FOIE GRAS AND OTHER DUCKLY DELICASIES

The local delicacy in our part of the world – Lot, France is the controversial FOIE GRAS (Duck liver). It is controversial in the way the raw material –the duck or goose is raised. When the bird is 3 months old it will be force feed that is, at every meal a large amount of cracked corn is milled dawn its throat. This causes the liver to grow abnormally large over the next 20 days, so large that it fills half the cavity of the body. Then the bird is slaughtered and the liver prepared by slightly salting it and preserving it by boiling it in a sealed glass for several hours. The rest of the duck is used down to the tiniest bit for other specialties like “rillettes” - meat preserved in fat.

Being curious about this whole process we attended –at a duck raising farm- a demonstration of how this is done and learned some facts about the whole affair.

Having been propagated, especially in the United States, as a particular cruelty to animals it was interesting to hear and see that the birds actually voluntary line up and fight to get first for being force feed. We were also told that the large liver is NOT a sick liver and if (it happens all the time) the force feeding stops the liver will return to its original size and the bird will live a normal bird’s life (probably being used as a roast instead!!)

We also have wild boar in the area we live- actually in our own garden. In December a long needed hunt went on and our part of the 4 animals shot was this front quarter. After a day of cutting and preparing we had about 5 kg of nice “wild boar ragout”.

(but I guess that is another story)