“How do you say ‘foie gras’ in English?”

{EDIT 11 MAY 2011: Click for a pronunciation guide of the word “foie gras.”}

So coming back from 2 weeks of vacation and tomorrow will be my first day back to school. Not much looking forward to la vie quotidienne.

I enjoyed my vacation immensely, in spite of the quantity of foie gras (pronounced fwaw grah in American English) that was presented to me, starting well before Christmas.

You see, in France foie gras is a delicacy traditionally served on and around Christmas. When I asked my students what they do for Christmas, everyone said something about eating foie gras. This led them to ask how to say it in English. My response – we just say foie gras, as it only exists in French restaurants. Besides, if we were to translate it, most Americans, myself included, would not find it the least bit appetizing. So, if you don’t know what it is, I’ll leave you to your imagination, Google, or Wikipedia if you really want to know. In fact, normally it is a type of paté (purée spread) that is put on bread. It is served as a table appetizer.

During the past few weeks I’ve eaten foie gras at least a handful of times and it has gotten slightly better with each trial. Still not something I would buy, but I survive it. The only time I could not bear it was foie gras soup. It was too much to handle – pure foie gras with nothing else. The taste of regular foie gras is not that bad; I actually think my main problem is knowing what it is.