Thanks for all of the responses and the clarification on different preparations. If I get the opportunity I might try it stateside at a Frech restaurant just to get an idea of what it is like.

Who cares about health, eating this delicacy even once a week in moderate quantities will not kill you, so if you have it once every year there are no side effects!

Alison 1,

thanks for the article about how the foie gras is produced.

The poster that said that ducks and geese love to be fed this ways, should read this articles.
It is not fun to have a funnel stuck in your mouth and be forced fed three times a days, with half kilog. of food..
It is a free country, or a CHACUN SON GOUT , but i CAN STAY WITHOUT fOIE GRAS..

CMT: I think it was primarily aquatic birds that were the least concern (geese, ducks), then chicken (which was ok, but not as "healthy" as goose or duck liver). I don't remember the details or the reasons why (enzymes, whatever). Sorry! But I do remember he said that calf's liver was unhealthy and should be eaten only on occasion.
I don't like foie gras that much...and the only pates I really like are a game pate (served in winter) or a chicken mousse with almonds.

I am not an animal rights activist or fanatic, but I am a sensitive person, and I recently saw footage on CNN of a goose being force-fed on a farm in california. It was thoroughly disturbing. Footage was captured of farmers shoving metal pipes down the throat of a goose and then pouring the feed into the pipe via a funnel. This is why there are people trying to ban the sale of the products. Now, I am sure that it is not always made this way, and I can understand that it could be a natural process for the birds to gorge themselves when they are preparing for a long journey, but the image of a writhing animal with a pipe down it's throat for my culinary pleasure did not make me feel very good about enabling and encouraging those greedy farmers that utilize such unpleasant techniques. I will not eat foie gras unless I know it has come from a more regulated means, that's just my gut reaction, and I bet if you could see the same video you would agree.

Whilst I enjoy Foie Gras I agree it is cruel. The birds are force fed, this is the only way to achieve the end product so the cruelty aspect will never go away. However, if it's on the menu, the goose has already died so if no one eats it, it has died in vain.

You would now argue, "if people don't order it then the market will become smaller and cruelty less widespread", and yes, in theory this would happen, but people don't give up things they enjoy that easily!

BTilke: I think there must be some interesting reason behind this. I have no science background, so I don't have enough knowledge at the moment to give me good leads to figuring this out, though I have the vague feeling that the protective function of oils in the body of aquatic animals must have something to do with it.

I never liked calves' livers. As a child I used to like pork liver, as prepared by my grandmother, but I never see it available these days. I even asked a pork butcher at the farmers' market, but they don't sell the livers. They have pork everything, and piggie tschochkas all over their cabinets, but they must have liverless pigs? Maybe the livers are sold to pet food manufacturers. (Anyway, I'm sure pigs' livers are not among those that are good for you.)

I'll try to be polite and not to ridicule, but this conversation about the <i>possible</i> adverse effects of eating ANY particular food - -<i>infrequently</i> is quite comical to me.

Even on a <i>population</i> basis it is barely possible to make <i>broad</i> statement about consuming specific foods and health consequences, even when eaten regularly (i.e., multiple times weekly). It's not a whole lot different even for specific individuals with specific health/medical circumstances.

If there is any effect of eating foie gras once a year, it surely cannot be measured. I would liken it to the health consequences of spending an extra five minutes per year in an automobile.

Thank you, Rex.

Rex, CMT, et al, the cardiologist spoke to me over dinner, not in a lecture (although he was lecturing at the meeting but not on that subject).
I have not eaten foie gras for a year because I simply don't LIKE it that much, not because I have *any* concerns that eating it regularly (as just one part of a balanced diet) would cause health problems.

Rex,
Well stated. Moderation trumps extremism in both philosophy and practice.

Regarding the alleged &quot;torture&quot; of gavage feeding, it is interesting to note that this is the preferred method for feeding premature human infants.

I'll be in Beynac, Perigord in 2 weeks. My mouth is already watering in anticipation.

