Monday, 18 May 2009
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Foie Gras - Heavenly or Hellish?
Almost anyone who had tasted the Foie Gras (some may know it as Goose Liver), will fall in love with it and claim that this rich buttery, melt in your mouth French delicacy tastes heavenly. In fact, I has seen some stating that they do not eat animal organs......except.....you guess it, Foie Gras. That is how enticing the Foie Gras is! Visit any French restaurant, you will find that Foie Gras is definitely in the menu (Be it pan-fried, poached or terrine).
However, the one of the production processes of Foie Gras is far from being even decent: The gavaging of the geese and ducks (also known as forcefeeding). Steel pipes connected to a truckload of feed (mainly consisting of corn and fat, which is great for fattening up the livers) are shoved down the esophagus (located right below the throat) of the birds and drain the feed right into their stomach. This process is for depositing huge amount of fats into the livers of the birds to create the buttery consistency well known in Foie Gras. Besides creating the awful feeling of overeating, other possible side effects induced in the birds are impaired liver function, difficulty in breathing and esophagus scarring. The cruelty involved may deem the production plant of Foie Gras as hellish. In fact, many countries and cities had banned the production and selling of Foie Gras.
After knowing about all these information on Foie Gras, I am not exactly eager to eat such food at all, no matter how good it tastes. Though there is a silver lining to this situation, the existence of "Ethical Foie Gras" (examples: Foie Gras from Pateria De Sousa and Schiltz Goose Farms) where the birds are not being force fed, but instead rely on the bird's migratory instincts to eat a lot more to fatten up their liver, in preparation for the long road trip ahead. The downside to this kind of Foie Gras is that it is more expensive, will only be available during winter, the fatty content is only half of those from force fed birds. However, I guess these cons are not really of any issue to some. So this really provides a solution to getting a gulit free indulgence.
So do you love Foie Gras? If so, will you specially opt for Ethical Foie Gras or that you have no issues with the production of Foie Gras at all?
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- From: ShokuMono@xanga
- Name: Jan
- About Me: Food is a form of art, indulgence and culture
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Comments (28)
I haven't tried it yet, but I would give anything a try (except feces and anal sex).
However, there are some animals that are only brought up as food and in order for them to be served the way they are, they have to go though certain conditions. It's like how calves are caged to give veal that tenderness.
I haven't given it a try, and I don't think I want to. It sounds very decadent but I'm sure I could get something similar out of a much more practical food.
I have heard about this, and I hate the practice and wish it were banned. I would, however, definitely love to try Ethical Foie Gras. I wonder if it would actually taste a bit less slimy and tastier than the traditional cruel method.
PS. @ laytexduckie@xanga - Anal sex (if done right) is not that bad for ladies. Trust me... ... well, I guess you can't trust anyone to know how to perform it right, though...
I have never heard of Foie Gras before reading this article, but as I started to read, I really wanted to try it. However, due to the cruelty these birds face, I will not order Foie Gras.
If given the chance, I may try ethical Foie Gras.
I also do not eat veal or anything containing shark fin (though I have tried both before I knew anything and they do taste good, I refuse to eat it because of the possible cruelty).
i had foie gras, i didnt taste anything that spectacular. i couldnt get over the fact that the lady serving it to us boasted how fatty this geese's liver must have been to be so buttery. she was also telling us about how the geese's liver was fattened up, like it was a good thing!
needless to say, i am definitely against that. i might give ethical foie gras a chance once i can get over this silly abuse business :(
Foie gras does have such a heavenly taste that I really don't think I have the will to resist it despite knowing the rather "unethical" methods used to make it.
I don't like eating duck, so I don't like to eat foie gras. But if somebody dares me to, I will eat it.
I don't like the unethical methods of forcefeeding the ducks, but I've seen people forcing their cattle to drink beer to produce beer saturated beef for a better tasting steak.
Eating the toxin filter of any animal strikes me as disgusting.
thats sad :(
Thank you for this post.
@inthenameofwater@xanga - Accordingly to some who had tasted Ethical Foie Gras, they claimed that it tastes better. Though I'm not sure if they said it because they feel better, eating foie gras produced in a more natural way.
@Syaoronsangel@xanga - Same here! I avoid veal at all costs and I will not order shark's fins if I have a choice.
I never tried it.
I heard Chicago tried to ban foie gras, but apparently there was a big uproar over it, and it was overturned.
@reckless_eagle@xanga - Beer saturated beef? Wow, some people are so "creative" in marketing their food stuff. And I heard of cows being massaged daily to produce better quality beef. Though I do think this is plausible.
ewww. i prefer escargots.
aww....I heard the same thing (or similar thing) happens to the chickens of KFC (or once did...I'm not sure anymore) and I find it cruel....every since then, I haven't touched a KFC chicken....so if it's true, I wouldn't eat Foie Gras no matter how heavenly it tastes.
I've never tried it, but I don't imagine I'd enjoy it. Sounds too creamy, I'd probably feel nauseated while eating it.
i will be honest--while i wish they would only make ethical foie gras, i would eat unethically produced foie gras.
i won't justify it, but the thing is i don't even eat foie gras more than once a year. in contrast most of us know that chicken and milking cows are raised just as unethically yet we eat them all the time. foie gras is the last thing that would make me feel guilt or remorse.
have you heard of ankimo? it is the Japanese equivilant of foie gras--it is monk fish liver that is so tasty that people are over fishing them to get their livers. the worse thing here is that at least those poor geese are not going into extinction. the fish are probably killed more humanely but they are becoming extinct in the process. and i eat ankimo A LOT MORE often than foie gras. it is like crack: once taste and i cannot stay away from it.
we should band together and be ethical consumers to discourage unethical practices, but it is easier said than done. i have managed to boycott Walmart and Gap but that is about as far as my actions against unethical businesses go.
i smell PETA all over this.
Heavenly for the taste.... Hellish for the way it's made... I remember seeing a segment on the F Word about this...
I love it. Don't care in what matter it's raised. If I was going to be concerned with how animals are treated I probably couldn't eat meat period.
hellish thats the most disgusting food picture i have ever seen!
@ShokuMono@xanga - Ok! I'm on it then! :)
I hope that any sane person will try to opt for ethical treatment for any animal. I don't know how any decent person could do that to a creature. Hellish.