The (Brutal) Art of Foie Gras
For the past two weeks, I found myself in the middle of the Gers region which is situated on the west side of Toulouse. Drinking wine, spending time with the family, laying in the sun, eating nice foods, and reading a lot of books. That basically describes the main activities I had in the last two weeks.
The Gers region is known for being the most sparsely populated region in Western Europe. People who live in the Gers region or most often farmers or retired rich people. Solitude I found here, something I desperately longed for after so many months in busy Rotterdam.
But of course, food had to be served. Just my luck I found myself in the region where so many French delicacies come from. The Gers region stands famous for the 'canard' (duck), purple garlic, rillettes, honey, and many more products to fill up your charcuterie.
But if there is one product that tops the region, heck, a product that is the emblem of France's gastronomy. It is of course the rich and fatty Foie Gras.
Foie Gras?
Foie Gras is a literal translation of Fat Liver. This fat liver can either come from a duck or a goose. Foie Gras that comes from the Gers is most often goose. Goose foie gras has a more pinkish tone and a subtle taste to it. Duck is more orange colored, is a bit more firm, and has a more distinct taste.
The ways of using foie gras are endless. The best (in my opinion) and most simple way of using foie gras is by baking it on each side for a short period of time on high heat. This way you can taste the unique foie gras in its prime.
In the last few years, foie gras grew to fame because it made headlines in multiple countries. The product got banned in countries around the world because of its 'cruel' production. The image below allows us to see in which countries foie gras production is banned (blue) and which countries are still producing foie gras (red).
To make foie gras, the goose or duck must be force-fed in the last 2 weeks. This way the liver will get the fattiest and also big. To start, the word force-feeding doesn't sound right. The foie gras farmers stick a tube into the throat of the goose or duck and fill it up with figs. Yes, yes, it sounds horrible and visually it's also very unpleasing. But, that doesn't immediately mean it is cruel. Allow me to elaborate...
The History
The production of Foie Gras is older than you think. Its production can be traced back to the Egyptians. The Egyptians remarked that the livers of their gooses became bigger when they ate more. Which was in the winter, just before their annual migration. They started experimenting with this and started force-feeding the gooses. This can be seen in ancient Egyptian drawings.
The Romans took remark of this incredible tasty product and began experimenting on their own back home. The Romans improved the force-feeding technique by feeding the gooses figs. This made the liver richer and sweet.
Then the dark Middle Ages came and Foie Gras was completely off the radar, a forgotten delicacy. Although it is believed that the Jews held on to this secret recipe. Goose was a sort of meat the Jews were allowed to eat because of their religion.
A new entree
It then took almost 500 years to reintroduce foie gras. All because of one hasty chef and one royal king. Chef Jean-Pierre Clause was headchef for Louis Georges Érasme de Contandes (governor of Alsace). Louis Georges asked Chef Jean Pierre to make him something special and new because he had an important guest coming over.
Chef Jean Pierre started looking for recipes but couldn't find anything spectacular and started to stress out. And then he knew, an ancient forgotten recipe in a new royal way he would make. Chef Jean Pierre would take multiple goose livers and bake them in a terrine on lamb minced meat and veal.
Just on time chef, Jean-Pierre brought it to the table of his master. He then started to sweat even more because he saw who this mysterious guest was. It must have been a few very stressful minutes because the guest of his master was none other than King Louis the XVI.
A huge relief fell for chef Jean-Pierre because King Louis adored the dish and fell in love with it. You have to understand that if the king didn't like the never-before-seen dish, chances were high he probably would have sent chef Jean-Pierre to the guillotine. But luckily this wasn't the case. In fact, King Louis XVI claimed the dish for his household and called it: 'Dish of the Kings.'
Foie Gras’s Problem
It was so Foie Gras became the pinnacle of the French cuisine. Almost 75 percent of the worldwide production of Foie Gras comes from France. Other countries that produce Foie Gras are Spain, Hungary, Bulgary, and Canada. Now here lays the problem of Foie Gras nowadays:
During my visit to the Gers, I visited a Foie Gras farm and had a talk with the owner about the criticism his specialization got it the past few years. He said the following.
'People nowadays judge too fast, they see something and immediately give their opinion on it without doing research about it. I agree, the production of foie gras looks cruel and horrible. But it isn't. Gooses and ducks have an expandable pocket, this means they are able to store big amounts of foods into their belly. The food then gets slowly ground and goes into the gizzard in order to digest it. This means the duck or goose can't feel a thing when it's being force-fed.'
Laber Rouge’s POV
Remember this comes from a French Foie Gras farmer, of course, he will say it is all good and alright. But oddly enough it isn't only the farmer who says this but also the famous Label Rouge. Label Rouge is a certification that recognizes products of high quality.
'To get a high-quality product the animals have to be treated right and fair, this is the case by almost every foie gras farm in France' says the president of Label Rouge. 'The gooses and ducks are outside almost the whole day. Two weeks before slaughter it is being force-fed, which takes 10 minutes a day. And our research shows that the goose or duck doesn't feel any pain when being force-fed. That’s why we decided to support farmers who produce this historical and national product.'
Regrettably not every farm is certified by Label Rouge, especially the foie gras farms in outside countries (Spain, Hungary, Bulgary, and Canada). These farms aren't familiar with the history of the product and their only motive is profit instead of making a beautiful product. These are the farms where ducks and gooses are 24 hours a day inside in tiny cages.
So, I think you can imagine why this discussion has been going on for years now. Is the production of foie gras cruel or beautiful? You may judge for yourself…