicate local product, not to mention their respective festive connotations, which echo the warm winter evenings by the fire.
Confits and chutneys
How can we not mention the well-deserved success of the foie gras - marmalade association? Onion or fig confit, mango chutney, apricot compote, orange marmalade... Nothing is forbidden when it comes to accompanying foie gras with a fruity preparation. This sweet and savoury mixture, well known to gourmets, is a sure bet for your festive dinners. Don't hesitate to add a touch of fantasy by proposing more daring confits. Are you afraid of a culinary faux pas? Simply offer your guests several options by putting a few spoonfuls of your best finds in bowls on the table. Jams, chutneys and more can easily be prepared at home: you can let your imagination run wild with these creations !
Foie gras and fruit: an exquisite combination
Honour the authenticity of this local product by accompanying foie gras with fresh or dried fruit. You will then combine the sweet and sour harmony so adored with the raw and natural aspect of a fresh fig, a bunch of grapes, half a pear, prunes or a few nuts and hazelnuts. To complete the dish, sprinkle the slices of foie gras with a pinch of coarse salt, freshly ground pepper and a few berries.
Wine - foie gras pairing
Wine and foie gras pairing is a subject that feeds many passions. It turns out that the equation is less simple than it seems. One might be tempted to serve foie gras with a sweet wine, but while the former is usually served as a starter, the latter is usually reserved for the end of the meal. To solve this dilemma without offending wine-tasting conventions, why not think outside the box and serve foie gras at the end of the meal? If that sounds too fancy, you should know that this is how foie gras was traditionally served, between the cheese and the dessert!
Of course, the musky taste of the foie gras will go divinely with a dry white wine such as a Riesling or a Chablis, or even with a champagne, ideal to open the appetite of your guests at the beginning of the evening.
Are you serving a duck foie gras with powerful aromas? If you feel like it, accompany it with a tannic red wine, such as Mabel, Syrah or Madiran, which will bring out the creaminess of the product.
Choosing the right foie gras
Whatever accompaniment you choose, the success of your dish will depend above all on the quality of the foie gras. Therefore, favour whole semi-cooked foie gras produced in France, in Alsace or in the South West. The choice of accompaniment will differ according to the foie gras selected: you can allow yourself a few eccentricities with a plain foie gras, but it is better to opt for more sober accompaniments with a truffled foie gras, for example, so as not to conceal the subtleties of the latter. Count 50 to 70 grams of foie gras per person as a starter, and 100 to 150 grams when served as a main course.