Foie Gras

I DON'T hear Robert Reilly of Salt & Pepper in Queen Village claiming that people shouldn't spend time watching football, going to the movies or doing other frivolities because there are serious problems in the world, yet he says people shouldn't worry about foie gras production because there are casualties in the war in Iraq ("A bargain for lovers of foie gras," Sept. 26). What a shameful excuse. Matthew Mongiello, Philadelphia

A group of restaurateurs, weary at months of protests against the liver dish known as foie gras and angered at a pending bill to ban its sale in the city, plans to go on the offensive. Nearly 20 restaurants, backed by the nation's largest foie-gras producers and one of the largest wholesalers, will offer "Freedom Foie for Five" - lunch and dinner portions priced at $5 - to expose more people to the dish, regularly served in fewer than a dozen restaurants. The seven-day promotion starts Monday.

IDISAGREE with columnist Stu Bykofsky on his stance to ban foie gras. It's no different from the smoking ban, or worse, a capitulation to the PETA wackos. It's not government's place to legislate how we eat. Who are you to judge that foie gras is "unnecessary, unhealthy, unkind"? We aren't talking about killing cute pets. The animals used to make foie gras are unintelligent birds and they are born to be slaughtered. I don't see any difference between raising ducks for foie gras or calves for veal.

Protests aside, there may be another reason to pass on the foie gras. Scientists report that these livers of overstuffed waterfowl contain abnormal proteins that, when fed to laboratory mice, caused them to quickly develop the protein clumps themselves. Various human diseases - among them Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and rheumatoid arthritis - are associated with these clumps, known as amyloids. The new paper, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides no direct evidence that people are in danger.

Protests aside, there may be another reason to pass on the foie gras. Scientists report that these livers of overstuffed waterfowl contain abnormal proteins that, when fed to laboratory mice, caused them to quickly develop the protein clumps themselves. Various human diseases - among them Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and rheumatoid arthritis - are associated with these clumps, known as amyloids. The new paper, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides no direct evidence that people are in danger.

Activist Nick Cooney and his supporters show how shallow the veneer of modern "culture" is, in particular how lacking in sophistication and grace many of the upscale eateries and their patrons really are ("All's not ducky on foie-gras front lines," June 7). Cooney criticizes the cruel treatment of geese, but in doing so he also holds up a mirror to our entire way of life. So much of what we think of as "normal" is barbaric at its core: breeding animals to kill them, disciplining children by hitting them, stockpiling guns in our homes, waging wars.

The June 13 commentary, "Examine the facts in debate over foie gras," from the industry's public relations group, Artisan Farmers Alliance, could hardly have been more misleading. If Nicolas Maduros, its executive director, truly wanted to "examine the facts," he would acknowledge that the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, an independent council providing expert scientific analysis to the European Commission, found that the liver condition of force-fed birds is pathologic and force-feeding is "detrimental to the welfare of the birds.

London Grill owner Terry Berch McNally will celebrate Bastille Day tomorrow as usual - by dressing up as Marie Antoinette and reenacting the storming of the Bastille in 1789, a symbol of French uprising and nationhood. She'll also offer foie gras at her Fairmount Avenue restaurant, in the shadow of the massive Eastern State Penitentiary. Meanwhile, protesters who want to ban the French delicacy were ordered yesterday not to disrupt the "uprising" - or at a minimum to stay 50 feet away from the restaurant and leave their bullhorns home.

Gourmets have long argued among themselves whether foie gras is best seared, sauteed, or served in a terrine. Now that debate is about to move from the kitchen to the corridors of Philadelphia's City Council, where Councilman Jack Kelly has a new suggestion for how to serve the goose-liver delicacy: not at all. Kelly plans a bill that would ban the sale of foie gras, which he says involves unspeakable cruelty to geese and ducks. "It's torture," Kelly said of the technique of force-feeding birds until their livers are many times the ordinary size.

Montreal, it's often said, is as close to Paris as North America gets. And there's no denying that first impression: I could feel a frisson of old France slide into my mind as we rumbled along cobbled Rue St. Paul past charcuteries and cafes up to our charming hotel in Vieux Montreal. But from the opening bites of our first meal at Joe Beef - broiled razor clams Casino and sublime raw Stanley Bridge oysters with bracing Prince Edward Island brine - it was clear that chefs in this Francophone city had eagerly embraced the touchstone flavors of their Canadian DNA. But that go-local impulse, thriving in Philadelphia and along the East Coast, hits a lusty high gear in Montreal, where the meat-centric kitchens cook for winter all year long, and even warm-weather meals come laced with rich poutine gravy and foie gras.

