30 by 30: Trying New Foods

If you only recently started reading my blog or never leave the confines of your Google reader page, you may not know about my goal to complete a list of 30 items before I turn 30.  I've got them listed to the left of my most recent posts on my main page.  You can also read more about them here.

I've been slowly working my way through a few of them.  For example, I've had about 15 of the beers on tap at Yard House.  I've been kissing my wife and daughters every day.  And I know the marathon that I'm going to run (even though it will happen after I turn 30).

Last weekend was a time to knock out another item on my list.

We went to San Francisco last Sunday to have a birthday dinner for my wife.  Her brother and sister live in the city, and it just worked out for everyone to head down there.  It was a lot easier just staying in a hotel that night and driving back for work the next morning

We asked my parents if they'd watch the girls overnight.  They of course jumped on the chance to spend 24 hours with the babies.  In fact they were downright giddy.  I just don't understand people that don't leave their kids and deprive the grandparents of stuff like that.  But that's a post for another day.

We had a reservation at Spruce in San Francisco.  I had never heard of it because I'm not in the know like all the cool kids, so Erin and I perused the menu the night before.

That's when I got excited.

You see one of my favorite things to order at a nice restaurant is duck, and Spruce had it with huckleberries, smoked honey jus and shaved fois gras.  My mouth was watering just thinking about it, but I was especially excited about the idea of trying foie gras.

My reason for including try a food I've never had before on my list is my need to be a little more adventurous.  I sometimes pre-judge food based on the ingredients instead of giving the flavors a chance and letting my taste buds decide.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

I was a little let down when our server told us that they were out of duck, so it looked like I would have to wait until another day to try foie gras for the first time.  That was until Erin mentioned it to the table and her mom said how much she loved it.  At that point it was decided that we would have some as appetizers instead.

It was absolutely delicious.  The served it on a vadouvan waffle (it tasted like sourdough and was amazing) with pear jelly and a pear syrup.  I'm so glad I walked in with an open mind because it was one of the most delicious food items I've ever had.  The combination of flavors was unreal.  The foie melted on my tongue, and the flavors were other-worldly.  We loved it so much we had to have another order.  This time around the server convinced us that we had to try the classic wine pairing.  With foie gras that means Sauternes, a sweet wine.  The combination of flavors was like fireworks in my mouth.  I didn't think it was possible, but the foie was even more buttery with the sweet wine.  I wanted it for every course.

It was incredible, and I'm so thankful that I got to knock an item off my list in such delicious and grand fashion.

This is the part of the blog where some of the readers out there chastise me for eating a food that is inhumane.  I'm well aware what goes into making foie gras.  I know that gavage is force-feeding a goose to fatten the liver and make it more delicate.  I also know that as of July 2012, it will become illegal in California to produce or sell foie gras created via gavage.  What do I have to say to defend eating it?  Nothing.  It ain't illegal yet.  You can judge me, but it won't change that I ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

But I do think it's funny that the people who would take me to task for it are the same people that would say we need to be more European in the way we live and govern.  I guess that doesn't include or food preparation, right?