Foie gras

• 1. Introduction

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  Foie gras, the liver of a fattened duck or goose, appears on a stone wall at Saqqara in Egypt. In the tomb of Mereruka, an important royal official, a bas-relief shows workers gripping geese by the neck while pushing food down their throats. Nearby, tables hold piles of food pellets and a flask for moistening them. The practice on display is called gavage, and it dates back at least to 2500 BC. Whether the Egyptians wanted the enlarged livers as a delicacy remains undetermined. From that uncertain beginning, the technique led to a dish prized across Europe and forbidden in several places today. How did a farmyard method from a royal official's tomb travel to Roman banquets, medieval ghettos and French royal courts? What actually happens to a duck during its final weeks? And why does a rich, buttery delicacy provoke such sharp disagreement?

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• 2. The Roman Fig Liver

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  The Greek poet Cratinus, writing in the 5th century BC, left the earliest known reference to fattened geese, mentioning people who fatten them. Egypt still held the reputation as the true source. When the Spartan king Agesilaus visited in 361 BC, he noticed that Egyptian farmers fattened both geese and calves.

  The Romans were the first to treat the liver as a distinct food, and they called it iecur ficatum. Iecur means liver, while ficatum comes from ficus, the Latin word for fig. The name points straight to the recipe.

  Pliny the Elder, writing in the 1st century AD, credits the gastronome Marcus Gavius Apicius with the discovery. Apicius fed dried figs to geese to enlarge their livers. Pliny describes the method as "cramming them with dried figs", then drenching the birds in wine mixed with honey before killing them. Apicius applied the same trick to the sow. The fig-feeding itself may derive from Hellenistic Alexandria, since much Roman luxury cuisine took its inspiration from Greece.

  The emperor Elagabalus, during the four years of his reign, fed foie gras to his dogs. Ficatum became so closely tied to the organ that it turned into the root word for liver in several languages. Those words are foie in French, hígado in Spanish, fígado in Portuguese, fegato in Italian, fetge in Catalan and Occitan, and ficat in Romanian. Scholars have explained this etymology in different ways.

  After the fall of the Roman empire, however, goose liver temporarily vanished from European cuisine.

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• 3. Kosher Kitchens

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  Hans Wilhelm Kirchhof of Kassel wrote in 1562 that the Jews raise fat geese and are especially fond of their livers. His remark supports one explanation of how the practice survived in Europe. Some people claim Gallic farmers kept the tradition alive, yet the food animals of the medieval French peasant were mainly pigs and sheep. Others credit Jewish communities, who learned to enlarge a goose's liver during the Roman colonisation of Judea, or earlier from the Egyptians, and carried that knowledge north and west.

  Lard was the widely available cooking fat in Western and Central Europe, but Judaic dietary law, kashrut, forbids it completely because it comes from an animal considered unclean. Butter was not forbidden in itself. It could not accompany meat, though, because kashrut also bars mixing meat and dairy. Olive oil served Jews in the Mediterranean and sesame oil served them in Babylonia, but neither was easy to find farther north. Poultry fat, known in Yiddish as schmaltz, filled the gap, and overfed geese produced it in abundance.

  Some rabbis worried that eating a forcibly overfed goose broke the food restrictions. Others argued the liver was not treyf, a forbidden food, because none of the bird's limbs were damaged and the geese felt no pain in their throats. The question stayed debated until the Jewish taste for goose liver declined in the 19th century.

  A second kashrut problem persists today. Even properly slaughtered meat must be drained of blood, and salting usually does the job. The liver, however, is regarded as almost wholly blood, so broiling is the only way to make it kosher. Broiling while keeping the delicate taste is difficult and rarely practised, though some restaurants in Israel offer grilled goose foie gras. The dish also resembles chopped liver, a Jewish staple.

  Gastronomes outside the Jewish community soon took notice, and they could buy the livers in the local Jewish ghettos of their cities. In 1570 Bartolomeo Scappi, chef to Pope Pius V, published his cookbook Opera. He wrote that a domestic goose liver raised by the Jews was "of extreme size", weighing between two and three pounds.

  In 1581 Marx Rumpolt of Mainz, chef to several German nobles, published the massive Ein Neu Kochbuch. He reported that the Jews of Bohemia produced livers of more than three pounds, and he included a recipe for goose liver mousse. János Keszei, chef at the court of Michael Apafi, prince of Transylvania, followed in 1680 with A New Book About Cooking. His instructions were to wrap the liver in a calf's thin skin, bake it, and serve it with a green or brown sauce. He added that he had used Bohemian-fattened liver of over three pounds.

