Finally, some serious academic research. The American Association of Wine Economists have answered that long-standing and vexing question: can people tell the difference between pâte and dog food? The answer in AAWE Working Paper, No. 36, is entitled, “Can People Distinguish Pate from Dog Food?” is no.
For years, I have insisted with my wife that pâte tastes a lot like dog food (while I have never actually tasted dog food, I have been repeatedly kissed by dogs fresh from eating dog food). Now, I have been vindicated. The good people at AAWE gave people the following dishes:
1. Mousse de Canard (duck liver mousse) by Trois Petits Cochons
2. Pate de Campagne (pork liver pate) by Trois Petits Cochons
3. Spam (pork shoulder and ham) by Hormel Foods
4. Liverwurst (D’Agostino’s)
5. Newman’s Own Organic Canned Turkey & Chicken Formula for Puppies
First, it turns out that you can get people to eat dog food in the name of science or $25 bucks. Second, “Only 3 of 18 subjects correctly identified sample C as the dog food.” Six picked liverwurst (which I have also opposed since age 3 as an inedible and evil food stuff).
It is worth noting that 55 percent of the culinary adventurers said the duck liver tasted best and 72% said the dog food tasted worst. However, I still would suggest that paying for something that requires focused taste testing to distinguish from dog food should be set aside for a nice salad and bread sticks.
For the study, click here.
For the full story, click here.
Steven Colbert’s coverage on the report, click here.
Dog food, during the recession, it’s what’s for breakfast.
“Sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie, but I wouldn’t know because I wouldn’t eat the filthy mother-f_ _ _er”
Jules Winston, of Englewood
Ditto me with the dog food. But, you know dogs got personality. Personality goes a long way.
My sister brought us back a gift from Fouchon in Paris recently, a package of assorted pate’s. So we got some water crackers, a bottle of Riesling and started in to the pate. The fact that the pate came in little cans that are exactly the same as the cans that Fancy Feast cat food comes in, but with a French label, should have been the tip off. As soon as we peeled the first lid off one of the cans, the familiar texture and aroma of cat food smacked us in the face.
Ever the adventurous eaters we think we are, we still dipped a butter knife in to the pate and smeared some on a cracker and sent it down the hatch. The first can we sample was pure pork liver, and tasted as bad as it smelled. We gave it one more shot and opened a can that was supposed to be duck liver, after choking that down, we noticed the fine print on the can, although it had duck liver, it seemed filled out with pork liver.
The two opened cans, with the remainder of “product” in them, found the garbage can. The remaining unopened cans were gifted to a neighbor.
We can now say that we now know what cat food tastes like.
Pass the pate!
“Not one dog knows you are on the internet”
Woof!
This makes me wonder who is paid to do taste tests for pet food. I’ve had some difficult jobs in my life, but I would have to be paid a fortune to do that, if I was able to suppress my gag reflex.
It’s no coincidence that all one needs to do to turn “pate” into “paste” is simple add the “s.” Now about that escargot…
Now I know why I’ve never liked pates. I had always thought that I lacked refinement.
“First they didn’t have the bamboo umbrellas for the drinks, and now snails on the plate! Waiter! Get those snails off her plate! Bring us some toasted cheese sandwiches and some new wine! None of that old stuff you keep trying to pass off on us!” – Steve Martin as Navin R. Johnson in “The Jerk”
I think my fellow canines are employed by the industry to taste dog food, as are my feline friends to taste cat food.
My master was offered a job as a food taster for a middle eastern potentate.
Funny. He never came back.
I have been offered a lot of people food in my day. How can you folks stand that repellent stuff?
“You don’t know that your dog is on the internet?”
Waiter, why is this fly doing the backstroke in my soup?
That’s because pate IS dog food…..
Why would anyone be able to tell the difference?
Sally,
Good point.
Big Fella,
That wa hilarious!
Maybe cat food is different. I had reason to buy a wide variety of canned cat foods including the ‘expensive’ stuff in little cans and I must admit, opening some of those cans and seeing the color, catching the surprisingly good aroma and feeling the texture, I was tempted. I opted not to but I had to give it a good long consideration. I’ve made pate’s from scratch and what was in some of those little cans looked, smelled and ‘felt’ as good as anything I ever made or bought. The whole experience did kind of put me off pate’s though.
(The cat liked Friskie’s the best! Nasty stuff- so’s the cat.)
HOMEMADE PATE RECIPES:
Sounds like JT is missing his foie gras…
Do not despair.
I also make Spaghetti Caruso with organic chicken livers once ina while.
Smoked salmon or trout pates are great choices, too.
p.s.If you really can’t stomach Braunswcheiger liverwurst, skip the second recipe…
Chicken Liver Pâté with Figs
From the files of David Scott Allen
* ½ pound dried calimyrna figs
* 1 cup ruby Port
* 1 cup chopped shallots
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 pound chicken livers, trimmed and halved
* 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
* ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1½ teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon dried sage
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Cut each fig horizontally into four slices and place in a bowl– add the Port and let macerate at least 1 hour until they are softened.
In a large skillet cook the onions in 3 tablespoons of the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor. In the same skillet, sauté the chicken livers, patted dry, in remaining 3 tablespoons of the butter over high heat, stirring for 2 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, thyme and sage and continue to sauté the mixture for 1 minute more–or until the livers are golden on the outside but still pink on the inside. Add livers to the onions.
