I was at Seafood City in Tukwila Washington, which is just south of Seattle. And what did my eyes behold? This…
I realize now that I’ve neglected my duties too long and have forgotten to post up information on what is good liver Pâté, or at least good liver spread. Palm is taking over the world. And by the looks of the lower shelf, expanding.
I apologize to those who follow this post. I’ll hustle more on trashing the bad product out there and recommending the good.
Utterly Delices! Manufactured by Sapar USA in Hayward California, you can visit them at this website.
I picked up this selection at Grocery Outlet which sells their foods at a discount, primarily because the items were either overstocked, or approaching their expiration date. The later being the case here. I would consider this product to be more of a liver sausage rather than a Pâté, but except for its firmness and lack of spreadability the taste is very much the same.
I have had this product before so there were no surprises. Honestly, I like this product. Almost to the level of my endeared Faaborg. Rather than spreading it, at refrigerator temperatures it cuts easily, making it very easy to plate and photograph.
I really wanted to like this meat product. When I bought this tin I had dollar signs in my eyes since I knew that I would be able to sign up to Amazon.com’s affiliate program and start selling the product on this website and start monetizing it. Dollars would roll in albeit at about 25 cents per sale, but it all adds up as I have found with my sales of photography on istockphoto.com. I was all giddy, even tingling inside.
Then I opened up the tin.
Continue reading
I must first apologize. I’m sorry for the long length between posts. Enough said.
This time I am reviewing Freybe Herb Liver Sausage. It caught my eye, and although I have other tins of meat waiting for review, just one jumped out at me while shopping at Central Market in the Shoreline area, north of Seattle. It is a pork liver Pâté, but judging from the list of ingredients it is mostly plain old pork. The 4.4 oz tube of sausage cost $2.99 which is a really good price, especially after tasting it. This is what it looks like when you’re looking for it in the grocery store.
In a whim I decided to spread this Pâté on bread with butter product and topped with multicolored peppers. I built it up as a quick lunch and served it with some pickled herring I had laying around. This was my result.
I expected good results from this product since I purchased it from the Central Market, which is a local Seattle area high end grocery store of the likes of Whole Foods. It delivered. The texture is very pleasant. Spreads smoothly with a fine grain. The herbs are very subtle and thoughtful in their flavor. The liver taste is mild and it does not taste as though it is packed with a lot of salt. I enjoy this product as much as my beloved Faaborg.
I noticed that Freybe has another Pâté product. I’m looking forwarding to reviewing that one soon!
Drawing a conclusion.
I have decided to clear the confusion on a question many an American has asked. Which is better, Marmite or Vegemite?
Actually, the more common question asked by Americans is probably: “What is Marmite and Vegemite?” Well I’ll tell you. Spreadable Yeast Extract. Marmite comes from New Zealand, and Vegemite from Australia. Ingredients of these two read just about the same: Yeast extract, salt, potassium chloride, malt extract, color, vegetable extract, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and folic acid. Yes, this stuff is good for you. Loaded with B vitamins.
Now when you spread this stuff, do not use much. This is the kind of stuff my dad had in mind when he said that “It’ll put hair on your chest.” Maybe a 1/2 teaspoon over a slice of buttered toast. Spread it really thin. This stuff has alot of flavor to go around.
In my opinion, as an untrained yeast extract taster, both of these products taste about the same. The Marmite has a more smokey taste to it than the Vegemite. You ask what do they taste like? First reaction, Bitter and Salty. After that the yeast and malt flavor comes through. I love the flavor of this product. But I like bitter foods. Salt, who doesn’t love salt?
If I have a favorite between the two it would have to be the Vegemite. It spreads easier than the Marmite. Beyond that they are both great. Two thumbs up!
The greatest challenge of these products is trying to find them. I located both of these at a specialty food shop in Sandy, Utah called Pirate “O” Gourmet Foods. They have everything. Everything that is except for Faaborg Leverpostj.
Children, with this recent post I think I’m solving a big question out there in the Pâté world, and saving all of you a lot of time and indecision. What you kids are looking at is the same liver spread product despite the fact that they are labeled as two different names. What I’m going to prove to you, using my investigative skills, eye for detail, inquisitive mind and accurate taste buds is this. Fortune and Flower are the same. Look at this evidence I’ve gathered for you. Look at it with your own eyes.
Look kiddos. What you are seeing here are two different labels thrown onto the same can of organ meat product. Sure, its distributed by the same company. No mystery there. I visited their website to conduct further investigation. They list both these companies as different entities. Everything in these cans is exactly the same. The ingredients only list garlic powder in one, and onion powder in the other, and rearrangement of ingredients like spices. What’s with that!