  Roughly a century after Keszei, a French chef would give the liver its most famous form.

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• 4. France and Its Rivals

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  Under Louis XV and Louis XVI, foie gras took its place in French culinary tradition, served at royal courts as a symbol of luxury and refinement. In 1779 the chef Jean-Joseph Clause created pâté de foie gras. His innovation earned a patent in 1784, and he built a business supplying the French aristocracy. By the early 19th century Strasbourg was known as the "goose-liver capital of the world".

  After the French Revolution, the dish moved from the exclusive royal table to the middle class. Production became tied to Southwest France, in regions such as Dordogne and Alsace, and over 90% of French producers now sit in the Dordogne Valley. French law declares that foie gras belongs to the "protected cultural and gastronomical heritage of France." The town of Sarlat celebrates it at the Fest'Oie, and families enjoy it on holidays and special occasions.

  Around 30,000 people work in the French foie gras industry. The European Union recognizes foie gras made by traditional farming methods in southwestern France, under the label rouge, with a protected geographical indication.

  In 2005 France produced 18,450 tonnes, which was 78.5% of an estimated world total of 23,500 tonnes. Duck liver made up 96% of the French output and goose liver the other 4%. French consumption that year reached 19,000 tonnes, slightly more than the country produced.

  Hungary ranks as the world's largest exporter and, in most years, the second-largest producer. Its foie gras goes mainly raw to France, where food companies season, process and cook it so that it sells as a French product. About 30,000 Hungarian goose farmers depend on the trade.

  Bulgaria began production in 1960. By 2011 it raised five million mule ducks for foie gras on 800 farms. In the 2020 figures, Bulgaria produced 2,752 tonnes, ahead of Hungary with 2,147, while France made 14,266 tonnes. That was 63.7% of a world total of 22,409 tonnes. China has also become a sizeable producer because of demand in the Far East, and Madagascar is a small but rapidly growing source of high-quality foie gras.

  The late 1980s brought a jolt, when the Chernobyl disaster sent radioactive clouds over France and Hungary, then the large producers. Northeast Spain started its own local foie gras industry in their stead.

  In late 2015, several outbreaks of the highly contagious H5N1 bird flu struck France and escalated in 2016. Algeria, China, Egypt, Japan, Morocco, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia banned French poultry exports, foie gras included. The new biosecurity protocols cost an estimated 220 million euros, and production in southwestern France halted from early April 2016 for an expected three months. Exports were forecast to fall from 4,560 tonnes in 2015 to 3,160 in 2016.

  That same year, foie gras could retail for upwards of $65 a pound.

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• 5. How It Is Made

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  In 2014, ducks accounted for 95% of foie gras production. The Muscovy duck, also called the Barbary duck, is one source. The other is the Mulard, a hybrid of a male Muscovy and a female Pekin duck. The hybrid is sterile, so it is sometimes called a "mule" duck. About 95% of French duck foie gras comes from force-fed Mulards, and Mulards account for roughly 35% of all foie gras eaten in the United States.

  Geese were once the traditional source, but by 2004 they supplied less than 10% of global production. By 2014 they supplied only 5% of French production. Modern goose foie gras comes mainly from the grey Landes goose and the Toulouse goose. In 2016, Hungary produced 80% of the world's goose foie gras.

  After hatching, Mulard ducklings are sexed. Males put on more weight than females, so the females are slaughtered. A newer method identifies the sex of the duck inside the egg, based on eye colour. It is expected to replace the slaughter of females within a few years.

  The whole idea rests on a trait of some waterfowl. Before migration, they can expand the esophagus and gain weight, particularly in the liver. Yet the Mulard and Muscovy ducks cannot fly well and so do not migrate.

  The first stage of rearing, called start-up, runs from 1 to 28 days of age. Young birds live indoors in large groups, for example 2,100 together, usually on straw. From 28 to 63 days, the growth stage moves them outside to graze on grasses, with extra feed available for limited periods. This stage aims to use the natural stretching capacity of the esophagus. From 63 to 81 days, the pre-fattening stage brings them indoors for longer periods and introduces a high-starch diet in meals.

  The French call the final phase gavage, or finition d'engraissement, which means completion of fattening. Ducks are force-fed for 10 to 12 days, 10.5 on average, usually twice a day. Geese are force-fed for 15 to 18 days, usually three times a day. Ducks spend this phase in elevated collective cages indoors, elevated collective pens indoors, or ground pens indoors. Individual cages, called épinettes in French, have been banned in Europe.

  Feed amounts climb from about 250 grams of dry weight per day at the start to as much as 1000 grams at the end. Water is added, and for pellets the mixture is about 53% dry and 47% liquid. That equals around 1,900 grams of total mass per day. The feed is usually corn boiled with fat to ease swallowing.

