Posted on 09/19/2011 1:18:38 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Yesterday the Do Or Dine owners—who introduced us to the controversial Foie Gras Doughnut not too long ago—came by our office for a little taste test. On the other side of the table: the Faux Gras Doughnuts, created by the Dun-Well vegan doughnut company, and filled with The Regal Vegan's Faux Gras. Despite having put out beer and knives for our guests, the meeting was cruelty-free—in fact, it was very amicable! (The Do or Dine gentleman even offered to fill the vegan doughnuts with their jelly.) Gothamist staff indulged in the treats, and here are some thoughts from those who tried both versions:
The foie is really a foie mousse, so it's warm and soft like a spread, not like those giant hunks of liver PETA people are always trying to scare you with. It's not pretty to look at, but my tastebuds were pretty pysched—it's savory fat mixed with sweet fat, what's not to love? The strawberry jam really helped cut some of the heaviness, although that doesn't matter much when you cram half a donut down your gullet in 30 seconds. The faux was also not bad—it doesn't taste like foie, but as an entirely separate food product, it was pretty good... very savory. It's just important to accept the faux gras as its own thing, and not to expect it to taste like foie—I guess most vegans wouldn't know what foie tastes like, anyway.
The foie was really, surprisingly delicious. Creamy and sweet and tasty, it was barely a doughnut. But the faux was also really, really good! Especially when we added the jelly. They managed to really replicate the foie texture with their pate, though surprisingly I found the faux richer than the foie.
Decadent and tasty enough to send me rushing to the gym...
The Do or Dine gents thought "it tasted great, good, delicious, albeit like great, good, delicious stove-top stuffing. I thought the doughnut was absolutely delicious, but the faux gras was a little too lentil-laden. I liked it more when we added the jelly, acidity and sweetness balanced it out nicely." That said, they don't think they'll be serving the vegan version up any time soon, telling us, "We will leave it to the pros. It's kind of a FUBU mentality when it comes to vegan delights. We are simply happy to inspire the creation of the vegan version."
Goose liver filling in a donut sounds seriously weird. I’d prefer a savory (or at least non-sweet) pastry for that purpose to the dessert-sweetness of a donut.
I’ve never had anything made with foie gras that was less than smashingly delicious. I’ve heard you can even get foie gras ice cream nowadays.
Pate foi gras is really good stuff (didn’t believe that until I tried it...). It would make a great savory pastry! Just make sure its a small one - it would have more calories than the sweetest doughnut!
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