Hot Douggin' it
A few days ago, Randy and I exercised our rights as Unshackled (read: Unemployed) People Who Take Lengthy, Indulgent Lunches and drove over to Hot Doug's to sample a couple of extraordinary examples of encased meats.
This was only my second visit to Hot Doug's, but it's the kind of place where you sit down, take one bite of your food and begin wondering whether it might be possible for you to undertake a thoroughly researched and highly scientific study of exactly everything on their menu. Could I do it? I think so, yes, if one of my loyal readers is willing to underwrite the cost of a lifetime supply of Pravachol.
Speaking of which, the foie gras levels in my system had grown perilously low since my departure from Paris (seriously, my hands were shaking, my breathing jagged, etc.), so I felt obligated to replenish my body's fatty duck liver stores by ordering the weekly special: Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde, Goat Cheese and Foie Gras "Butter".
Let me repeat that. Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde, Goat Cheese and Foie Gras "Butter".
I admit, I was skeptical. I thought it sounded overdone, too Baroque, too embellished, too American. Sort of like that last sentence. But in this case, Mae West was right: too much of a good thing can be wonderful. Doug is a master. The sausage was rich and robust with duck flavor; the moutarde was thick with flecks of black truffle, and the hearty chunks of goat cheese sprinkled atop the dog mirrored the texture of the foie gras without overpowering it.
Before living in Paris, such a meal might have posed problems for me. I would have eaten slowly and lacked confidence, worried about the impending gastronomic implications of eating so much fatty stuff. But now, after my Olympic food training, I knocked back that dog in about five minutes and snarfed down way more than my fair share of cheese fries, even though the cheese topping was of the inferior variety that I kvetched about in an earlier post.
I vaguely recall that Randy ordered a chorizo sausage topped with mole and chihuahua cheese. I'm sure it was great, but my tastebuds were too riveted on my meal to notice.
What did I order again? Oh yeah. FOIE GRAS AND SAUTERNES DUCK SAUSAGE WITH TRUFFLE SAUCE MOUTARDE, GOAT CHEESE AND FOIE GRAS BUTTER.
Ohhh yeahhh.
This was only my second visit to Hot Doug's, but it's the kind of place where you sit down, take one bite of your food and begin wondering whether it might be possible for you to undertake a thoroughly researched and highly scientific study of exactly everything on their menu. Could I do it? I think so, yes, if one of my loyal readers is willing to underwrite the cost of a lifetime supply of Pravachol.
Speaking of which, the foie gras levels in my system had grown perilously low since my departure from Paris (seriously, my hands were shaking, my breathing jagged, etc.), so I felt obligated to replenish my body's fatty duck liver stores by ordering the weekly special: Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde, Goat Cheese and Foie Gras "Butter".
Let me repeat that. Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Sauce Moutarde, Goat Cheese and Foie Gras "Butter".
I admit, I was skeptical. I thought it sounded overdone, too Baroque, too embellished, too American. Sort of like that last sentence. But in this case, Mae West was right: too much of a good thing can be wonderful. Doug is a master. The sausage was rich and robust with duck flavor; the moutarde was thick with flecks of black truffle, and the hearty chunks of goat cheese sprinkled atop the dog mirrored the texture of the foie gras without overpowering it.
Before living in Paris, such a meal might have posed problems for me. I would have eaten slowly and lacked confidence, worried about the impending gastronomic implications of eating so much fatty stuff. But now, after my Olympic food training, I knocked back that dog in about five minutes and snarfed down way more than my fair share of cheese fries, even though the cheese topping was of the inferior variety that I kvetched about in an earlier post.
I vaguely recall that Randy ordered a chorizo sausage topped with mole and chihuahua cheese. I'm sure it was great, but my tastebuds were too riveted on my meal to notice.
What did I order again? Oh yeah. FOIE GRAS AND SAUTERNES DUCK SAUSAGE WITH TRUFFLE SAUCE MOUTARDE, GOAT CHEESE AND FOIE GRAS BUTTER.
Ohhh yeahhh.
posted by cindym at 7:01 PM
9 Comments:
Cindy,
Your posts from Paris were bad enough, but if you're going to keep eating like that now that you're back in the states I'm simply going to have to request that you start lieing about what you ate.
