I'm willing to grant that the recession might be causing a re-assessment of values, habits, etc, especially when it comes to food. And I'm told there have been whole books written with the aim of making luxury ingredients relatively accessible. But nothing justifies the following quote, from the director general of La Grande Épicerie, the gourmet-food department of Paris' legendary store Le Bon Marché, on people's paté-purchasing habits:

“Luxury products that have savoir faire — rather than bling-bling — offered a sense of refuge...”

Yes, fair. Sure, people might buy duck paté instead of foie, or they might buy a few slices of foie instead of a whole block.  But the idea of "bling" paired with "liver" gives me serious pause. It's hard not to imagine a gavage Bedazzler.