Foie de veau provencal

I found a little piece of paper among my forgotten recipes with this recipe on it. I remember when we had this dish at the Le Petit Gaston, on Baldwin St. here in Toronto. I am not even sure whether the restaurant still exists or not. This dish was made by its original owner, Gustav Schwalb.


According to Schwalb, the dish can only be its best if we use Provimi liver for it. For a long time I did not know what he meant. Now, thanks to the internet, I was able to figure it out. Otherwise the recipe itself is quite simple.

2 tbs soft butter
1 tbs finely chopped fresh parley
1 large clove garlic
1/2 lb liver
2 tbs dry white wine
salt, pepper, oil

In a small bowl mix together thoroughly the butter with parsley and garlic, and season it with salt and pepper to taste.

In a heavy frying pan heat 1-2 tbs oil to medium heat, then add 1 tbs of the butter mixture. When the butter melts and begins to sputter, add the liver slices and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Remove the liver from the pan and place it on a warm serving dish.

Pour off the cooking juices from the pan, put it back on the stove, pour in the wine and add the rest of the butter mix. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom with a spatula (deglaze), then pour the hot sauce over the liver.

Quickly arrange on the plate whatever you want to serve it with and serve immediately. The recipe gives you two portions.

Since I did not prepare this dish right now, I looked around for a temporary picture until I will snap one of my own. The one I found on flickr looks pretty close, I hope the owner won't mind. The way Schwalb served it, if I remember well, was simply with some mashed potatoes, and sliced fresh tomatoes and cucumbers drizzled with a balsamic vinegar based dressing. Very simple fare yet very tasty.