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Foie gras
Foie gras (lit. 'fat liver'; French: [fwa ɡʁɑ] ⓘ, English: /ˌfwɑːˈɡrɑː/ ⓘ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding).
Foie gras is a delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavour is rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike an ordinary duck or goose liver. It is sold whole or is prepared as mousse, parfait, or pâté, and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak. French law states, "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France."
The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began confining anatid birds to be forcedly fed to be fattened as a food source. Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though there are producers and markets worldwide, particularly in other European nations, the United States, and China.
Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due mainly to animal welfare concerns about force-feeding, intensive housing and husbandry, and enlarging the liver to 10 times its usual volume. Several countries and jurisdictions have laws against force-feeding and the production, import, or sale of foie gras.
As early as 2500 BC, the ancient Egyptians learned that many birds could be fattened through forced overfeeding and began this practice. Whether they particularly sought the fattened livers of birds as a delicacy remains undetermined. In the necropolis of Saqqara, in the tomb of Mereruka, an important royal official, there is a bas relief scene wherein workers grasp geese around the necks to push food down their throats. Tables are positioned to one side, piled with food pellets and a flask for moistening them before feeding the geese.
The practice of goose fattening spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean. The earliest reference to fattened geese is from the 5th-century BC Greek poet Cratinus, who wrote of geese-fatteners, yet Egypt maintained its reputation as the source for fattened geese. When the Spartan king Agesilaus visited Egypt in 361 BC, he noted that Egyptian farmers fattened geese and calves.
It was not until the Roman period, however, that foie gras is mentioned as a distinct food, which the Romans named iecur ficatum; iecur means liver, and ficatum derives from ficus, meaning fig in Latin. The emperor Elagabalus fed his dogs foie gras during the four years of his reign. Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) credits his contemporary Roman gastronome Marcus Gavius Apicius with feeding dried figs to geese to enlarge their livers:
"Apicius made the discovery that we may employ the same artificial method of increasing the size of the liver of the sow, as of that of the goose; it consists in cramming them with dried figs, and when they are fat enough, they are drenched with wine mixed with honey and immediately killed."
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Foie gras
Foie gras (lit. 'fat liver'; French: [fwa ɡʁɑ] ⓘ, English: /ˌfwɑːˈɡrɑː/ ⓘ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose. According to French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by gavage (force feeding).
Foie gras is a delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavour is rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike an ordinary duck or goose liver. It is sold whole or is prepared as mousse, parfait, or pâté, and may also be served as an accompaniment to another food item, such as steak. French law states, "Foie gras belongs to the protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France."
The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began confining anatid birds to be forcedly fed to be fattened as a food source. Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though there are producers and markets worldwide, particularly in other European nations, the United States, and China.
Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due mainly to animal welfare concerns about force-feeding, intensive housing and husbandry, and enlarging the liver to 10 times its usual volume. Several countries and jurisdictions have laws against force-feeding and the production, import, or sale of foie gras.
As early as 2500 BC, the ancient Egyptians learned that many birds could be fattened through forced overfeeding and began this practice. Whether they particularly sought the fattened livers of birds as a delicacy remains undetermined. In the necropolis of Saqqara, in the tomb of Mereruka, an important royal official, there is a bas relief scene wherein workers grasp geese around the necks to push food down their throats. Tables are positioned to one side, piled with food pellets and a flask for moistening them before feeding the geese.
The practice of goose fattening spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean. The earliest reference to fattened geese is from the 5th-century BC Greek poet Cratinus, who wrote of geese-fatteners, yet Egypt maintained its reputation as the source for fattened geese. When the Spartan king Agesilaus visited Egypt in 361 BC, he noted that Egyptian farmers fattened geese and calves.
It was not until the Roman period, however, that foie gras is mentioned as a distinct food, which the Romans named iecur ficatum; iecur means liver, and ficatum derives from ficus, meaning fig in Latin. The emperor Elagabalus fed his dogs foie gras during the four years of his reign. Pliny the Elder (1st century AD) credits his contemporary Roman gastronome Marcus Gavius Apicius with feeding dried figs to geese to enlarge their livers:
"Apicius made the discovery that we may employ the same artificial method of increasing the size of the liver of the sow, as of that of the goose; it consists in cramming them with dried figs, and when they are fat enough, they are drenched with wine mixed with honey and immediately killed."