"You Paired What with What?"

One of the folks who follows our soul food kitchen on Instagram recently had this pithy response to a recent post: “Buttermilk biscuits with foie gras?”. She has a point.

After all, buttermilk biscuits is about as comfort-food country as you can get: Its presence on a southern table is (or at least used to be) ubiquitous. And the preparation, while on the messy side, is fairly quick and straightforward: Even if you make the buttermilk yourself (as well as the baking powder, a mix of creme tartar and baking soda), the whole thing from start fo finish probably takes no more than an hour.

Creating Duck de foie graqs au torchon is a whole ‘nother affair: It’s a four-day affair: immersing in milk for 24 hours to clean impurities, cleaning the lobes and seasoning them, poaching them in a rich chicken stock, hanging them in a tightly-wrapped cheesecloth in the refrigerator for another day. And THAT’S just the prep process. Factor into things the ridiculous expense PLUS the politically-incorrect stigma of unethical handling of Goose Foie Gras and you get the epitome of fussy, not to say downright elitism. The infamous Marie Antoinette line “let them eat cake” comes to mind.

So what the hell, combining the two? Oh, and did I mention, we add in a side of pickled cherries just to enliven things up just a bit more. WTF?

First off, we love going against the grain in our kitchen. I like to think it’s part of a southern ethos thing, being a bit incalcitrant. And part of that contrariness comes with the notion that biscuits really should be far more elevated in people’s esteem than than are. And also that foie gras should not be seen as such a high-faluttin’ big deal. The cherries serve as the non-denominational priest, bridging the ostensible divide.

But there’s also that thing about marrying jeans and pearls that has always appealed to me.You can take this guy out of the country. But you can’t take the country out of this guy.