Foie Gras

March 12, 2021
A savory, unctuous delight, foie gras ranks near the top of a gourmet's most prized and coveted gustatory pleasures. Geese have traditionally been the source of these livers, but recently ducks have far surpassed them as a reliable, less seasonal source. Egyptians recorded foie gras production in the third millennium BCE, but now this food is under attack for its alleged cruelty to animals due to force-feeding the birds. Proponents argue that fowls' anatomical structure makes shoving a rubber tube down their gullet not the painful invasion it would be to a human subject, and modern foie gras farms open their barns for inspection regularly. Foie gras appears on dining tables worldwide, especially in China and Hungary, as well as in France. Nevertheless, California and New York have legislated against foie gras, raising chefs' and their customers' ire alike. Kolpas inventories foie gras' appearance in literature (Melville, Maugham), art (Monet), and even music (Rossini). Full color pictures entice, and Kolpas' enthusiasm shines forth throughout, yet, he refrains from belittling foie gras' adversaries.

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