Consider liver, the bane of our tearful childhood. What baby boomer would ever have imagined plunking down $100 per pound for something our mothers once forced us to eat?

Now we call it foie gras, and it’s a far cry from the cheap chopped liver that many remember as the wurst thing in the world.

“I love foie gras,” says Jeanine Bartolo, a customer browsing the specialty counter at Citarella on the Upper West Side. “But when I was growing up I’d practically gag at the thought of anything with a hint of liver in it.”

Though relatively new in the U.S., foie gras (pronounced fwah grah), is the oldest and most decadent of delicacies. It comes from the fatted livers of geese and ducks and has a history as rich as its creamy texture.

Five-thousand-year-old hieroglyphics preserved at the Louvre in Paris depict scenes of foie gras production by slaves and its consumption by pharaohs.

Since then, the fancy fat – translated from French as fat liver – has been revered, reviled, rebuffed and, lately, reborn. Foie gras has gained such an enormous following in this country – despite its incredibly high fat content – that suppliers can’t keep up with demand.

And it’s been an overnight success. According to Forbes magazine, a decade ago “Americans didn’t know foie gras from a faux pas.”

European Jews were once the primary consumers of foie gras. They considered it somewhat healthful, and because of their kashrut laws used it in lieu of non-kosher pork as a cooking fat.

But during the past 200 years, the preparation of foie gras has been perfected in France, primarily in Alsace, Gascony and Perigord.

Today in America the high-price staple is surging in popularity. The road to its latest prosperity hasn’t been entirely smooth, however.

In the 1970s, the U.S banned French goose liver after a strain of bacteria appeared in imported French poultry. In the 1980s, the American Medical Association warned against foods containing excess fat.

And the practice of stuffing a live bird to the gills with cornmeal has run afoul with the animal rights activists.

Despite those drawbacks, the industry is flying high.

“When we started in 1990, we were producing maybe 600 ducks,” says Michael Ginor, co-owner of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and New York State Foie Gras, the largest producer of duck liver in the U.S.

Now, he says, he and partner Izzy Yanay are struggling to keep up with demand. One distributor in New Jersey recently ordered 900 ducks, for example, “and we could only send them 400,” he says.

“It’s extremely hard,” Ginor admits. “We’re just short in this market.”

All around town, it seems, chefs are trying new recipes using foie gras.

At a recent tasting at Café Boulud, a guest chef from Gascony (considered the “ground zero” for foie gras) prepared a seven-course meal showcasing its diversity.

Meanwhile, a press luncheon in the Gourmet magazine dining room featured the chefs of Hawaii serving a dish of thick, rare ahi tuna topped with pan-seared foie gras.

Not all the incarnations are quite that upscale, however.

At Roy’s New York, for example, they’re serving up a grilled foie gras and mango sandwich.

The varieties it seems, are numerous.

Ginor, 35, who has written a book on his business, “Foie Gras: a Passion,” encompassing its history, production and cooking techiques, is proud of the many ways foie gras can be used.

“I can rattle-off foie gras recipes like Bubba’s shrimp concoctions in ‘Forrest Gump,'” he says.

SIDEBAR: TALE OF THE TASTE

A blind taste test by journalists of four liver-based comestibles – duck, goose and pork specialties, along with chopped liver revealed a wide range of pate preferences during a sampling at The Post this week.

Not all members of the panel went for the good stuff, meaning the high-priced goose-liver foie gras, which sells for $99 per pound.

Post sports writer Richard Wilner said he liked the chopped chicken liver ($4.99 per pound) better.

Marsha Kramer – WCBS news correspondent

Chopped Chicken Liver ($4.99/lb.)

“Sweeter [than the pork], spicier with an eggy taste.”

Pork Liver Pate ($7.80/lb.)

“Gamey and liver-y.”

Duck Foie Gras ($79/lb)

– “Wonderful: rich and buttery.” Goose Foie Gras ($99/lb) – “Tastes similar [to the duck].”

Winner: Duck

Pia Nordlinger – Post food and op-ed writer

Chicken: “Eggy, sort of like an egg salad.”

Pork: “Interesting; onion-y.”

Duck: “Very creamy and smooth. I could eat it all day.”

Goose: “Too sweet; it almost has a plastic taste.”

Winner: Duck

Richard Wilner – Post sports writer

Chicken: “A classic taste. Reminds me of my Jewish uncle’s recipe.”

Pork: “Smokey and gamey.”

Duck: “Yuck. Pasty, and it tastes like glue. Also, it’s smelly and has a bad aftertaste.”

Goose: “Too rich. It reminds me of Spam.”

Winner: Chicken

Barbara Hoffman – Post food and feature writer

Chicken: “Essence of chopped liver. It reminds me of my youth and Aunt Ruth.”

Pork: “A little greasy; nothing special.”

Duck: “Uniform consistency, very smooth and gamey – in a good way.”

Goose: “Also very smooth. A little spicy and salty.

Winner: Goose.

Jared Paul Stern – Post’s Page Six and Nightcrawler writer

Chicken: “Tastes like chopped liver.”

Pork: “Tastes like a country pate: spicy and greasy.”

Duck: “Buttery; tastes like the real thing.”

Goose: “Similar to [the duck].”

Winner: Duck

William Neuman – Post news reporter

Chicken: “Bad texture; runny. It has a liver taste.”

Pork: “Spicy, like liverwurst. It has a nice feel.”

Duck: “Rich; it tastes like there’s cheese in it.”

Goose: “Similar to [the duck]. More peppery.”

Winner: Pork