Duck liver makes me cry

Tears of joy, I mean. Vegetarians, avert your eyes. In the name of good journalism, while in Pau I contacted two well-known restaurants there, to see if they would cut me some sort of deal (80 euro menus – not feasible).

The first restaurant was Chez Pierre. It’s a cozy space, with, strangely, a bar decorated in Scottish tartan. The chef came out to meet me, and he warned me right away that’s he’s old school. He hasn’t updated a thing in decades. He studied in Paris under the very best – like at the Georges 5, and then in the 70’s his father got sick and he returned to take over the family restaurant. I started talking to him about organic produce, and American attitudes, and he nodded and said “but I know every lamb I serve in this restaurant.” He concluded that there are two kinds of Americans in his experience – ones that want to travel abroad and eat the same food they always do, and then the gastronomes, which he thinks are some of the most knowledgeable in the world. His small kitchen has an unbelievable set of something like 40 copper pots and pans – so beautiful, they’ve been around for decades.

The dish that really got me was the entrée (before the main course). It was this amazing salad, with baby greens (maches), seared pleurotes (oyster mushrooms) and foie frais. The real deal – duck liver. According to one of the books I’m lugging through this region, foie gras frais is half-cooked foie gras, fresh, not the canned or preserved kind you can buy in the store. It’s so perishable that little makes it to the US. And after I couple bites I was so happy – the flavor was staggeringly good.

The second meal I had was the next day for lunch, and I’m not sure I was up to the task. I sat down to eat at 12:30 and I didn’t leave til 4. The food was wonderful – but by the third course (and third glass of wine), I was legitimately considering what would happen if I passed out in the restaurant. How people eat 5 course lunches, I have no idea. The cheese course was very good – the patron brought out the massive cheese table to cut me a few slices. They were all the exact same kind of cheese from 3 nearby valleys, made the same way, but tasted completely differently. He explained that it had to do with the grass and herbs the sheep ate – that was the only difference.

The overall lesson for the two day binge event (after which I am fasting) – is that if you eat the regional products in one meal – the whole experience is elevated. Cheese from the region, wine from the region – it’s the terroir the French are always talking about. It all compliments each other.

Now for bread and water….