At the comfort of one’s own foie

Photo: "A dollop of foie gras". I don't like flash but sometimes it can do wonders.

“It is quite unbelievable". I uttered at loss of words as my brain numb the other senses to concentrate on the electrifying sensation occurring at my taste buds. Such reaction I have is characterized by the ones around me as “getting doped on food crack”. No way any joint that I’ve tried at MIT fraternities was able to stir up such fanatical endorphines uproar. “Mon dieu!”, I, then too was at loss of breath, quivered and sunk into a blissful coma.

Nothing is more serene than a late morning on the sun-drenched porch with a copy of E.E Cummings and a jar of Rougié’s Foie Gras de Canard Entier en Gelée à l’Armagnac freshly flown from Paris. It took me a good 30 minutes to battle the hermetically sealed jar whereas what felt like 3 seconds for the ephemeral rapture to melt into thin air.

Golden crisp brioche from Hanoi Hilton Bakery topped by a slide of pristine, unsmeared foie exuding sheer beautiful vulnerablity. After the first bite, I gathered that such ethereal richness is not to be wasted on the interference of bread. So I paired it with the classic choice – Château d'Yquem Sauternes 1995. Miraculously, the sweet notes of the wine roam around the earthy richness of foie silking down creating a whole new flavor with subtle bitterness that clings to your throat. The chemistry between the two components is simply sublime.

I round up the palate with a piece of charred fig with the hope of milking out every possible indulgence from the foie’s intense buttery essence. The savory was prolonged until brunch reluctantly ends.