Well, if you make a cult of food, then with all the obsession. How do the French do it. Growing “sacrificial” birds and worshiping their fatty liver. Despite regular attacks by animal defenders …
“Overeating foie gras – what could be worse?” – a smooth-faced Frenchman with the physique of a man desperately balancing on the brink of fitness and gluttony immerses a mug of baguette with a slice of fatty liver in his mouth ( foie gras is translated from French). His companion nods and signs to the seller to make another sandwich. The seller, invisible behind the wall of cans and glass cans with the inscription “foie gras”, hands out to the customers another piece for the sample.
Flavor enhancer
Eight in the morning. A market in the perigorsk town of Sarlat-la-Caneda has just opened to the sound of church bells. For more than 700 years, twice a week, retail stalls have been filling the square in front of the city’s cathedral. In a country where monks have worked for centuries in the forefront of gastronomy and winemaking, food and religion still go hand in hand.
Tradition and conservatism are universal keys to understanding Perigord. In 1790, the Dordogne department was established in the region, but it is impossible to hear the word “Dordogne” on the market. All the best that is on the shelves – necessarily “from Perigord.” Not in any way from this contrived by the Dordogne authorities.
Goat cheese wrapped in wild chestnut leaves, wild boar sausages, black truffles, mountain honey, homemade preserves, liquors and wines infused with perigorsk walnuts – judging by the labels and tags, the unique taste of each product is officially confirmed, and the technology production is directly observed by the French government. And if you listen to sellers who sing the hassles of the unique climate and geography of Perigord, it seems that God’s providence is aimed exclusively at creating special conditions for the production of regional products. First of all foie gras.
Delicious liver stalls occupied the most profitable sections of the square. Pyramids of identical-looking jars glisten in the sun. Buying at random is not worth it. If you choose by price, then for a couple of euros you will not get foie gras, but a tin with goose fat or stuffed duck neck. As in any French market, the main thing is not to rush and listen carefully to the seller. Or French buyers.
“Foie gras is an amplifier of taste, the solemn beginning of a meal. It should be eaten a little bit, – two Frenchmen, tasting different types of liver, methodically move from counter to counter. – I do not understand how it was possible to invent such a dish as Tournedo Rossini. Fried filet mignon, fried foie gras on top, black truffle. So many strong flavors on one plate. Search with gain. However, Rossini was not one of ascetic musicians. ”
Like a holiday
Unlike obese Rossini, chef Jean-Philippe Dupas is fit and athletic. Not so long ago, he began working in St. Petersburg, in the restaurant of the Kempinski Hotel Moika 22.
“Foie gras is heavy artillery,” says Jean-Philippe. – Put the foie gras on the table – and guests, as a rule, will remember the product, but will not pay attention to the kitchen. What a shame for the chef. Anyway, the delicacy is not eaten regularly. Once or twice a year for major events. At Christmas, for example. Because it is a symbol of luxury and celebration. “
Jean-Philippe explains that in French supermarkets you can find cheap duck or goose liver, produced in a large factory, with all the disadvantages of “industrial” food. The “store” liver does not compare with fresh farm foie gras. “It’s like replacing beluga with red caviar. Both that and another – fish caviar. But the taste and, accordingly, the price are completely different. ”
Silently agree. I recently threw a 300-gram package of foie gras into a bin. The liver bought from greed at the sale turned out to be a bar of not the freshest “fat”, which in texture resembles frozen ghee. At the same time, I remember the ecstasy experienced in a restaurant in Bordeaux, where the local chef singed a raw slice of duck liver on the grill, laid it on dried white bread and sprinkled with coarse salt.