Holding a strainer over the skillet, drain the figs, allowing the Port to drain into the skillet. Deglaze the skillet over medium-high heat, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom. Reduce the mixture until it is thick and syrupy and add to the processor.
Line a 3-cup mold with plastic wrap, and then line with fig slices, pressing them against the plastic wrap without overlapping (cut side always towards the plastic wrap).
Put any remaining figs into the processor with livers and onions. Purée all ingredients until smooth. Force mixture through a sieve into a bowl and let cool. Add the lemon juice, additional salt and pepper to taste and mix until incorporated. Pack pâté into the fig-lined bowl and cover–chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
To serve, invert mold onto a platter and garnish the plate with thyme sprigs, and serve with thin slices of French bread.
Wine pairings
* Red: Light Bordeaux
* White: Meursault-Les Charmes; Viognier
* Other: Fino Sherry
—
Recipes
Pâté de Campagne (Country Pâté)
This is a recipe from Towny’s father, who loved to cook. As a US Ambassador, he regularly entertained, filling their home with hungry guests. This pâté was always on the table when the party began and not to be found by the time the guests had gone home.
* ½ cup shelled pistachio nuts
* 2-3 stalks celery
* 1 large onion
* 2 garlic cloves
* ½ pound veal
* ½ pound pork
* ½ pound beef
* 2 eggs
* Salt, to taste
* Pepper, to taste
* Thyme, to taste
* Allspice, to taste
* ¾ pound Braunswcheiger liverwurst
* Brandy
* Dry sherry
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover and soak shelled pistachio nuts in brandy and dry sherry. Puree celery, onion, and garlic; then, place in large bowl. Process the meats, eggs, and all seasonings (except bay leaves) into a ball; this will probably need to be done in two batches. Strain nuts. Add meat mixture to onion-celery mixture and then add nuts. Fold in Braunswcheiger liverwurst into mixture. To test for taste, heat oil in pan and cook a small portion; adjust for seasoning if necessary.
Place mixture into Pâté pan or baking dish, one quarter layer at a time. Between each layer, drop (bang) Pâté pan on counter to release air from mixture. Place bay leaves on top of Pâté and screw on lid or cover the casserole dish. Place Pâté pan or casserole dish in a pan filled halfway up with water. Bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Best if served 24 hours later.
Serve with crusty French bread, a little Dijon mustard, and cornichons.
Wine pairings
* Red: Southern Rhône; Light Bordeaux; South African Pinotage
* White: Well-oaked California Chardonnay
No one should eat pate de foie gras. It involves cruel and disgusting mistreatment of animals who are forcibly overfed and tortured in the process. It tastes like dog food.
“Cover and soak shelled pistachio nuts in brandy and dry sherry”
TO heck with pate I’ll take the nuts!
Observer:
“No one should eat pate de foie gras. It involves cruel and disgusting mistreatment of animals who are forcibly overfed and tortured in the process. It tastes like dog food.”
I kinda think after that story and all the comments, it is a sure thing that none on this thread will consume pate unless home made for the foreseeable future.
My wife had been asking me why all of a sudden,I had been slurping all my liqiuds from a bowl.Now I know why.
If it hasn’t been banned where you are, it’s on its way…
‘Force-feeding’ is practiced, but it does not involve ‘cruelty’.
Birds don’t have reflexes like we humans.
And anyone who enjoys fine fresh French cuisine knows it certainly doesn’t look, smell, or taste ‘like dog food’.
That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement to make.
I’m pretty sure this is more a function of the lack of organ meat in the modern American diet than anything else. Palates tend to adjust diet, not the other way around.
Gyges:
wouldnt your taste be what you are used to? For example when I spent 6 months in La. (state) I went there not liking and unable to consume spicy hot food, I now think Tabasco is a mild condiment and there is nothing better than hot spicy Indian food.
So in my mind your taste for food is what you typically eat or there are things that just taste great and so you normally are attracted to them. Chocolate comes to mind as a universally liked food and that may be a case for your position.
your thoughts?
Bron,
By palate I mean the ability to pick up flavors, and knowledge of what flavors are appropriate for a food. There’s some overlap with taste, but they mean different things.
I think you’re right though, you get acclimated to the food at hand, but there are some tastes you just naturally like. There’s some evidence that you get hard wired for certain flavors based on your mother’s diet before your born and while you’re being breastfed.
Gyges:
this is a great website, going from pate to the origins of and theory of taste.
I am at a loss, why would anyone bother eating if this is what it is all about. YUCK.
No about that torture memo, did it include pate’ boarding?
From very early on in one’s development ‘sweet’ is automatically accepted as pleasing whereas bitter is out.
A taste for fats comes along later – yehhhh
There are likewise some other tastes and textures which are initially, and almost universally, considered unappealing and become ‘acquired tastes’, nonetheless.
Generally speaking, the greater variety of foods a mother partakes of herself results in her offering the same to her offsping – whether or not she breast feeds.
Some bottle-fed infants are allergic to formula and still go on to become hearty eaters!
The overall hardwiring comes from evolution of the species.
It’s called survival.
That’s why some kids are almost prepared to ‘die’ rather than eat THAT stuff.
We’ve all been there…
Fact: If ducks and geese are unhappy, they refuse to eat and die. So much for cruel torture. I’ve seen a Fois Gras farm in France (Perigord). They’re just big fat white ducks and geese, walking around a lake in the fresh air, having a grand old time. Seared medallions of fresh fois gras de canard with a balsamic reduction. . . .yummmmmm
In other news, most Democrats cannot tell sh*t from shinola.