Erik

NASTY nasty NASTY

Rex, I, too, will &quot;try to be polite and not ridicule,&quot; but maybe you had a little trouble following the gist of some of the posts on this thread and were incorrectly assuming thast the posteers discussing an interesting and puzzling scientific question were all a bunch of worriers. I do not see many people on this thread, if any,who seem truly worried about damaging their health by eating foie gras once a year. Some of us were, however, discussing whether and why it does NOT have the same artery-clogging effects as eating mammalian livers?whether it?s some chemical property of aquatic animals? fat that is actually beneficial, or whether it is just the accompanying red wine that cancels out the damaging effects of the fat. We are aware of studies showing a low incidence of heart and arterial disease among residents of the Dordogne, who routinely cook with duck and goose fat and who probably eat foie gras a lot more often than once a year. To those of us who are simply curious about nature and the human body and other living things, rather than finicky worriers, it is an interesting question whether the fat of birds, or of aquatic birds specifically, may have some chemical properties similar to fish fat.

I did not read back far enough to see that your later posts/questions were focused on what you mentioned in your earlier post: the possible connection between diet and a lower incidence of CV disease in southwest France. So, in the interim, I have read up on some of the <i>epidemiologic</i> studies which have tried to speculate on this apparent phenomenon.

As Sempronia has mentioned, the focus has been primarily on wines as a beneficial dietary component - - <i>in spite of</i> a high <i>animal</i> fat dietary intake - - duck, goose AND pork (plus higher consumption of coconut oil - - this was/is news to me) in southwest France. It would be a far stretch to even speculate that the lipids or nutrients of duck/goose <i>liver</i> might be the source of any such benefits. After all, this lower incidence is not <i>lower than</i> other populations who choose a primarily &quot;Mediterranean&quot; diet (much more olive-oil based) - - the &quot;paradox&quot; (if it exists at all) is that there is not a <i>higher</i> incidence of CV disease in people with high duck/goose/pork fat dietary intake.

But these studies have scarcely begun to dissect factors which may have only partial relationships to diet. In fact, I have not seen any data comparing incidences of CV disease when matching for obesity, active/sedentary patterns, hyperlipidemias and smoking. I just don't know, nor do I think that the data have been examined. These same incidence differences seem to be present for the incidence of Alzhemier's disease, interestingly enough.

The &quot;fish oils&quot; story does not merely involve blood lipids, but also factors that influence production and relative levels of various prostaglandins (affect platelet function, vascular physiology and <i>so, so<i> much more). I cannot find anything to suggest that duck/goose fat, or duck/goose liver have similar properties.

These stories have not completely unfolded, as far as I can tell.

And I did not mean to imply that your tone was &quot;lecture-y&quot;, BTilke, nor your dinner companion's. I hope mine wasn't either.
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I'm not sure whether any of the posts above have mentioned that duck and goose fat is thought to be high in monounsaturated fat (the so-called &quot;good&quot; fat like that contained in olive oil). This would help to explain the low incidence of heart disease in areas where duck and goose fats are used extensively in cooking.

There's quite an interesting article on the topic here: http://www.evalu8.org/staticpage?pag...mp;siteid=5847

I agree with Kismet...

Because of the way these animals are treated I wouldn't let one morsel of foie gras pass my lips. The whole process is barbaric.

Yes. Lightly aauteed, on toast with a good wine. (I am by my definition a carnivore and I am not going to split hairs about the way geese are treated, calves, lambs, chickens...etc. And, I'll wear leather.)
Except, of course, if Sir Paul comes into my life... (still holding on to THAT dream since I was 12 years old...sheesh!)

I read recently, I think in a Cadogan guide, that the gavage offended the Nazis' tender sensibilities and that they banned it in occupied France. As a result, foie gras became a symbol of the Resistance. On the other hand, one can hardly imagine Hermann Goering forgoing such a delicacy.

If you can find it, rendered goose fat is absolutely the best for oven-roasted potatoes.

To Madison and Miss_emery,

It is a good feeling to know that there are compassionate people in this Forum..

I felt the same way when I saw the special and watched these poor beasts wiggles with pain..
I adore Foie gras, but I cant enjoy it anymore..