“Excellent foie gras is hard to buy, but even harder to sell,” continues Jean-Philippe Dupa. – Not many people are able to evaluate the taste of a noble goose liver according to its value. It seems to me that the most understandable option for a beginner is terrine. Fresh foie gras is tightly packed in a special form, simple spices and good wine are added and cooked in a water bath. This is the most traditional, centuries-tested village method. ”
| HISTORY Until the liverThe history of foie gras can be traced back to 4,500 years ago. The frescoes depicting the habitation process in the Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara (in the mastab Ti) date back to the 24th – 24th centuries BC. e. Ancient Roman politician Cato the Elder in the 2nd century BC e. in the treatise “Agriculture” he compiled written instructions for enhanced feeding of geese. One hundred years later, Horace in the “Satyrs” spoke about the dinner, where they served goose liver, fed with ripe figs. In the first century AD, a fat goose liver soaked in milk with honey was mentioned by Pliny the Elder. It is most likely that after the fall of the Roman Empire, the tradition of delicacy production was preserved by Jews. They migrated from the Western to the Eastern Roman Empire and back to Europe with the crusaders. So the ancient culinary tradition found itself in medieval France, where since the beginning of the Enlightenment, foie gras has become a national product and a symbol of royal luxury. In the 1780s, a foie gras paste recipe appeared, invented, according to legend, by the chef of Marshal Contad in Strasbourg (the same Strasbourg Imperishable Pie mentioned by Pushkin in the novel Eugene Onegin). In 2005, the French National Assembly officially recognized foie gras as “part of the cultural and gastronomic heritage.” |
Goose in corn
Denis and Natalie Maze bird farm is located six kilometers from Sarlat la Caneda. A squat stone house with a red tiled roof is hidden among wheat and corn fields. In the shade of walnut trees, flocks of throated gray geese escape from the heat.
Dressed in summer, Denis meets guests in shorts and a t-shirt with the inscription agricool , which in a free translation means both “agriculture” and “farming is fun.” Denis looks about 50 years old. He is cheerful, cheerful and ready to play a joke on tourists-townspeople every minute.
“Geese are now rare. Everyone grows ducks. Give everyone an easy life. We buy one-day goslings. – Denis points to the furry chicks. – And for a whole month we are afraid to even breathe on them, they are so vulnerable. Those with ducks even manage to carve out a weekend for themselves. With geese you work without rest. To grow and feed this bird, you need one and a half times more time than for a duck. Yes, we live with geese! ”
Denis’ working day starts at 5:00 and ends closer to 21:00. 1000 geese and 500 ducks are raised on a farm per year. This is approximately 1,500 kg foie gras. And also it is meat, fat, fluff and feathers. “We process the whole bird. Everything is involved, except paws and heads. Breasts and legs sluggish, salt, prepare confit. We stuff the necks. Our customers take bird skeletons for broths. We drown fat. It is indispensable for the preparation of many traditional dishes. We send down and feathers to the pillow factory. But, of course, foie gras brings the main income. ”
Geese walk around a spacious green meadow. Large, smooth, satisfied. Denis explains that for most of their life, birds walk free and eat as much as they want. A carefree existence in the Perigorsk bushes lasts about four months. Only in the last two weeks have birds been put on a special diet.
The farmer opens the door of the spacious hangar and shouts: “It’s time for evening habitation!” Geese driven into wooden corrals loudly discuss the past day. Denis climbs over the fence and picks up a special funnel connected to the box, where a mixture of boiled corn and wheat is poured. This device is called “havage”, as is the forced feeding method.
The farmer pinches the goose between the legs, extends the neck of the bird up and with a confident movement puts a long hawk tube into the open beak. The bird is waiting quietly. Denis presses the pedal to feed the nutrient mixture and fills the goose under the neck. All manipulations take less than 10 seconds.
“At the moment we are feeding 150 geese. This is about an hour and a half work. And so three times a day. Good physical activity: you need to hold a strong bird firmly, calm it and massage your neck. My wife, Natalie, is not doing this. I have been doing havoc every day for 30 years now. The process used to be longer. No mechanization. The grain mixture was pushed through the funnel manually. Now everything is simpler, faster and more humane. For both birds and farmers. ”
The modern feeding process is not really intimidating. Unlike what was once described by Alexander Dumas. In the Great Culinary Dictionary, in the chapter Goose Liver, he compares the torment of birds with the torture of the first Christians. And if after reading it you want to switch to the side of vegetarians, then on the Maze farm the opposite is true: at the end of the tour, tourists buy appetizing farm products. Packing jars of foie gras, Denis says the usual mantra: “No additives, no growth accelerators. So my grandmother, my great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother grew geese. ”
Rational approach
In order to get the highest degree of quality (and the highest price on the market), goose liver must gain at least 680 grams. The gold standard on the Denis Maze farm is 800–900 grams. In a normal state, an organ weighs about a hundred. It is not difficult to understand why some countries, including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, officially prohibit the production of foie gras on their territory, considering the habitation to be too cruel to animals.