Do you ever feel queasy about the way they force feed the bird to get the enlarged liver? I've seen a few articles recently about the process and it sounds dreadfully cruel. I don't know if I'll be able to eat it again.
whoa, whoa, whoa... is this a grill or a store where one can buy sausage, or both? i have a friend from chicago who is visiting me soon and i may ask her to pick something up for me.
Abby - pretty much every commercially produced type of meat you can find endured a sucky life, maybe just as sucky as being force fed - no room to move, no air, dozens and dozens of animals dying everyday from the conditions alone. If you care about quality of life - seek out small farms and local organic farmers. Or become a vegetarian. But nobody likes a vegetarian.
Go, Cindy, go! Eat that meat! I thought you were very brave - I never woulda guessed a hot dog spot could do foie gras sausage. And you don't remember the chorizo sausage? I'm not sure we're friends anymore . . . .
Hi Kevin - don't worry, I'm making tofu for dinner tonight. Every day can't be a Hot Doug's day...
Hi Abby - Sure, it's definitely something I struggle with. But I have made the decision to eat animal products, and while the process used to create foie gras is certainly hard to watch and could be considered "cruel", I don't think we can really make the judgement that it's somehow less cruel than all the other horrible things we do to chickens, cows and pigs as part of the American factory farming industries (and I think cutting the foie gras out of your diet instead of eliminating, say, factory-raised chicken breasts is kind of an easy way to feel good for not doing too much...).
Which is basically what Moxie said...
I think the more interesting issue here is exactly why we have been reading so many articles about foie gras lately when it's such a small percentage of the meat that's consumed in this country.
As Derrick noted on the Growers and Grocers website, there is one overlooked reason why foie gras is being targeted: it's a topic that runs little risk of compromising newspaper and magazine ad revenues (imagine the fallout if they spent the same amount of space investigating the life of a typical Hormel pig or Tyson chicken?).
Anyway, great question, and there are no easy answers short of going veggie, but I just like meat too much.
Clare Dedlock - Hmm, another good question. Alas, they're closed until March 13, but I would give them a call and see if they pack for shipping. I don't see why not...
Moxie - Eloquently put as usual. I promise that I love chorizo, but I'm sorry, it just sort of faded into the background that day.
I am now STARVING!
Haven't had a real hotdog of any description since I was in the USA in November...maybe that's a good thing.
Feeding those geese with a funnel is pretty much like when my mom forced me to eat because I was to skinny as a kid. I still have the liver to show for it. Deliberately leaving calves to be sick is quite another thing and I won't stand for that, but having been overfed myself, the geese seem bearable. Fasting and exercising are punishing too, and that's me the rest of my life. Is it all mom's fault? Dunno, too late to blame anyone but non-cheese-fries eater me.
Just to clarify: I don't eat "super-market" agribusiness produced meat, eggs, dairy, etc. I try really hard to seek out and support the local providers of free range, naturally fed, humanely raised and slaughtered meats as well as local dairy, and I support local vegetable farmers and bakers. I also contribute to two organizations which are focused on ensuring humane husbandry and slaughter because I DO think it's important to be careful stewards of the animals who give their lives to sustain us. My grandparents on both sides were farmers who raised our family's meat, dairy, and vegetables. I have seen animals slaughtered humanely at home and I've viewed documentaries of animals being raised and slaughtered horribly at processing plants and slaughter houses. I do not consume products mindlessly or "feel good" about commercially processed chicken breasts. I have eaten meat my entire life and have no intention of stopping. I was just wondering if the blog writer was feeling disquieted about the process of force feeding that takes place to produce the delicious treat that she obviously enjoys eating. I've eaten it in the past and enjoyed it (a lot) as well. I don't know if I will be able to eat and purely enjoy it again after recently reading in Bon Apetit and in another article (I don't recall where) about how it's made. I think it's a question worth asking of ourselves and a discussion worth having with other people who care about food.
Absolutely, Abby, I think it's a great question and a topic well worth discussing. I'm not sure that I have much more to add, but there's an interesting thread on eGullet about the issue here:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=64581&pid=883131&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry883131
Look, with respect to the treatment of ducks, there is a food chain on this globe, and we're at the top of it. Get over this ethical bs and eat.
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