At times I tend to have a short have a short attention span, so to spend three days preparing a dish is a big deal for me. I feel like the end result was worthwhile.

This preparation of foie gras is called “au torchon”, or “in a towel”. Towel regarding to the final step of the process of preparation. Foie Gras Torchon is a three day process which Thomas Keller describes far better than I can. The deviations I made in the recipe included “sweet” spices (allspice, cardamom, cloves etc.) and vanilla bean in the cure, and I poached the foie gras in apple cider. You can read more about curing on this post.

As I’ve said in an earlier post about foie gras, it’s so rich that you’ll need garnishes that are sweet, salty and tart enough to stand up to the powerful richness of the foie gras.

This dish features a red grape gastrique, herb puree, plumped and smoked raisins, cherry gelee, champagne gelee, apple and fennel pollen caviar and micro chervil. On the table was also an ample supply of brioche croutons and fleur de sel.

Is that a lot of garnishes? Yes. Too many? Probably. But if I spend three days making anything that costs $60 a pound then I want our guest to enjoy it every way possible, to enjoy every aspect of its characteristics. And in any case, foie gras is by its very nature and definition about excess.

A very big thanks to our guests, Libby, Michele, David and Louise, for sharing a great evening with us in the kitchen!