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No more Foie Gras @ Trotters

awbrig

By awbrig
in The Heartland: Dining

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awbrig

awbrig

Posted
Posted (edited)

This almost broke my heart on Friday when I was informed that Foie Gras will not be served at Charlie Trotters any longer. Charlie does not approve of the way the goose/duck is force fed and its liver pumped in order to achieve the end result.

Unfortunate, but true. I will greatly miss those wonderful Foie Gras dishes @ Charlie Trotters... :sad:

No More:

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Edited by awbrig (log)
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Bux

Bux

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Posted

You are kidding. Has he spent any time on a farm that raises geese or ducks for their fat livers? I've been told the geese flock to the feeder. They can't get enough feed and remember geese don't really like people. Either he knows something he should share in public, or he's lent his ear to the wrong people.

In Defense of Foie Gras.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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awbrig

awbrig

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you've got to be kidding me....

Wish I was, my friend. No more.

Charlie does like to do things first and take initiative of an action even if will be met with anger, confusion or disapointment at first, if he believes it is the right thing to do for his diners or for the sake of cuisine. Charlie also holds important to him how animals are raised and their treatment. Cruel or inhumane treatment of an animal is unacceptable to him. He believes, in the case of the foie gras, to be the case of inhumane treatment...

Charlie has gone against the grain in quite a few cases that have set him apart, namely...

One of the first restaurants to ban smoking in the bar/restaurant (a long time ago)

Elimination of spirits or hard alcohol

Elimination of Sea Bass (nothing new, really)

Pay waiters a generous salary instead of small wage plus tips

Including 18% tip on bill even for parties of 2

I, for one, am disappointed on the foie gras elimination however...

Edited by awbrig (log)
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Bux

Bux

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Posted
Wish I was, my friend.  No more.

Charlie does like to do things first and take initiative of an action even if will be met with anger, confusion or disapointment at first, if he belives it is the right thing to do for his diners or for the sake of cuisine. Charlie also holds important to him how animals are raised and their treatment.  Cruel or inhumane treatment of an animal is unacceptable to him.  He believes, in the case of the foie gras, to be the case of inhumane treatment...

Charlie has gone against the grain in quite a few cases and have set him apart, namely...

One of the first restaurants to ban smoking in the bar/restaurant (a long time ago)

Elimination of spirits or hard alcohol

Elimination of Sea Bass (nothing new, really)

Pay waiters a generous salary instead of small wage plus tips

Including 18% tip on bill even for parties of 2

I, for one, am disappointed on the foie gras elimination however...

I have mixed feelings about the hard liquor, but generally it has little place in my meals until after dinner. I just don't get the foie gras thing. Vegetarianism I get, but I haven't been convinced the ducks and geese don't fare better than the average poultry in America, though I don't suppose Charlie uses factory raised chickens either. On the other hand, free range chickens may be considered an endangered species. :biggrin:

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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Lesley C

Lesley C

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Posted

I have visited one of the foie gras suppliers here in Quebec who is -- make that "was" -- supposedly Trotter's supplier. The place is pristine and the farmer is a conscientious professional. But there's no missing the caged-in ducks at the end of the line ready for slaughter. Their heads stick out of the tops of the cages and you can clearly see them panting away and visibly suffering (that said, I do eat foie gras). Bux, there's no flocking to the feeders here; these animals can't move. Goose foie gras is a whole other story.

I do, however, think it's a bit late for Mr. Trotter to have a sudden "crise de conscience" over this ingredient. His books are overflowing with foie gras recipes. There's no denying it's one of his signature ingredients (the man made foie gras ice cream the last time he was in Montreal). I think you could even go so far as to say he's partly responsible for foie gras' popularity in America.

But considering the numbers (over 13 million ducks were slaughtered for foie gras in France last year), I admire his turnaround, no matter how late in the game.

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Bux

Bux

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Bux, there's no flocking to the feeders here; these animals can't move. Goose foie gras is a whole other story.

That may be. I'm relying on Ed Behr's description of a goose farm in Gascony. Most North American foie gras is duck.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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awbrig

awbrig

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Its quite possible that Charlie saw things happening that he found unsettling and disturbing to him while producing his Meat & Game Book. If you have it you will know what Im talking about. There are many pictures of Charlie inside the processing plants of various beef, poultry and game meat producers. Possibly seeing how things were done from the inside - during writing and photographing the book - gave him some second thoughts on Foie Gras???

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Fat Guy

Fat Guy

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Has there been any media coverage of Charlie Trotter's decision?

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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awbrig

awbrig

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I have not seen that particular Trotter book...did he eliminate foie recipes from it?

No. Actually there are 16 recipes that have foie gras in the book.

Among them, Foie Gras Five Ways...

Edited by awbrig (log)
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awbrig

awbrig

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If, as Bux mentioned, the goose are treated in a better manner than the ducks, did CT say he would serve that...or is all foie gone?

We were just told that Foie Gras will no longer be served at Charlie Trotters for the reasons I mentioned above. Charlie and I chatted briefly on Friday but this was before the foie gras surprise was revealed so I did not get a chance to ask him face to face. I will see him on Tuesday and I will ask him about it, for sure...

Edited by awbrig (log)
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awbrig

awbrig

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I was even joking with my favorite waiter, Christian, on Friday, that I thought foie gras (Geese/Duck) had it easy...getting massages, drinking beer, listening to classical music etc...until NSM and our waiter informed me I was confusing it with Kobe Beef! :laugh: Which we had that night!

Edited by awbrig (log)
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