Can I microplane frozen foie gras without any previous salt preparation?

[torolover]

I have some frozen foie gras in the freezer.  Can I simply microplane the frozen foie gras?

 

I haven't cleaned it, or salted it before putting into freezer.  Is this safe?

 

Thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

Only one way to find out!

[jmacnaughtan]

19 hours ago, torolover said:

I have some frozen foie gras in the freezer.  Can I simply microplane the frozen foie gras?

 

I haven't cleaned it, or salted it before putting into freezer.  Is this safe?

 

Thanks!

 

This may be a silly question, but why would you microplane foie gras?

[torolover]

4 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

 

This may be a silly question, but why would you microplane foie gras?

 

David Chang has a 2 Michelin Restaurant in NY where he simply microplanes frozen Foie Gras Torchon.  It's supposed to taste amazing.  It's a torchon so he preps it by salting and curing it before freezing it.  I'm guessing the salt kills bacteria?

 

Perhaps a better question is, can I safely eat raw Foie Gras?  If I microplane the frozen Foie Gras, I'm essentially eating it raw.

Edited November 28, 2016 by torolover (log)

[jmacnaughtan]

5 hours ago, torolover said:

 

David Chang has a 2 Michelin Restaurant in NY where he simply microplanes frozen Foie Gras Torchon.  It's supposed to taste amazing.  It's a torchon so he preps it by salting and curing it before freezing it.  I'm guessing the salt kills bacteria?

 

Perhaps a better question is, can I safely eat raw Foie Gras?  If I microplane the frozen Foie Gras, I'm essentially eating it raw.

 

 

Foie gras en torchon isn't cured; it's seasoned and then poached, wrapped in fabric (hence the torchon).  I don't think you'd have too much of a problem eating raw foie gras though, as you can eat duck and goose rare without any danger.

 

For me however, a major part of the appeal of foie gras is the beautiful texture in both hot and cold preparations.  I'm just not sure what grated frozen foie gras would really add to a dish.

 

But by all means try it out and tell us what happens.  Then cook the rest and enjoy it

 

[MelissaH]

I've just gotta say that the thought of eating raw, uncured liver of any kind makes me say "Ewwwww!" Even if you grate it frozen, the little bits are unlikely to stay frozen for very long, and instead melt into little bits of goopy raw liver.

 

That said, please try it and let us all know if it works, or if it's any different than eating raw liver in any other form.

[Anna N]

I'm with Melissa. Even as you grate it it will thaw. Even the mental picture is off putting to me. But I'm grateful that we are all different.  And even more grateful to know that microplaned raw foie gras  isn't likely to show up on my plate. And I like my liver still very pink in the middle.

[lesliec]

I'm reminded of a trip to Noumea a few years ago which (serendipitously) coincided with a foie gras festival.  One of the highlights (aside from finding what an amazing match foie is for asparagus) was a dinner following a wine tasting.

 

For the dinner foie was served in several ways, but the one I'm thinking of was barely-seared on top of a fantastic steak.  I'm thinking if you grated raw(ish) foie onto a freshly-seared steak, the heat of the staek would begin to cook it and you could end up with something rather special.

 

Cue salivation ...

[Maison Rustique]

19 hours ago, MelissaH said:

I've just gotta say that the thought of eating raw, uncured liver of any kind makes me say "Ewwwww!" Even if you grate it frozen, the little bits are unlikely to stay frozen for very long, and instead melt into little bits of goopy raw liver.

 

That said, please try it and let us all know if it works, or if it's any different than eating raw liver in any other form.

 

Around 16 years ago we had a kitten who was gravely ill. She had to take a lot of meds and couldn't really chew. I would puree raw liver and put her meds in it to get her to "drink" them. It was not pleasant; I can't imagine eating raw liver either. (Sadly, we lost the kitten at 9 months old. Happily, her sister Jitterbug is still with us.)

[btbyrd]

Curing foie changes its texture, flavor, appearance, and safety. Whether it's safe and whether it's delicious are different matters. Properly prepared torchons are safer than untreated raw product, but eating raw foie isn't especially risky compared to eating other raw animal products. From an eating standpoint, frozen, untreated, grated foie gras is going to be much different than grated, cured torchon. I'd actually want to eat the latter. The former, not so much. Especially if the "cook" was too lazy to de-vein it.