Visually the two products are the same. Same can. Same color. Same smell (and shocking to say, it really smelled like cat food when first opened). Same texture (well blended, smooth though gritter than the boiler plate Faaborg liver Pâté). And to the best of my ability, same taste (more on that soon kids).
Okay youngins. Originally I thought this would be the worst of the worst. And then Palm Liver Spread happened. Then I learned what really bad is. I’ve consumed Fortune and Flower in the past and was very disappointed. Now, with Palm, kids. There is a new level of disappointment. Fortune/Flower doesn’t come close. Palm remains the biggest looser. Fortune/Flower stands higher with the extra boost of Palm.
Let me make this clear kids. This is no Trois Petits Cochons Pâté. It’s canned. Mass produced and made with no love. But it is not as bad as I originally thought.
My expectations were so low going into this I didn’t even care to plate it with a new recipe topping or side dish. I just threw it on a paper plate, dug out some of the pickled onions from “the boiler plate”, added some fresh cut onion to shake things up and plate with some no name cheese. It deserved better than that. Not much better but still better. I gave it the Palm treatment. I’m sorry.
On bread, Fortune/Flower has a normal Pâté taste, nothing drastic, not too salty, not to gamey, not to organy. It is better than I remember. Its not good that the product separated and gelled at the bottom of both products, but this is not the manufacturers fault more than a testament of how long this stuff sits on the shelf of the grocery store. Canned liver does not move fast in this country. Maybe faster in Canada where this stuff is made, but here in the USA? Niet. Okay, so the verdict: Okay
Advise? Don’t serve to guests. Don’t smell the product when you first open the can. When its in the can you do wonder if it’s cat food. Buy only when you have no other options.
If there is Heaven on Earth in a liver pate I have found it. Well, I searched for it and found it. Really, it was right in front of my nose the entire time and I just purchased it. This weeks selection was purchased at The Cheese Cellar in downtown Seattle near Fisher Plaza and the Space Needle. I try and get there every week for their excellent soup and sandwiches. I’ve noticed occasionally that there is a pate selection behind the counter. This week I decided to go high-end in my choice after the fiasco of the Palm Liver Spread a couple of weeks ago.
This is the Mosse Trufee Pate made by Trois Petits Cochons (Three Little Pigs) out of Brooklyn NY. It is described as a combination of Chicken, Pork, Truffles, Cherry & Pineau Des Charentes (I had to Google that because I don’t know what the hell that is. Turns out that it is an aperitif, a fancy word for fortified wine).
Trois Petits Cochons Pate
I don’t care how you spell it, this stuff is a Rock Star in the Pate world.
I plated the pate with bread, cheese and fancy pickles and onions purchased at The Cheese Cellar. I used a little dijon mustard on the bread with the cheese, and butter with the pate. I topped the pate with fresh green onions. I wanted to keep it simple. The pate itself did all the heavy lifting. I was there just for the ride.
This Weeks Plating.
I love this stuff. It is as smooth as silk. It melts in your mouth. The flavor is incredible. The liver taste is very delicate and mild. The liver has been blended very fine with no coarseness of the organ meat. It has not been over-packed with salt and the other seasonings are well balanced. The gelatined beef broth skin of the pate loaf is also well flavored. In this plating I cut the pate straight from the loaf which was easy refrigerated. At room temperature it spread easily.
If you can get your hands on this stuff, do. Try it out. Visit their website Three Little Pigs. By looking around on their site it appears as though their products are sold many places across the good old USA.
This weeks choice got me thinking on if I just want to post on the high end (expensive) stuff like this exclusively. I’ve decided not. I’m going to continue on with the adventure if trying to find good Pate where-ever it can be found. Next week I’m going to review some stuff that may make the Palm Liver Spread seem like a delicacy. But I need to get it out of the way and let the truth be told. Stay tuned.
Monday: Yesterdays liver pate is consumed. The can is not very large and its so easy to just spread another at a moments notice. Now I’m trying to make the decision. Which of these two big boys gets opened next. It was the purchase of these two tins that created the idea of the blog in the first place.
I bought them at a local Filipino grocery more than a month ago and immediately the question popped up; I wonder how these will compare to my beloved Faaborg Leverpostej? Then the answer popped up; I should let the world know. And that is where my journey began.
