Eating Foie Gras

Every year we prepare our own foie gras. Every year I mention it on the blog and every year a friend who thinks foie gras should be banned contacts me with information as to why she won't be eating foie gras any time soon.

Separating the two lobes of the liver.

Foie gras is a victim of its own legendary tastiness and luxury status. As disposable incomes in the 20th century increased, demand for the finer things of life increased. Products like foie gras had been produced in small scale operations in the south-west of France. It was mainly eaten at Christmas time, and even for the comfortably off was considered a seasonal treat. But even in France the idea that consumers wanted access to luxury products, wide choice and all year availability took hold. Large factory farms began proliferating, producing duck foie gras (because geese don't adapt well to industrial farming). These factory farms were devoted to producing maximum quantity so they could price the foie gras enticingly and encourage year round purchasing and the idea that most households could afford it. Taste, quality, good husbandry practices, and bird welfare took a back seat.

Fairly quickly certain consumers noticed. Already opposed to the gavage (force-feeding) that is necessary for the production of foie gras, the added cruelties of mass production caused a groundswell of opposition to foie gras. Things like beak clipping (to stop birds fighting or plucking their own feathers out), throwing unwanted female ducklings alive into incinerators or grinders (only the larger male ducks are used for foie gras and magret), restrictive cages with no solid floors or possibility of natural behaviour such as puddling or grooming, and being kept in a shed with no natural light throughout the ducks' life were increasingly unacceptable to an increasingly urban consumer base.

Veins removed, seasoned and just about to put the lobes back together.

Every few years there is a scandal associated with the industry. The most recent was an exposé of practices in 2013 at a very large producer who supplied high end and well known restaurants. This producer found their contracts cancelled.

It is worth remembering that if you are eating magret (fat duck breast) or often even cuisse de canard (duck leg) it is a 'by product' of foie gras production. This may be considered a good thing if you are into whole animal eating and not wasting food, but a bad thing if you are fundamentally opposed to foie gras. It's a bit like the connection between drinking milk and eating veal -- if you do one you should be morally bound to do the other, and likewise, if you are opposed to one, you must eschew the other.

We are very lucky in Preuilly. We can indulge in very good quality foie gras produced locally, by farmers who are happy to show visitors around and who have always answered my questions. They looked slightly surprised when I asked them about beak clipping. I could see them thinking 'That old chestnut!' and the response was that it has been illegal for some time and they would be very surprised if anyone practiced it these days. Likewise, the business of throwing female ducklings alive into grinders. Why would the breeders do that, they say, when they can be sold on to finishers, who will fatten them up and sell them as caneton (young duck for roasting)? They are well aware of the ethical issues associated with the production of foie gras, and whilst I am a valued customer who they are happy to talk to openly about the industry, they do not feel able to allow me to take photographs of the farm. They feel that is a security risk.

Home made foie gras in terrines ready to eat.

I would hesitate to eat foie gras if I didn't know the producer, and feel that it is important to acknowledge that some producers work hard at the husbandry and ethical issues. I can understand why people choose not to eat foie gras. I know lots of people who don't eat it just because they are squeamish about offal. I know two people in France who don't eat foie gras for ethical reasons. One of them, who is French, admits that she loves steak and foie gras, but became vegetarian because of conditions on industrial farms.

So what does this mythical dish taste like? Why is it so seductive? To be honest I don't quite know (but then, I don't find bacon the most irresistible food on Earth either). I like foie gras as a seasonal treat, but I don't want to eat it all the time. A large part of its appeal for us is the annual workshop where we get together with friends to prepare it for Christmas. It's sweet like a lot of offal is, with an intensely savoury overtone. Texturally it is rather like eating salted butter. It's melt-in-the-mouth and smooth, which is why eating it on toast, with a bit of grape, fig or onion jam is my favorite way. A slice as a garnish on a steak is excellent too.

Several European countries have outlawed the production of foie gras (eg Germany, the United Kingdom). The EU has written guidelines which state that no animal should be fed in such a way as to cause distress or physiological harm and their official view is that although there have been very few properly conducted scientific studies of the issue, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the gavage is detrimental to the ducks' health. France has circumvented this by making a law which declares foie gras to be part of France's cultural and gastronomic heritage and as such, is protected. Bullfighting in Spain is protected under similar legislation, and frankly, I think the days of the gavage, cages and bullfighting are numbered. Foie gras I think will continue, as the industry will be forced to reinvent itself, to use non-forced feeding methods or disappear. It will be like rosé veal taking over from milk veal, and older consumers will grumble but everyone will get used to it and animal welfare will win in the end.