 

 

[Paul Fink]

The recipes I found for  Foie gras en torchon  all use a curing salt.

Ordinary salt won't kill bacteria. Curing salt or pink salt is used to cure ham, bacon, sausages etc.

I would not serve raw frozen foie gras but then I won't miroplane it ether.

[torolover]

4 hours ago, Paul Fink said:

The recipes I found for  Foie gras en torchon  all use a curing salt.

Ordinary salt won't kill bacteria. Curing salt or pink salt is used to cure ham, bacon, sausages etc.

I would not serve raw frozen foie gras but then I won't miroplane it ether.

Thanks for the tips!  I guess I'll have to make a torchon.  

 

Keep in mind the Microplaned Foie Gras has been Momofoku Ko's trademark dish been on the Menu since 2008!  Momofoku Ko has 2 Michelin Starts, 4.5 half stars on Yelp, and 3 stars from New York Times.  People can't get enough of the Microplaned Foie Gras.

[jmacnaughtan]

On 03/12/2016 at 3:55 PM, Paul Fink said:

The recipes I found for  Foie gras en torchon  all use a curing salt.

Ordinary salt won't kill bacteria. Curing salt or pink salt is used to cure ham, bacon, sausages etc.

I would not serve raw frozen foie gras but then I won't miroplane it ether.

 

Where are you finding recipes for torchon that don't cook it?  Every one I've seen has seasoning, then cooking.  No pink salt, just ordinary salt and spices.  With some booze, normally.  I would have thought the texture of simply cured foie gras would be... unpleasant.  

 

On 03/12/2016 at 8:26 PM, torolover said:

Thanks for the tips!  I guess I'll have to make a torchon.  

 

Keep in mind the Microplaned Foie Gras has been Momofoku Ko's trademark dish been on the Menu since 2008!  Momofoku Ko has 2 Michelin Starts, 4.5 half stars on Yelp, and 3 stars from New York Times.  People can't get enough of the Microplaned Foie Gras.

 

Experimental restaurants can often get away with serving things that would be... challenging... because they spend a lot of time and energy on R&D, because the dishes are very small, and because that's what people come for.  Microplaned frozen foie gras may work well there, but it's not something I'd consider doing for guests.

 

Also, they almost certainly use the trimmings from other foie gras preparations to make this.  It would be a shocking waste to microplane a whole liver.  Sear it, man!

[Paul Fink]

My point was that plain salt isn't a cure.

Here is one recipe that uses pink salt: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/12/foie-gras-torchon-recipe.html

In this recipe you "cook" the  torchon  for 2 minutes.

Here is an interesting article comparing techniques: http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/how-to-make-torchon-recipe/

So I don't know... I guess you can use a curing salt or not.

 

As far as microplaning goes, I agree with jmacnaughtan. A good foie gras should melt in the mouth so why microplane?

I guess it adds a foie gras flavor without the patron having to eat "liver." I'm sure its very good but I just really love foie gras so microplaning seems like a tease.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

What about salt cured fish - isn't that plain salt - and cured?

[Paul Fink]

On 12/5/2016 at 10:03 AM, Kerry Beal said:

What about salt cured fish - isn't that plain salt - and cured?

 

The salt is used to dry the fish. Same for meat. The dried fish inhibits the growth of bacteria.

I don't think we want salt cured foie gras. Curing salt contains sodium nitrite which inhibits bacteria

without drying out the meat.

[btbyrd]

I wish that when people posted questions about a particular recipe or technique, they'd go ahead and post the recipe or technique (or at least give some details) so that the replies don't devolve into irrelevancy.

 

The Ko foie torchon begins by marinating claned liver in a mix of kosher salt, instacure no 1, bourbon, wine, and pepper. It sits in this mixture for up to 24 hours until it's rolled in cheesecloth and buried in salt for 18 hours, and then hung in the refrigerator for another 24. The cheesecloth is then removed and the torchon is wrapped in plastic wrap before being frozen. If you don't freeze it, you can cut it into a slices and serve it chilled. One of the points of this process is to draw out moisture from the foie as it cures to firm up the texture. As far as it goes, this is a conventional preparation, apart from the bourbon (where cognac would typically be used).