Tuesday: Okay, I’ve decided on the Palm Liver Spread from New Zealand. What made the decision? I just bought some olive oil at Central Market in Shoreline Washington from the owner of an olive orchard who presses his own oil. I bought two bottles not knowing that they were $15 each. Ouch at the register… It is good stuff and I recommend you visiting their website at www.farnorthnewzalandoliveoil.com I’m going to try the Brazilian pate later because I want to throw in some high end pate next week help develop my tasting analysis.
Wednesday: Not liver related. Worked all evening on this image. Not perfect but I’m improving…
A fine example of my photography.
Sunday: The big day! I opened the can and immediately knew that I was going to hate this stuff. The smell, I cannot describe it. Smokey organy? It’s bad. The texture is course like pulpy meat ground up. It is over salted. Heavy organ taste once you get over the smoke flavor. It tastes bad and looks worse. It spreads okay at room temperature. The grittiness combined with the bad taste ruins this pate.
At this point I was expecting the worse. But I spread some bread with butter spread, smooshed some Palm Liver Spread on it, topped with green onions and then went about frying some Fennel and Kale Pancakes for the side dish.
To tell you the truth. The Palm Liver Spread was not as bad once it was on top of some bread and had onions on top. But I will be honest. I am throwing out the remaining spread into the dumpster today. I cannot imagine eating this entire can. Verdict: Bad.
Fennel/Kale Cakes
I have taken two very healthy items and turned them into an unhealthy product. This is the first time I have attempted this and I plan to try different variations in the future.
On the side I like to juice fruits and vegetables. I’ve always wondered what to do with the side product and tonight I decided to take the juiced remains of the Kale and Fennel and create cakes out of them. In this case I also used Betty Crocker’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix.
1. Measure to equal portions of pulp vegetables with pancake mix. By hand mix them together.
2. Pour in Olive Oil equaling 1 TBS for each amount of pulp and pancake mix about the size of a base ball. Add just enough water to keep the mixture kneading smoothly but still stay firm when forming the cakes.
3. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Knead More. Form into patties.
4. Fry in oil in a sauce pan until brown on both sides. Take out. Let cool a sec. And ready to serve.
As I said above. These tasted okay. By experimenting I think you will be able to create a good pancake using the pulp from your juicing efforts.
Thank you for dropping by! Welcome to my first post. A lot of people laughed when I told them I was going to blog liver. Despite my explanations why I wanted to they still didn’t change their position and still laughed.
The first product I’m reviewing is Faaborg Leverpostj (in Danish its pronounced leo-po-sti). Now, I’m not going to say that this is the greatest pate in the world but it is my favorite. And being the pate that I was raised on it ‘s what developed my taste for the stuff. It is also the foundation which all the others I try out will be based on. That’s why I’ve titled this post the Boiler Plate. Everything else will be built on and above this single product.
Faaborg Liverpostej
The texture is well blended and silky smooth. To my pallet the taste is mild in organ flavor. It does not have what I call a gamey taste at all. By taste it is not overly salty. Refrigeratored it cuts easily. At room temperature it spreads easily.
Faaborg Liverpostej
Keep in mind that this is not health food. To start with, most pate is loaded with salt. Salt tends to be the most common and abundant seasoning for pate. Like it is for most processed food. Next is that this stuff tends to be up to 50% fat. And not the good olive oil kind of fat. This is in a lot of cases PIG fat, COW fat, and common enough, BUTTER. I have also read that liver is high in vitamin A. A vitamin you can get too much of. This little tin probably has all the vitamin A that I need for the entire week. That’s why you won’t see me posting reviews on liver more frequently than that.
In the above photograph I have garnished the liver pate with red pickled onions. Behind the pate is pickled herring marinated in a wine sauce. The onion recipe is very easy.
Pickled Red Onions
Mix and change the ingredients as you feel fit. They are great with salads, inside a good roast beef sandwich, and many other places besides Liver Pate!
3/4 cup (180ml) white vinegar
3 tablespoons (50gr) sugar
pinch of salt
2 bay leaf
5 allspice berries
1tsp powdered cloves
whole, dried chile pepper (in this case I used a Shishito which is medium hot and sweet)
1 large red onion, peeled, and thinly sliced into rings. I’ve experimented with thinker cuts but liked thinner better.
1. In a small saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, and seasonings until boiling.
2. Add the onion slices and lower heat, then simmer gently for about one minute.
3. Remove from heat, place chile at bottom of jar and transfer boiled ingredients into the jar with tongs, and pouring liquid over the top. Then let cool.
4. Refrigerate. The onions will last for a couple of months but are ready to eat the next day.