  The feed travels through a funnel fitted with a metal or plastic tube, 20 to 30 centimetres long. With an auger, a feeding takes 45 to 60 seconds. Modern systems use a pneumatic pump that finishes in 2 to 3 seconds per duck.

  Ducks are typically slaughtered at 100 days of age, or around 93 days under shortened modern methods. Geese are typically slaughtered at 112 days. By then the liver is 6 to 10 times its ordinary size, with fat stored inside the liver cells in a condition called steatosis.

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• 6. On the Plate

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  French law sorts foie gras into tiers, listed here by expense. The top tier is foie gras entier, made of one or two whole liver lobes and sold cuit (cooked), mi-cuit (semi-cooked) or frais (fresh). Next comes plain foie gras, made of liver pieces reassembled together. Below that is bloc de foie gras, a fully cooked, moulded block of 98% or more foie gras. If a bloc is labelled avec morceaux, meaning with pieces, it must contain at least 50% foie gras pieces for goose and 30% for duck.

  Pâté de foie gras and mousse de foie gras must each contain 50% or more foie gras. Parfait de foie gras must contain at least 75%. Other preparations carry no legal requirement. Fully cooked products travel in glass jars or metal cans for long-term preservation. Whole fresh foie gras is usually unavailable in France outside Christmas, except in producers' markets in the producing regions.

  In the United States, raw foie gras is graded A, B or C. Grade A is highest in fat and has relatively few veins, so it suits low-temperature terrines that show little blood. Grade B has more protein and holds its structure when seared. Grade C livers go into sauces and other dishes where blood-filled veins do not spoil the look.

  Duck and goose differ at the table. Duck foie gras tastes musky with a subtle bitterness, while goose is described as less gamey, smoother and more delicate. Goose melts fat faster, so French cooks traditionally prepare it over low heat. That produces terrines, pâtés, parfaits, foams and mousses, often flavoured with truffle, mushrooms, cognac or armagnac, and served at or below room temperature.

  In the very traditional terrine au torchon, meaning in a towel, a whole lobe is moulded, wrapped in a towel and slow-cooked in a bain-marie. The cook may first sear it briefly over burning grape vine clippings, called sarments, for the Maillard reaction. Afterward it is pressed and served cold in slices. Raw foie gras can also be cured in salt, known as cru au sel, and served slightly chilled.

  Hot preparations have grown in the United States, France and elsewhere. Duck foie gras has slightly less fat and holds up better to high heat. Chefs have learned to cook goose with similar techniques, with more care. Because the fat melts so easily, contact with heat must be brief and fierce. For searing, the liver should be cut 15 to 25 millimetres thick, leaving a rare center. Many cooks sear only one side. Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck first flash-freezes foie gras in liquid nitrogen.

  Hot foie gras needs little seasoning, typically black pepper and salt, with paprika in Hungary. Some chefs finish it with fleur de sel for an "important textural accent". Hungarian cooks traditionally fry goose foie gras in goose fat, pour the fat over it and let it cool, and some smoke it over a cherry wood fire. Elsewhere it turns up in sushi rolls, in pasta, beside steak tartare and on top of a steak.

  A pastry of fatty goose liver and other ingredients is known as the Strasburg pie, after the city that produced so much foie gras. William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair mentions it as popular with the diplomatic corps. T. S. Eliot's poem "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" says "And you might now and then supply/Some caviar or Strasbourg pie". In Patrick O'Brian's 1988 novel The Letter of Marque, Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin enjoy one together.

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• 7. The Welfare Evidence

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  A report from an EU committee noted that, up to 1998, only a small number of scientific studies had examined the welfare of birds used for foie gras. Even so, the committee found enough evidence to conclude that "force-feeding, as currently practised, is detrimental to the welfare of the birds". One paper framed the divide as a contrast between those who see foie gras as the apotheosis of murderous meat production and those who see a co-production between humans and animals.

  Fear is one measured response. Geese and ducks show avoidance behaviour toward the person who feeds them and toward the procedure. The animal welfare division of the AVMA observed that the relatively new Mulard breed seems more prone than its parent breeds to fear of people. The EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare saw this aversion in 1998, though it said there was no conclusive scientific evidence on how aversive force-feeding is.

  That same committee reported usually clear tissue damage in the esophagus of gavage-fed birds, although one 1972 study found no alteration. More recent work shows the esophagus can be injured or inflamed. Researchers have also found inflammation in the proventriculus after the first force-feeding session, and in the esophagus in later stages. A study of male Mulard ducks found that acute stress was similar at the beginning and end of commercial production. In Muscovy ducks, gavage feeding was linked to more panting and higher serum corticosterone levels.

