You wouldn’t necessarily have thought about it, but this French dish contains the most calories.
French gastronomy shines throughout the world with its dishes inherited from its ancestral cuisine. From beef bourguignon to cassoulet, parsley snails, bouillabaisse, quiche Lorraine or steak tartare, these generous dishes which establish French cuisine as an art of living in their own right delight the stomachs. Small downside but not least, if they are rich in flavors, they are also rich in calories. But then, which dish with blue, white and red colors holds the top spot when it comes to fat?
It’s a French specialty that the French are proud of, and it’s neither raclette, nor tartiflette, nor Savoyard fondue! None of that good winter comfort food dripping with cheese… This is a party dish, originating from the southwest of France, star of Christmas starters! Did you guess? This is foie gras, the dish that dethrones all others in terms of calories, according to the magazine It interests me. With its melting texture made from fresh liver from the force-feeding of ducks and geese, foie gras is mainly rich in lipids and therefore very fatty! In fact, it takes around 535 calories for a 100 g portion of cooked whole duck foie gras. For comparison, oysters and seared turkey only contain 100 calories for the same weight.
But rest assured, according to Alexandra Murcier, dietitian nutritionist for Santé Magazine, “moderate consumption of foie gras will not make you gain weight any more than a dish with sauce, a slice of Christmas log or other food (…) What makes you gain weight, however, is how often you eat this product and in what quantity. This dish being relatively expensive (count 47 euros per kilo), it is mainly consumed during the end-of-year celebrations, therefore on an occasional basis. Another advantage is that we rarely use a second plate of foie gras, which will more rarely be the case during a raclette evening.
The fattest foods of all are therefore those whose fats are of animal origin. “The latter do not provide good fat and are responsible for bad cholesterol,” explains the magazine ça m’intereste. In fact, foie gras contains 380 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams. But don’t panic, you’re not going to deprive yourself of it during the holidays: a thin slice of foie gras, weighing 50 grams, only corresponds to 250 calories, not enough to make cheese with it, especially if your starter is accompanied by a lighter main course and dessert… The important thing is to enjoy yourself, but in moderation.