San Frenchisco
The French have lots of good ideas, including seasonal eating, lovely wines, croissants, not supporting Bush's invasion of Iraq, fraises des bois, omelets, Paris, baguettes, open air markets, not supporting Bush's invasion of Iraq, the Paris Metro system, carousels, champagne, and, of course, pate'. You may have gathered that, for all their quirky Frencher-than-thou attitude, I adore the French.Every time I have lived in or visited France, I have met wonderful people, eaten marvelous meals, seen incredible sights, and enjoyed the heck out of the experience. Other people come home complaining of French rudeness; I come home with stories of maps given to me by kind strangers, offers to carry my luggage by respectful young women, delicious bottles of wine pressed upon My Beloved and me from an adjoining table, and delighted waiters who love us because we're from San Francisco. I heart the French.
I also love their pates. So, I was delighted to find this brand of pate which one might think, from the names of the two makers, Marcel & Henri, were as French as Charles de Gaulle. But, wait, the package says it's made in South San Francisco!
The website doesn't mention Marcel in the history section but, bless his little Gallic heart, Henri came to the United States from his native France in the '60s to bring us French charcuterie and he settled in San Francisco. So, we have the best of both worlds, locally produced French style pates.
A champagne toast to San Frenchisco!
posted by Zoomie at
6:55 AM
11 Comments:
Hay,
Looks like you gots vaseline on yer lens. Or bacon fat ...
Here was my post from a few years ago in regards to said pate.
http://www.cyberbilly.com/meathenge/archives/000714.html
You need to get yourself to the Fatted Calf stall in Berkeley on Saturday morning for a real treat.
Biggles
I believe that's the brand that Andronico's carries in its deli section. The pre-packaged are OK but I prefer the ones that I can get a specific amount, as in, "I'll take a quarter pound of the duck liver with truffles."
And I just checked out the Fatted Calf site. Lots of terrines. I don't really like terrines. Or prunes. But to each his or her own.
D,
I was under the impression the difference between a terrine and pate is that one is served in a ... terrine and one is served as a loaf. Or something along those lines, the recipes are the same.
FC is serving a Country Terrine with Picholine Olives and their Pâté de Campagne this week. I don't believe its got prunes in them, it ain't listed in the ingredient list.
My favorite so far is the rabbit pate, oh yes. You should at least try it, once.
I have spoken,
Biggles
Hmmmm. Take your word for it. Most of the terrines I have seen tend to be chunky instead of creamy. The use of the word "country" in the terrine name leads me to believe it is of the chunky nature. It's a texture thing for me.
Also the prune reference was about one of the other pates that they listed, but is not currently available. It's about the only one that sounded vaguely appealing. But then I am actually a pretty picky eater, especially when it comes to meat.
Rev, clean lens, bad focus. I'll try to get to the market this week to try your recommendation. Had trouble accessing your archives but I'll try again this evening and hope to read it soon.
Dagny, yes, I've had the fresher ones sold at Andronico's in the deli case and they are truly scrumptious. A little pricey but, what the heck, I don't have it all that often!
Rev, just read your archived comment on the pate de campagne from Marcel et Henri. I liked the mousse pate better, but didn't think the campagne was _that_ bad! Stay tuned for a review of Fatted Calf's offerings!
Dagny,
Aww, totally understand. Yeah, country style is the chunkier version. Are you willing to put your meat palate in the hands of another? Ever so carefully with someone who cares, you can regain your trust in the meat.
Biggles
I totally agree with you about the French. Every time I have visited, people have gone out of their way to be helpful. Perhaps my making the effort to speak their language (badly) helped, but the sense of hospitality found there beats the hell out of ours...
Michael, I'm happy to find another Francophile in the Bay area. Welcome! I loved your piece about Julia Child. I miss that lady!
I am rather fond of the French too
not so keen on chunky, fatty terrines but I adore the smooth and creamy and totally decadent paté de foie gras
especially with champagne
sigh;;;
and with the coming of autumn it will soon be time to indulge
it's a tough life, n'est-ce pas???
Mouse (in the French countryside)
Mouse, lucky you to be in France and enjoying les francais! And in Brittany, too! I'm more familiar with Normandy - have you been to le Mont St. Michel and had the omelet at La Mere Poulard? If not, please go, make a reservation with La Mere as you walk up the hill to the fortress, then when you've toured the castle, amble back down to have your omelet - incroyable!
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