2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Foie game, the world-famous goose liver pate, is the classic of delicacies of all time. The story of foie gras dates back to ancient times and goes through different eras and ways of preparation to establish itself as one of the most brilliant achievements of gastronomy today.
And there is no other way, once the delicious wealth has entered the field of view of the queen of cuisine - French cuisine. It elevates it to the heights of the greatest specialties and even defines by law that the foie gras is part of the cultural and gastronomic heritage of France.
Nowadays, the delicacy is on every table in France, especially for the holidays at the end of the year, and around the world it is perceived as one of the most famous French national dishes.
It all started thousands of years ago. At the beginning of the third millennium BC goose liver was discovered in Egypt thanks to wild geese that migrate during the winter in the swamps of the Nile Delta. The Egyptians were fascinated by its size and taste and quickly found out what they were due to - the natural overeating of geese, which gathered energy to complete their migration. The Egyptians decided to support this process artificially.
History also tells that about 20 tombs from the time of the Old Kingdom (2815 - 2400 BC) were found near Cairo, in which there are images of geese fattened by slaves. Of course, there is no evidence that they were fed because foie gras - It could be because of the meat of animals. But there is evidence that foie gras was present at the tables of the Romans. During a fairytale feast described by Horace, the liver of a fattened goose with figs is on the menu. It is the name of the fig (Ficatum - Latin) that after a certain transformation gives its name to the liver (foie - French).
But the decline of the Roman Empire later led to the disappearance of foi gras for more than a millennium.
Fortunately for lovers of the delicacy, this turns out to be correctable. The return of foie gras is due to the corn brought by Christopher Columbus, which was originally intended for people raising ducks and geese. Corn appeared in the Basque Country in the mid-16th century, but it took several centuries to spread. The Jews of Central Europe at that time had the reputation of heirs to the old customs and recipes of the Egyptians, so they are famous as connoisseurs of the preparation of the delicacy.
Since canned pork has been banned from them, they have become the driving force for raising geese and ducks and hence for foie gras. But at that time, the methods of obtaining goose liver were already well known to the peasants of the Southwest, without being influenced in any way by the know-how of the Jewish communities.
Foie gras gained its fame during the time of Louis XVI thanks. The delicacy then inspired great writers such as Georges Sand and Alexandre Dumas and even musicians such as Rossini.
Photo: Yordanka Kovacheva
Chefs of that time, in turn, discovered the benefits of the liver of fattened animals, quite different from the ordinary liver. Today, producers and chefs offer a wide variety of cooking methods that further enhance the natural taste of foie gras.
There are different subtleties for the preparation of the delicacy - the liver should be cut into slices about a centimeter and after each cut the knife should be washed. Goes with baguette, wine, figs and is good for health because it lowers cholesterol.
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