[1] A slice of foie gras, known as a “scallop,” is briefly sautéed and served with peaches, marmalade and marigold salad (photo © Restaurant Daniel| NYC).

[2] Foie gras-stuffed prunes (photo © Caviar Russe.

On festive occasions we serve “Foie Gras Variées,” a dinner plate comprising small amounts of different foie gras* preparations that make a luxurious course.

The plate typically includes:

 
The same can be done with chicken livers: chicken liver mousse, terrine, and sautéed livers.

It’s just as satisfying for those without a hunger for the duck or goose version, and much more affordable.

Serve the plate with a glass of Gewürtztraminer, Late Harvest Vouvray, Riesling or Sauternes, makes guests very happy.

In fact, sybarite that we are, we often serve two different wines so your guests can experience different pairings.

Want some chocolate with your foie gras?

Here’s a recipe for Foie Gras Served With French Toast and Spiced Chocolate Ganache, from Chef Mark Gold.

Serve it as the first course of a very opulent dinner.

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*Foie gras is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been especially fattened. Here’s more about it.

†Quince is a winter fruit. Other options include a dried fruit compote, apples, figs, black cherry jam or fig jam. In the spring, we like fresh figs, gooseberries or green grapes (the smaller the better). While few of us have 50-year-old balsamic vinegar, if you have balsamic glaze (commercial balsamic vinegar boiled down to thicken it), you can add a few drops to the plate in any season.
 
 

Lager (the German word for storage) refers to any beer made by bottom fermentation. It is usually golden in color but sometimes can be dark.

Lager requires a longer, colder fermentation than ale (which is a top-fermenting beer), and uses a different species of yeast that tolerates cold temperatures well. The result of the cold fermentation is a lighter, crisper, smoother beer.

Ale is the favored beer style of England, and as the British colonized America, it became the beer of the Colonies. Lager beer was introduced to the U.S. during the German immigration of the early 1800s. It was immediately adopted and the country switched from being an ale-drinking country to a lager-drinking country.

The only challenge was that brewing lager required a colder environment, 30°F to 40°F.

Tip a glass to National Lager Week! Photo by Duncan Tidd | SXC.

• Check up on more types of beer in our Beer Glossary.
• Check out the recipes in our delicious, six-course beer-and-food-pairing dinner. 

Divide a dragonfruit at the dinner table.
Photo courtesy Melissas.com.

You can give these fruits as gifts (Melissas.com has individual boxes and monthly “club” gifts). But give them to your own household, too.

Pick a specific day of the month—the first Monday, the third Sunday, e.g.—to be Exotic Fruit Day in your home. Have your featured fruit for dessert or at brunch, experience different tastes and build your knowledge base.

If there’s no market in your town where you can pick up exotic produce, Melissas.com is happy to oblige.

• Next, you can tackle exotic vegetables. See our Exotic Vegetables Glossary.