In patisseries across France, delicate sandwich cookies in every color of the rainbow take their place beside elegant eclairs, tarts and other works of pastry art. French macarons - not to be confused with chewy coconut macaroons - are tiny dome-shaped pastry shells filled with ganache, buttercream or fruit mixtures. They're gently crunchy on the outside, light as air and chewy inside. But these days, there's no need to hop a plane to enjoy them. You can find the dainty treats in various pastry shops and in the freezer case at Trader Joe's.

A curious gust of chestnut soups has settled in this season, without apparent rhyme or, well, who needs a reason, overstaying the normal autumn run. No shared motive emerges. And sometimes stuff just happens - like the sudden uptick in local, house-made hot dogs and the remakes of, yes, scrapple (with crab, with just vegetables, and with foie gras, or partly foie gras.) At Meme, the corner spot at 22d and Spruce Streets, chef David Katz made a batch of his abidingly simple puree (just chestnuts, onion, chicken stock, and a dab of crème fraîche)

Le Bec-Fin alum Pierre Calmels and his wife, Charlotte, are about a week into Bibou (1009 S. Eighth St., 215-965-8290), their homey, cash-only BYOB in the tiny corner storefront near the Italian Market that previously was Pif. The French-born and -trained Calmels' first U.S. job was in the 1990s at Daniel in New York. He relocated to Switzerland, where he met Charlotte working at the same hotel. In August 2001, he got a job in the United States and asked her to follow him. She's worked at Brasserie Perrier, the Restaurant School as an instructor, gourmet grocer Assouline & Ting, Patou, and Bistro St. Tropez.

Only a comma separates local from seasonal, at least in most applications, which tend to involve this time of year the signage on soggy farm stands and above sparse market bins and the fine print on the back of menus, suffixed with the legalistic disclaimer "when possible. " But early April - especially a rainy, raw one like we endured last week - can make the distance seem less a pause than a stand-off: Seasonal is one thing. Local is another matter. So you find yourself at Cafe Estelle, devouring a plate of grilled scallions with a roasted red-pepper and ground-almond romesco sauce in the venerable rite-of-spring Spanish tradition.

It may seem odd in these times to organize Foie Gras Week to celebrate this most luxurious, and controversial, of ingredients. Especially in Philadelphia, where animal-rights activists waged a nasty battle to get the overfattened duck liver off restaurant menus. Starting tomorrow, more than 18 restaurants will add at least one $5 foie-gras dish to their menus through next Thursday. Odd, maybe, but Foie Gras Week is not intended as a traffic-builder, said Mackenzie Hilton, executive chef at Mercato in Washington Square West.

2008 was a tough year. Every day, it seems, brought more disheartening reports about economic meltdowns, climate change, global food shortages, terrorist attacks, and other tragedies. But the news wasn't all bad: Surprisingly, 2008 was a great year for animals. Amid all the chaos, change was taking place in people's attitudes toward animals. Many of the events of the last year are indicative of a larger social movement to reform practices that cause animals unnecessary suffering.

If you think of rhubarb solely as a filling for Grandma's pies, you are in for a real surprise. And that's assuming you even know what rhubarb is. Or have ever tasted it. Many in this generation don't. And have not. Even cooks and staff at the Sofitel Philadelphia gathered, filled with curiosity, ooohhhing and aaahhhing over the unfamiliar red stalks that executive chef Sylvain Harribey ordered for his spring menu. "Most people don't know too much about rhubarb," Harribey said, "but I worked with it in France and have used it before.

WHAT DO YOU get the carnivore on your list who has everything? Why, meat, of course. Even beyond kitchen gimcracks and gadgets, the ideal gift for the friend or loved one who loves great food is an experience - something he or she can touch, taste, feel, smell. Typically, this person dines out often, making a restaurant gift-certificate one step away from ho-hum. But he appreciates a good cut of meat and may be an expert grillmaster at home, quick to sear up inch-thick Delmonicos on his 154,000 B.T.U.

After the final course was served last month at what was once the city's premier food event, the question was inevitable: Is this the end of The Book and the Cook? If nothing else, some insist, it's clearly on life support. Looking back at this year's small event and its modest success made it clear to organizer Judy Faye that more high-profile authors and events are needed to draw attention to a collective schedule. Of 16 scheduled dinners this year, two (with Japanese author Hiroko Shimbo at Fork and Seattle-based Tom Douglas at Twenty21)