Foie gras ( /fwɑːˈɡrɑː/; French: [fwa ɡʁɑ]); French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage (force-feeding corn), according to French law, though outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding. A pastry containing pâté de foie gras and bacon, or pâté de foie gras tout court, was formerly known as "Strasbourg pie" (or "Strasburg pie") in English on account of that city's being a major producer of foie gras.

Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of an ordinary duck or goose liver. Foie gras is sold whole, or is prepared into mousse, parfait, or pâté (the lowest quality), and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak. French law states that "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France."

The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began keeping birds for food and deliberately fattened the birds through force-feeding. Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though it is produced and consumed worldwide, particularly in other European nations, the United States, and China.

Coordinates: 44°26′39″N 4°32′26″E / 44.4442°N 4.5406°E / 44.4442; 4.5406

Gras is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.

Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain (born June 25, 1956) is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and The Layover.

A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a veteran of numerous professional kitchens, Bourdain is currently a chef-at-large, whose home base is Brasserie Les Halles, New York where he was executive chef for many years.

Anthony Bourdain was born in New York City to Pierre (d.1987) and Gladys Bourdain, and grew up in Leonia, New Jersey. Bourdain has French ancestry on his father's side; his paternal grandfather emigrated from France to New York following World War I. Bourdain's mother worked for the New York Times as a staff editor. Bourdain was a student at Englewood School for Boys, graduating in 1973. He attended Vassar College before dropping out after two years, and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978.

Wylie Dufresne is the chef and owner of wd~50 restaurant in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation and presentation of food.

Born in 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., Dufresne is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute in New York. In 1992, Wylie completed a B.A. in philosophy at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

From 1994 through 1999, he worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, where he was eventually named sous chef at Vongerichten's eponymous Jean Georges. In 1998 he was chef de cuisine at Vongerichten's Prime in The Bellagio, Las Vegas. In 1999, he left to become the first chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food. In April 2003, he opened his 70-seat restaurant, wd~50 (named for the chef's initials and the street address, as well as a pun on WD-40) on Clinton Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Dufresne was a James Beard Foundation nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2000 and chosen the same year by New York Magazine for their New York Awards. Food & Wine magazine named him one of 2001 America's Ten Best Chefs award and, in 2006, New York Magazine's Adam Platt placed wd-50 fourth in his list of New York's 101 best restaurants. He was awarded a star in Michelin's New York City Guide, 2006, 2007, 2008, the first Red Guide for North America, and was nominated for Best Chef New York by the James Beard Foundation. Wd-50 has also been recognized as one of the Top 10 Molecular Gastronomy Restaurants in the U.S. by GAYOT.com.

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader (2008). She has won awards from the Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association among others, and has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award for television acting, winning once for her role as Mildred Pierce in the 2011 mini-series of the same name.

Brought up in Berkshire, Winslet studied drama from childhood, and began her career in British television in 1991. She made her film debut in Heavenly Creatures (1994), for which she received her first notable critical praise. She achieved recognition for her subsequent work in a supporting role in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and for her leading role in Titanic (1997), the highest grossing film at the time, and the highest grossing film of Winslet's career.

Since 2000, Winslet's performances have continued to draw positive comments from film critics, and she has been nominated for various awards for her work in such films as Quills (2000), Iris (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), Little Children (2006), The Reader (2008) and Revolutionary Road (2008). Her performance in the last of these prompted New York magazine critic David Edelstein to describe her as "the best English-speaking film actress of her generation". The romantic comedy The Holiday and the animated film Flushed Away (both 2006) are among the biggest commercial successes of her career.