During the year-end holidays, the polemic between supporters and opponents of traditional foie gras resurfaced. Now, an English chef had the idea to create a recipe made exclusively from plant-based ingredients.
Toby Hunt is an event chef who has been living in Lyon for three years. He specializes in making 100% vegan foie gras. He created a recipe based on coconut oil, cashew nuts, soy sauce, spices, and aromatics, refined with white wine and whisky. He calls it “Fair Gras.” A surprising mixture with which he hopes to entice gourmets to vegan eating, right in the capital of gastronomy. “My goal is to offer something that we can all eat together. We enjoy the time together, the time at the table; it’s not about creating a debate among people. That is my goal with cooking—that everyone sits at the table and enjoys something that hopefully tastes good,” explains the young chef.
Consistency and texture at first glance do not resemble traditional foie gras much. And how about the taste? A team from France 3 tried the vegan recipe with Georges Reynon, a butcher and delicatessen seller in Lyon and a specialist in traditional foie gras: “My first impression is that I am eating something that is good, that’s true. But I don’t have the same feeling in my mouth as if I were eating real foie gras. In my opinion, it resembles more of a mousse, which is good, but cannot be equated with a real goose liver pâté,” judges Georges Reynon.
Those who want to make vegan foie gras themselves will find numerous recipes for “faux foie gras” on the internet, for example, that of the French starred chef Alexis Gauthier, who runs the Soho Gauthier restaurant in London.
Read also: Mayor’s Office of Lyon Confirms Ban on Foie Gras at Official Receptions