We said, “Write about the implications of grass.” Levi, as always, went in a surprising direction: foie gras. (Note: “gras” does NOT mean grass, but “fat.”) Foie gras is a highly contentious cuisine. Levi thinks he’s found a guilt-free way of tasting the delicacy.
By Junior Levi Kassinove
Have you heard of foie gras? “Foie gras” is French for fatty liver. If you’ve heard of it but don’t like it because it’s unethically produced, then I have good news for you. There exists ethical foie gras, where the geese frolic about a pasture eating acorns, olives, and grass. If you don’t know what foie gras is, then why are you even here?
Foie gras is fattened goose (or rarely, duck) liver. Typically, it is produced year-round in factories by shoving metal tubes down the throats of geese and force feeding them (sentientmedia.org). And, they are forbidden from exercising. This force feeding of stationary geese can fatten the liver to 10 times its normal volume (npr.org). If you read my wagyu article, you’d know that the more fat involved, the better flavor and texture. Unsurprisingly, because of the name, this is a product of France. However, in Spain there exists two men by the names of Eduardo Sousa and Diego Labourdette who have a farm that produces foie gras…ethically (npr.org).
How do they do it?
As I said earlier, these geese are not force fed. They roam free, eating–of their own free will–olives, acorns and whatever else they desire. Naturally, the geese fatten themselves up during the beginning of the winter to prepare for their annual Southward migration (a-z-animals.com). We all know, though, that the geese will not be making their Southward migration. They will instead be “sacrificed” on a “night of the new moon” when their livers are the fattest (Eduardo Sousa, npr.org). In an interview with NPR, Sousa revealed that before they kill the geese, they “paralyze them with flashlights.” After the geese are hypnotized, they are swiftly and painlessly killed with a knife. The rest of the goose is used for various other products such as meals of duck leg and duck breast (npr.org).
What does this ethically-raised foie gras taste like?
Usually, foie gras barely tastes like liver because it is so fatty, but this liver tastes like liver. While I cannot personally vouch for its flavor, James Beard award-winning chef Dan Barber said it was “the best foie gras of my life” (npr.org). Taking on the flavors of what they eat, the foie gras would probably have a deep, earthly flavor with notes of acorns, olives, and whatever else the geese choose to eat.
How to buy it?
Because only a handful of geese are slaughtered every year, Sousa’s foie gras is extremely difficult to obtain. You can find the foie gras on their website (lapateria.eu/) for €200 per 180g. It is currently sold out, but I will try to get my hands on it and report back this winter!