"Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
...

> We have "tres cornichons" pates.

Is this a brand name? I'm curious about what's in them, as pates and
terrines can be made from just about anything.

> Of all the items in the store, I like most of them,
> or, if I don't care for it, one of the other sales clerks
> does. The exception is pate. None of us can stand
> it. We don't even like the smell.

It simply may not be very good pate. I'd say that, without trying
some others, don't give up on the idea of pate altogether.


> This got us thinking about other fancy gourmet items.
> I enjoy many types of seafood but not cavier which
> I think is slimy, salty and fishy.

In my experience, *good* caviar (and by "good" I mean good quality,
which doesn't have to be the best sturgeon) is not slimy, overly salty
or overly fishy, but rather fresh, bright and slightly briny. We not
infrequently have ... err, I think it's cod roe -- I can't remember
the right Danish word, which in turn would give me the right English
word -- for dinner. Small -- much smaller than salmon roe (which is
nice too) -- bright orange eggs, spooned onto warm toast with a
sprinkling of chopped red onion and a dollop of creme fraiche. With a
glass of good, crisp white wine, and that's a very nice meal indeed.

> I wouldn't go near fois gras.

Is it the liver thing or an ethical/political statement? Further
reading is encouraged:
http://www.worldtable.com/foiegras.html -- especially the sidebar
http://www.ariege.com/gastronomie/foiegras/eng.html -- especially the
last paragraph

I have no ethical issues with eating foie gras when the duck or goose
has been allowed free movement during the rather short force-feeding
period. And the fact that the birds will freely come to the feeders
speaks volumes to me.

As a foodstuff, foie gras is really something special. To me, at
least, it doesn't have an overtly "liver" flavor, and when properly
prepared has a gorgeous texture. Paired with a good glass of
Sauternes or other sweet wine (not to be confused with a dessert
wine), it's simply glorious.

> Personally, I don't like olives, but others do.

I love olives which are crisp to the bite, but can't stand mushy ones,
regardless of how good the flavor.

> I do like saffron which is expensive,

It is, rather. I'm not as fond of saffron as I had hoped to be. I
recently made a potato dish in which the potatoes were cooked in
chicken stock highly flavored with saffron. The taste was okay, but
the nose was ... just wrong. *shrug* I'll give it another go when I
finally get 'round to making paella, and that will probably sort it
out, one way or the other, for me. Put me firmly in the "maybe"
column with paella.

> and I'm learning about wines and slowly starting to think
> I can tell the difference between the good stuff and the
> cheap stuff.

I think it's useful to make a distinction between good wine and bad
versus expensive wine and cheap wine. Some inexpensive wine is quite
drinkable -- which is good, if you want to drink wine on a daily
basis. And some expensive wine is crap.

And how ridiculous to spend a lot of money on a special vintage wine
if you're not going to serve food worthy of it. Food and wine pairing
is an art, one that I have only just begun to play around with. I
usually defer to my husband, who's a fair bit more knowledgeable about
wine than I am; when we're out with certain of his friends/colleagues,
he'll defer to them or not, depending on their wine knowledge (a few
of our friends are proven oenophiles -- it's always a treat to share
meals with them).

> Most of us like the blue cheeses though there's
> a preference for the milder ones as opposed to
> the strong, wet authentic ones from Roquefort.

A strong cheese, carefully paired with fruit, nuts, wine, etc., can be
a joy. Sometimes they're just too overwhelming on their own. Cheese
is a beautiful way to end a meal, though.

> So what's the deal with fancy French gourmet
> items?

*shrug* Dunno. I don't buy things because they're "fancy," "French,"
"gourmet" or any combination thereof. I buy various foods because
they please me (and those I cook for, if I'm cooking).

> The people who like them love them and come
> into our store just for them and rave about how
> wonderful it is to find a store that carries them.
> Yuck.

??? "Yuck" because people are happy they've found a shop which sells
things they like? Or "yuck" because they come across as trendy
poseurs who don't know any better?

> Those of you who enjoy pate and cavier and fois gras,
> what is it about the foods that you like? Can you describe
> them in a way that will make the rest of us understand?

No, I probably can't, although I've written rather a lot above (which
is what happens when you get me pre-coffee -- I'm just hoping I'm
comprehensible this morning).

But the best thing is that no law says you have to like everything.
Eat the things you do like, be bold when trying new things and don't
be afraid to say you don't like something (of course, tact is
sometimes called for, but that's an easy enough skill to acquire).
Life's too short to eat things you don't like.
-j