“Bringing human sensations to birds is unscientific,” says Elsbeth Sites, science journalist, nutritionist, and biologist. – Unlike mammals, geese and ducks do not have cartilaginous rings in the upper segment of the esophagus. Therefore, they easily swallow bulk production. In addition, they have the so-called false goiter, in which food is stored and partially processed before being sent to the stomach. Thanks to this, the birds successfully cope with a large amount of fiber. “
As for the unpleasant sensations during havage, they, according to Elsbeth, are not experienced by birds, but rather by those people who observe feeding. Unlike humans, geese and ducks have a completely separate trachea and esophagus from each other, which means that there is no painful reflex to the havage funnel. “Often animal defenders call foie gras pathology, which is not true. Pathology – fatty liver in humans. And in migratory birds this is a natural supply of energy necessary for long migrations. ”
At least 4,500 years ago, this phenomenon was appreciated by the Egyptians. Forced feeding scenes of geese can be seen on frescoes in the tombs of Saqqara.
“With regard to the suffering of migratory birds in confined spaces,” Elsbeth continues, “this is a myth. In France, the main breed for foie gras production is mulard duck. A hybrid bred from musk duck and peking duck. Mulards adopted two main features from both breeds: they do not know how to fly and gain weight well. Therefore, they feel great on the farm. “
It’s just delicious
“Call us cruel, but when I eat foie gras for Christmas, I don’t think about the production process. It is just delicious! If we compare the existence of ordinary chickens, who ended their days in a supermarket, and perigorsk ducks, then these ducks live very well. And at least twice as long as birds intended for everyday food. ”
Eric Durand, a philologist from Toulouse, who came to Sarlat for a vacation, pronounces a tirade. The same Frenchman who talked about the gastronomic predilections of the composer Rossini. I met Eric at the market.
On Eric’s recommendation (“They’ve been making foie gras for more than a century!”), I drop in Pelegri’s shop, a hundred meters north of the market at the city’s cathedral. In a small store, shelves are filled with already familiar jars. Pale yellow livers of impressive sizes are stacked in the display case, like precious stones.
Emmanuelle, a representative of the fifth generation of the Pelegri family, who produces foie gras, hands me two pieces of baguette. One with goose liver, the other with duck.
“To understand what foie gras you like,” says Emmanuel, “you have to try. Someone needs a clean taste, a delicate liver that has undergone minimal heat treatment. Then your choice is a whole foie gras or block. Whole foie gras – the liver as it is. Usually it is immersed in goose or duck fat and cooked at a very low temperature for 30-40 minutes. The block recipe was invented not so long ago, in the 1950s. Today it is one of the most popular formats. Pieces of the liver, together with water, salt and pepper, are whipped into a creamy emulsion. Then they are pressed into a block and also cooked at a low temperature.
The block is similar to a gentle uniform paste with a silk and dense texture. For all its “density”, it instantly melts in the tongue, leaving a rich aftertaste.
“There is a simplified version,” says Emmanuel, “when the pieces of foie gras are mashed, mixed with duck meat and made mousse. According to the law, the minimum content of gourmet liver in the mousse is only 30%. But it is much more affordable. ”
In the past, foie gras was a seasonal product. Poultry was slaughtered in the fall and canned meat and liver to preserve food for the winter. Hence the tradition of buying foie gras for the Christmas table.
“Before, we mainly sold foie gras in the form of terrine, paste. Now more and more French people buy fresh liver and cook it on their own. I find these changes for the better. Although, of course, the recipes only seem simple. There are a lot of tricks. The feeling of the product, the ability to work with it, not to spoil the delicate taste – this is something like sacred knowledge transmitted from generation to generation. I know what I’m talking about. Our family has been working with foie gras since 1890. ”
A strange medieval building with massive walls rises directly opposite Pelegri’s store. Giant arched doors are open, inside showcases with bird carcasses are visible. The sign in front of the entrance says that this is a former church of the XIV century. Deprived of religious status after the French Revolution, she visited a bakery, a wood warehouse and a post office. In 2001, the city ordered the renowned architect Jean Nouvel to rebuild the church into a modern indoor market. There are fewer tourists. But more sellers of foie gras and poultry. For them, the cool church building is much better suited than the sunlit street stalls of the historic market.
Under the high vaulted ceilings, the voices of the sellers sound solemn and echoing. Like at the Mass. “Gute! Gute! – comes from arched Gothic openings. – Try it! Give it a try! The best foie gras in Perigord! Divine taste! ”
Фото: HEMIS / LEGION-MEDIA (X8), ISTOCK, SIME, GETTY IMAGES (X2)
