Foie-gras Sausages

Saucisses de foie gras (foie-gras sausages) teach the discipline of service à froid, cold service: rich charcuterie must be cold enough to cut cleanly, then allowed just enough temper to taste of itself. The one true thing is temperature. Let the fat soften before slicing and the roundels smear; serve them icy and their perfume goes quiet.

The original entry assumed a garde-manger with foie-gras sausage already made, clear aspic set in the cold room, and hands to slice platters for the dining room. It begins with finished charcuterie, so this recipe does too; inventing a forcemeat formula here would change the entry rather than translate it. At home, buy one fine, fully cooked sausage from a proper charcutier and use a small quantity of well-set poultry aspic. The brigade's broad platters and constant cold room are scaffolding and can go. The thin roundels and chopped aspic at the centre are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening, though the stove may rest tonight.

The platter should arrive pale, cool, and generous, the smooth slices answering the clear, trembling jelly. Chill the sausage until firm and sharpen the knife before anything else. That clean first cut decides the dish.