27 Facts About Foie gras

Foie gras is a specialty food product made of the liver of a duck or goose.

Foie gras is a popular and well-known delicacy in French cuisine.

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due mainly to the animal welfare concerns about force-feeding, intensive housing and husbandry, and enlarging the liver to 10 times its usual volume.

Properly broiling a foie gras while preserving its delicate taste is difficult, and therefore rarely practised.

The European Union recognizes the foie gras produced according to traditional farming methods in southwestern France with a protected geographical indication.

Related searches

In France, foie gras exists in different, legally defined presentations, ordered by expense:.

Whole, fresh foie gras is usually unavailable in France outside the Christmas period, except in some producers' markets in the producing regions.

Whole foie gras is readily available from gourmet retailers in Canada, the United States, Hungary, Argentina and regions with a sizeable market for the product.

In US, raw foie gras is classified as Grade A, B or C Grade A is typically the highest in fat and especially suited for low-temperature preparation, because the veins are relatively few and the resulting terrine will be more aesthetically appealing because it displays little blood.

Goose breeds used in modern foie gras production are primarily the grey Landes goose and the Toulouse goose.

Basis of foie gras production is the ability that some waterfowl have to expand their esophagus and to gain weight, particularly in the liver, in preparation for migration.

Typical foie gras production involves force-feeding birds more food than they would eat in the wild, and much more than they would voluntarily eat domestically.

Ducks reared for foie gras are typically slaughtered at 100 days of age and geese at 112 days.

The products of Foie gras Royale are being used by several Michelin star chefs throughout the world.

In other parts of the world foie gras is served in dishes such as foie gras sushi rolls, in various forms of pasta or alongside steak tartare or atop a steak as a garnish.

Hot foie gras requires minimal spices; typically black pepper, paprika and salt.

Chefs have used fleur de sel as a gourmet seasoning for hot foie gras to add an "important textural accent" with its crunch.

Duck foie gras is the slightly cheaper and, since a change of production methods in the 1950s to battery, by far the most common kind, particularly in the US.

The taste of duck foie gras is often referred to as musky with a subtle bitterness.

Goose foie gras is noted for being less gamey and smoother, with a more delicate flavor.

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial due to the animal welfare consequences of the force-feeding procedure, intensive housing and husbandry, an enlarged liver and the potential for being detrimental to human health.

Production of foie gras occurs on the argument that migrating wildfowl seasonally eat such that their liver naturally enlarges.

However, the bird used predominantly in foie gras production is a hybrid of a male Muscovy duck and a female Pekin duck.

The AVMA when considering foie gras production stated "The relatively new Mulard breed used in foie gras production seems to be more prone than its parent breeds to fear of people".

The relatively new Mulard breed used in foie gras production seems more prone to developing lesions in the area of the sternum when kept in small cages, and to bone breakage during transport and slaughter.

Related searches

Controversial nature of foie gras production was identified in a paper that juxtaposed the views of "foie gras production as the apotheosis of murderous meat production, and those who consider it to be a co-production between humans and animals".

In 2017, foie gras production was banned in Brussels, a largely symbolic measure because of the small number of producers within the city limits.