Tying off the foie gras torchon is one of the steps in making the dish that requires teamwork.

The Rue Franklin, one of Buffalo’s best restaurants, has earned its reputation through carefully crafted seasonal menus, and Menu D’Automne is no exception. One particular tasty appetizer skillfully executed by Chef Corey Kley is the Rue’s foie gras torchon, which can be loosely translated into fatty liver (in this case duck) in a very tight bundle. (”Torchon” is towel in French, a reminder of the linen dishtowels sometimes replaced by cheese cloth as wrappers.)

This is not a dish for amateur cooks to contemplate, but it is delicious and worth every penny of its $15 price.

The Rue Franklin’s foie gras torchon is served with Sauternes gelee, grapes and brioche.

Chef Kley starts with a b-lobe of fresh foie gras, about 1.2 pounds. It’s from ducks that are 100% corn fed, raised in Québec by the husband and wife team of Pascal and Francette Fleury, whose company is called Palmex.

The foie, chilled from the refrigerator, needs to come to room temperature. Once it reaches 60-70 degrees, Kley sets about deveining the foie gras. This is a methodical process that takes a good 20 minutes to complete, even for a trained cook. During the process the liver is essentially pulled apart, both large and small veins are removed as well as dark bits of the foie gras that have been bruised during the harvesting.

After the jump: A slideshow detailing the creation of foie gras torchon.

Pieces of foie gras are placed in a bowl and marinated in a sweet French wine called Sauternes, salt, pepper and sugar. The bowl is covered and placed in the refrigerator for an hour.

Then the foie gras is drained, and the pieces are wrapped very tightly in cheesecloth, before being tied off. It takes two people, one to hold the roll together and the other to knot.

Simmering the torchon gently cooks the liver without melting it into soup.

The foie gras is poached in water, salt, peppercorns, sugar and bay leaf and removed after it has reached about 100 degrees, about 5 to 7 minutes. At no time will Chef Kley let the poaching pan reach a boil, as it would essentially melt away the foie gras - which is largely fat, after all.

Chef Kley then hangs the foie gras in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, to firm it up. The next step involves removing the cheese cloth and re-wrapping the foie gras in plastic wrap. It has shrunk and the plastic will form the plump final torchon.

The foie gras will then be tied again and hung overnight in the refrigerator to be served the next day. One torchon of foie gras will provide about 6 servings.

I think it is admirable for the Rue to offer such labor intensive classic French appetizers regardless of how loud the animal rightists might complain.

Rue Chef Corey Kley with the finished torchon, ready for its final rest before serving.

Foie gras has been served as far back as 2,500 years ago in Egypt where no one dared to complain about the treatment of ducks least they be torchoned themselves. I invite you to find out for yourself how foie gras is harvested by visiting the website Hudson Valley Foie Gras and check out the YouTube post of Anthony Bourdain.

by Matthew John Pasquarella

Filed under: Buffalo, How-to, Restaurants