This typical French delicacy is a fatty pâté made with the dilated livers of ducks, geese and teals. In order for the organ to become hyper-developed, the birds are subjected to a confined life and forced feeding, which generates protests from groups of ecologists around the world. Germany, Italy, Israel and Great Britain have even banned the food. The tradition of foie gras is ancient: there are records that Egyptians and Romans already produced it, feeding their birds with figs for six months. Today, a fatty feed is used, usually consumed by ducks – which are cheaper than goose and mallards and have the natural capacity to accumulate fat, as they are migratory birds and need to store energy.
PWATCHING THE DUCK
In its last days, the bird eats until its liver grows 12 times larger.
1. In general, ducks of the mulard breed are used (result of the crossing between the Peking duck and the mallard). For the first 100 days they eat corn and are free range. Afterwards, it’s time to go to confinement, which facilitates fattening.
two. Some breeders maintain artificial lighting so that the animal stays awake (and therefore eating) longer. There are two doses of feed per day, for a period of ten days to four weeks. Often, the goroba is injected through a tube that goes straight into the esophagus, attached to the neck by a ring.
3. The animal’s liver gains a certain bitterness when trying to metabolize the excesses of the diet. Hyperstimulated, he grows up to 12 times his normal size – with fat corresponding to 65% of his weight. In the end, a duck’s organ can reach 0.5 kg. That of a goose, up to 2 kg.
4. With just over four months, the animal is ready for slaughter. The liver became a semi-solid mass, soft and pale in color. There are those who prefer to eat it freshly removed from the animal. It can also be sliced or boiled and served cold.
The feed is made up of a lot of carbohydrates, coming from corn starch, as well as pork and goose fat.
SOURCES Agrivert, Villa Germânia and Comida & Cozinha, by Harold McGeeok