  Housing draws criticism too. During force-feeding, birds are kept in individual cages with wire or plastic mesh floors, or sometimes in small groups on slatted floors. Such cages stop birds from standing erect, turning around or flapping their wings, and they prevent bathing, swimming and contact with other birds. A 2023 report from the European food safety authority found that even the collective cages and pens in use in Europe do not give enough space for natural behaviour. Between feedings the birds are sometimes kept in near-darkness. At the end of 2015, France prohibited individual cages, replacing them with cages of 4 to 5 birds.

  Body damage shows up in the numbers. Sternum lesions from skin necrosis occur in 40-70% of Mulards but under 6% of Muscovy ducks, because Muscovies have larger pectoral muscles. Mulards in small cages are also prone to bone breakage during transport and slaughter. Ducks in group pens may face extra stress, since capturing and restraining them takes more effort.

  The enlarged liver impairs liver function by obstructing blood flow, and the swollen abdomen makes breathing difficult. Death follows if force-feeding continues. Mortality runs from 2% to 4% in force-fed birds, against about 0.2% in age-matched drakes that are not force-fed. The rate is about 2.5% in both the rearing phase and the force-feeding period.

  Research on animals adds one more concern. Prolonged stress on the liver can cause excess protein to clump into amyloids. Eating these amyloids has caused amyloidosis in laboratory mice. It has been hypothesized that the same route could threaten people with inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

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• 8. Campaigns and Bans

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  In 2011 and 2012, the group Animal Equality investigated four foie gras farms in France and five in Spain. Its footage showed ducks covered in blood with broken and torn beaks, birds in metal cages too small to turn around, and ducks and geese struggling to avoid the tube. Groups such as PETA, Viva!, the Humane Society of the United States and FOUR PAWS also argue that force-feeding is cruel.

  In April and May 2013, an investigator for Mercy for Animals filmed undercover at Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York state, the largest US producer, which processes approximately 350,000 ducks a year. The video showed workers forcefully pushing tubes down ducks' throats. One worker said: "Sometimes the duck doesn't get up, and it dies. There have been times that 20 ducks were killed." Operations manager Marcus Henley replied that the farm's mortality figures were not above the poultry industry average. Because the farm supplied Amazon.com, the group urged Amazon to stop selling foie gras, as Costco, Safeway and Target already had.

  In November 2013, the Daily Mirror published a report on a video showing cruelty to ducks at a farm owned by the French firm Ernest Soulard, a supplier to chef Gordon Ramsay's restaurants. The restaurant chain suspended purchases from the supplier. Public opinion has shifted as well. An Ipsos MORI poll found that 63% of the UK population wanted a complete ban on foie gras sales, and in 2015 an OpinionWay poll found 47% of the French public backing a ban on force-feeding.

  Industry and researchers have sought other routes. The method developed in Extremadura, Spain, times slaughter to the winter migration, when livers fatten naturally, and lets the birds eat freely beforehand. The producer, Patería de Sousa, won the Coup de Coeur award at the Salon International d'Alimentation in 2006. The technique is less efficient than gavage and holds a small share of the market. France does not allow such products the name foie gras, but they can be labelled "fatty goose liver" there.

  The British chain Waitrose sells a product called faux gras, made from free-range British goose or duck liver blended with extra fat. Researchers and the company GMT developed a process that applies additional fat to duck liver at high pressure, and even trained chefs struggle to tell it from the traditional kind. Researchers found that damaging the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus in a bird reduces its sense of fullness, and in lesioning experiments free food intake more than doubled. French researchers at Aviwell developed a probiotic that produces fatty goose livers over six months without gavage. A Spanish company began selling a vegan alternative called Fuah in 2022, made from cashew nuts, coconut oil and beetroot.

  Laws now reflect the dispute. Switzerland prohibited foie gras production in 1978 and banned force-feeding explicitly in 2008. Within the European Union, force-feeding is legal in only 5 of the 27 member states: France, Belgium, Hungary, Bulgaria and Spain. Brussels banned production in 2017, a largely symbolic step given how few producers operate within the city. Force-feeding is also prohibited in Israel, Turkey and Australia, India bans imports, and California prohibits production and sale. In November 2022, the Buckingham Palace household wrote to PETA that foie gras was not bought or served in royal residences.

  New York City instituted a ban in 2019, and a 2022 order from the state's Agriculture and Markets Department struck it down. In 2026, the court ruling against the city's ban was overturned.

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