En Souvide

One of many dirty little secrets of the three-stars. Vacuum-sealed in plastic. God, the French love their vacuum sealers. Some very famous French restaurants—if you were to look in their refrigerators—look like the Birds Eye warehouse these days. Good for portion control, for preservation—and increasingly good to cook in. You can sear a duck breast stuffed with foie gras, for instance, put it en souvide in plastic, and slowly poach it like that. The plastic helps it cook gently and evenly, without the foie squirting out into a pan.