Posted on 03/25/2025 5:08:09 PM PDT by Red Badger
Scientists have recreated foie gras without force-feeding by using natural enzymes found in ducks. The process mimics what happens inside the bird’s body, resulting in the same texture and taste. It’s a delicious step toward cruelty-free indulgence A team of researchers has developed a groundbreaking new way to make foie gras that eliminates the need for force-feeding, traditionally used to achieve the delicacy’s rich texture.
By using the duck’s own fat-digesting enzymes and a simplified, additive-free recipe, they recreated the signature mouthfeel and flavor of foie gras. The result? An ethical, scientifically innovative twist on a centuries-old luxury – and a step forward in gourmet animal welfare.
A Delicacy with a Controversial Past Foie gras is a rich delicacy made from the liver of a duck or goose. Known for its buttery texture and high fat content, it’s considered a luxury dish in many parts of the world – though it’s not to everyone’s taste.
What sets foie gras apart from regular poultry liver is its fat content, traditionally achieved by force-feeding birds to enlarge their livers. Researcher Thomas Vilgis, a longtime fan of the dish, began to wonder if there might be a more ethical way to enjoy it.
A New Process Without Force-Feeding
In a study published in Physics of Fluids by AIP Publishing, Vilgis and a team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research and the University of Southern Denmark developed a method to recreate foie gras without relying on force-feeding.
“It was always a dream to make foie gras more accessible and better for animal welfare,” Vilgis said. “It’s good to stop these force-feeding practices — or at least reduce them.”
Foie Gras Pâté Stress Test: A stress test of the researchers’ foie gras pâté, which is created without the need for force-feeding. Credit: Thomas A. Vilgis
Avoiding Additives for Authenticity
To Vilgis and his team, it was important not to add external ingredients or additives to the foie gras. They tried adding cooked collagen from the bird’s skin and bones to the liver and fat emulsion after it was harvested, but that didn’t leave them with the correct consistency.
They then came up with the idea of trying to treat the fat with the bird’s own lipases, which are enzymes that help digest fat in the body, mimicking the activities that occur naturally in the duck’s body.
“At the end of the process, it allows the fat to recrystallize into the large crystals which form aggregates like the ones we see in the original foie gras,” Vilgis said.
Simple Recipe, Surprising Results
The recipe is extremely simple and elegant — the liver and fat are harvested from the duck or goose, the fat is treated with lipases, both are mixed and sterilized, and it’s good to go.
However, while the structure of the foie gras looked correct with noninvasive laser microscopy — and even smelled like the original foie gras — Vilgis and his team needed to confirm the physical properties of the dish. By doing stress-deformation tests, they found that the treated foie gras had a similar mouthfeel to the original, due to its mechanical properties.
“We could really see that the influence of these large fat particles, which we call in the paper percolating clusters,” Vilgis said. “At the beginning of the ‘bite,’ these large clusters have a high resistance, creating a similar mouthfeel of elasticity without being too rubbery as after the collagen or gelatin addition.”
Scaling Up and Staying Pure
Vilgis has already filed a patent for the recipe, and he hopes to partner with companies interested in helping scale up the production. He also wants to work with sensory scientists who can help refine the taste smell of the foie gras.
“Everything in our process is controlled, which is a positive thing,” Vilgis said. “We never considered adding anything additional to the foie gras, because we wanted pure duck — nothing else.”
Reference:
“Foie gras pâté without force-feeding”
by Mathias Baechle, Arlete M.L. Marques, Matias A. Via, Mathias P. Clausen and Thomas A. Vilgis, 25 March 2025, Physics of Fluids.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0255813
Something I miss from the French army MREs is the canned foie gras.
Frogs won’t eat it. Genetically modified.
;)
This yummy stuff goes down like scrapple.
Foie Gras and a glass of Sauternes is pure heaven
😁....................
How are the liver and fat “harvested” from the duck or goose?
Organ donor..................
Beef liver with yellow mustard I can handle. WBird liver sucks.
“I generally settle for braunschweiger from Walmart.”
Pittsburgh is renowned for Braunschweiger.
Steubanville Ohio... pack a cooler it’s like a würst epicenter there.
ALDI has braunschweiger from Germany they are a German company after all its every bit as good as higher priced German braunschweiger.
So they are trying to replicate fatty liver disease without causing fatty liver disease. Most Americans have metabolic syndrome and that includes fatty liver disease. If you cut the average American fatty open you would find this exact texture of liver how’s that for irony. By 2030 it’s estimated that 75% of American’s will be clinically overweight.
One of my faves..................
The only liver I don’t care for is pork liver...................
Thanks for the tip. I was just thinking about Steubanville because yesterday I
watched a Dean Martin biography on Newsmax. Dean was from Steubanville.
I like sauteed foi gras and patè made with it too
It’s good
The goose dies either way
I would not be surprised if Lidl had it as well. They’re an Aldi competitor in Germany who has a fairly substantial American presence, check if you have one. Excellent croissants in the fresh bakery, French bakery quality. And Lidl’s store brand Nutella is better than Nutella.
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