Why is foie gras in danger?

GironaIn the 1980s and 1990s, foie gras was a trendy ingredient and found on restaurant menus. However, it has now practically vanished. And not only in Catalonia, but also in France. "I spent a few days in Paris, and I ate in one-, two-, and three-star restaurants; foie gras was nowhere to be found," says Philippe Regol, a gastronome participating in a panel discussion entitled "Why is foie gras in danger?" at this week's Girona Gastronomic Forum.

André Bonnaure, a duck expert and author of several books, explains the reasons behind the decline. First, COVID-19 caused consumption to drop. But the devastating disease was avian flu. All duck farms source their chicks from three suppliers, all of them in France. They genetically managed to create a hybrid duck, the bottlenose duck, that doesn't reproduce naturally. It's resilient and hardly ever got sick. Since medications pass through the liver, it's important to have animals that don't need them. But when the flu hits a farm, you have to cull them all. The problem is that in 2022, the flu spread from producers to the breeding farms. "Millions of ducks had to be culled," says Bonnaure. The market remained without ducks, and prices soared. According to Bonnaure, this Christmas in France sales have already matched those before the pandemic, but the price increase is very considerable.

For Marc Solà, general manager of Collverd, one of the country's leading producers, "foie gras is not in danger; it is an exquisite and valued gastronomic product": "It will always be sought after. But it won't be available to everyone, as it had been democratized before Covid." To top it all off, the cereal crisis, which they rely on, has also raised its price.

Arrival in Catalonia

In Catalonia, the fondness for foie gras originated in France, and farms began to be established in the Empordà region in the early 1980s. At that time, according to Philippe Regol, it became so fashionable that it became widespread. "What caviar is today. All the chefs wanted to work with foie gras, and there was popular demand. It was a symbol of refinement, an accessible luxury," says Regol. But the gourmet recalls that several atrocities were committed that spoiled the product. For him, it would be good if it were revived as a well-understood, seasonal luxury product. His grandmother gave him foie gras as a snack when he was little. She produced it herself and fattened the ducks in the fall. "Grandmother fed them in a kind and artisanal way, something that is now interpreted as torture. In contrast, no one says anything about the transport of pigs from Catalan and Aragonese farms in the middle of summer," Regol remarked in Girona.

Kristian Lutaud, former chef at El Bulli, made many terrines during the time of Jean-Louis Neichel, and compares it to other methods. "Now everything is ceviches; There comes a time when everything is the same, it gets tiring. And then there's the animal rights issue. I've worked for companies where the contract stipulated we couldn't use foie."

There comes a time in ducks' lives when they eat a lot because they think they'll have to migrate and need a lot of energy. That's why they fatten their livers and develop a layer of subcutaneous fat. The liver passes. Producers try to play to the duck's biology to make them believe this time has arrived. "These animals eat top-quality corn and spend a good part of their lives in freedom," explains Marc Solà, who maintains that there is no animal abuse. "To have a good product, you must take good care of the animal; you cannot mistreat it. It's obvious," he said. In fact, their practices have made France their second-largest market, since not everyone there is as demanding about rearing times since prices have skyrocketed and quality has suffered.