Foie Gras, Terrines, and Rillettes

“Our cuisine does not begin in our kitchens, ” I was told by a young woman from the Landes. “It begins with our fathers and brothers hunting birds, our neighbors raising pigs, whole families gathering wild mushrooms in the fall, our mothers and sisters fattening up ducks and geese.” An eloquent statement, and one, I assure you, that reflects the kind of passion heard in the Southwest of France whenever the subject turns to food. These people have an almost mystical appreciation of cooking and of the many ways it derives from the bounty of their land.