Foie gras ban in Chicago is flouted

AP ^ | 1/8/07 | Don Babwin

[RushCrush]

CHICAGO - Five months after the city ordered restaurants to stop selling foie gras, it's liver and let liver in Chicago.

While some fancy restaurants and gourmet shops no longer offer the goose or duck liver delicacy, others are flouting the ban, listing foie gras on their menus and, in one case, framing the city's warning letter.

Evoking Chicago's Prohibition-era past, when a password could gain entry into a speakeasy, at least one restaurant is rumored to be serving foie gras to customers who ask for the "special lobster" dish.

And one place has cleverly skirted the ban by offering foie gras as a complimentary item. (The city ordinance bans the SALE of foie gras.)

The city has sent out but a smattering of warning letters, conducted one inspection and has yet to levy its first fine, making it clear that is has little stomach for sniffing out violators of the nation's first ban on foie gras.

"We need to focus as much as possible on things that actually make people sick and kill people," said Health Department spokesman Tim Hadac. "Our mission is to protect human health and not the health of geese and ducks."

Hadac called the ban the department's lowest priority.

Foie gras was banned in Chicago because of what animal rights activists say is the inhumane way geese and ducks are force-fed to plump up their livers. The penalty: a fine of at least $250. Mayor Richard Daley has called it the "silliest" ordinance the City Council has ever passed. And many restaurants have acted accordingly.

[RushCrush]

I'm looking forward to partaking in some foie gras this weekend!

Why is it that liberals respect a duck more than a fetus?

[kinoxi]

It sounds fairly nasty to me. Deformed goose liver?

[flashbunny]

At Copperblue, the menu includes "'It isn't foie gras any Moore' duck liver terrine" — named after the ordinance's chief sponsor, Alderman Joe Moore.

Moore said he realizes the Health Department has more pressing issues. But he is dismayed to see restaurants flouting the ordinance.

"It evinces a certain degree of arrogance on the parts of these establishments," he told the Chicago Tribune.

I think the real arrogance comes from the aldermen who passed the ban in the first place.

[RushCrush]

It's fantastic stuff. I'm not a fan of the French, but they know how to eat.

If you want to order online, D'Artagnan's is the best.

[Liberty Valance]

Aflak!

[kinoxi]

I think I'll pass thanks.

[L.N. Smithee]

Why is it that liberals respect a duck more than a fetus?

Great minds think alike! Here in Sin Freaksicko, the PETA-types bought billboard space near a row of restaurants on the Embarcadero to show a bird with a funnelesque contraption down its throat and a phone number to call in order to ban foie gras.

When I saw it, I was jarred, but only briefly. Since I don't have a taste for poultry besides chicken and turkey, I wouldn't be curious about it anyhow. But that's me -- I wouldn't dream of telling someone they couldn't eat it.

As a city boy, I don't think too much about how a lot of the food I enjoy came from animals (I was finishing a beef burrito as I began this thread). Some of the same people who think that's barbaric of me have no problem saying "Abortion on demand and without apology." They know the visual impact is strong when it comes to animals, and that's why while the PETAs and Eric Strossers will invite you to see what's in your sausage, they make sure people don't see the results of abortion.

[MilesVeritatis]

The restaurant owners are just taking their cue from Chicago's politicians who have a rich tradition of ignoring laws.

[Dallas59]

Foie gras (French for "fat liver") is "the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by force feeding" (as defined by French law[1])

Connoisseurs consider foie gras one of the greatest delicacies in French cuisine and describe its flavour as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver. Foie gras can be sold whole, or prepared into pâté, mousse, or parfait, and is typically served as an accompaniment to another comestible, such as toast points or steak.

Foie gras may date from approximately 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians saw a special culinary appeal in the naturally fattened livers of migratory birds, and began to deliberately fatten the birds through overfeeding; it is however unclear that the product qualifies as foie gras, since the birds were probably not force-fed. The practice gradually spread north through the Roman Empire, and then further into Europe with the Jewish migration. Today, France is by far the largest producer and consumer of foie gras, though it is produced and consumed worldwide, particularly in other European nations and the United States.

In modern foie gras production, force feeding takes place from 12−18 days before slaughter. The duck or goose is typically fed a controlled amount of corn mash through a tube placed in the animal's esophagus. Due to this force feeding procedure, and the possible health consequences of an enlarged liver, animal rights and welfare organizations and activists regard foie gras production methods as cruel to animals. Foie gras producers maintain that force feeding ducks and geese is not uncomfortable for the animals nor is it hazardous to their health. Scientific evidence regarding the animal welfare aspects of foie gras production is limited[2] and inconclusive[3]. Foie gras production is illegal in a number of countries and other jurisdictions.

foie gras production methods as cruel to animals.

Killing and eating the liver isn't dangerous to the animals health?

[ChiMark]

Chicago's schools are horrible. Gang crime is rising.
Murders are up. Bank robberies at a record pace. CTA is bust.
Alderman caught taking bribes(old hat).

But by golly we're going to protect Goose liver.

Alderman Ed Burke's twisted idea of what is important for
the people of Chicago. He's catering to the insular north side commie liberals.

[Jeff Chandler]

Foie gras ban in Chicago is flouted

Foie gras flauta. Ummm...

[battlegearboat]

I just happened to be channel surfing yesterday at lunchtime and came across WGN in Chicago just as news of a female alderman's arrest on corruption was being aired.

I look in at WGN every so often and there always seems to be some local government corruption story leading the news.

It must be some sort of local sporting activity while the Cubs and Bears are hibernating.

[Revelation 911]

and for you blue collar types, might I recommend chicken livers wrapped in bacon, chased with a 40 oz malt type beverage

[PBRSTREETGANG]

I'll take yours, thanks.

(Had some in a dish this past weekend.)

[mewzilla]

All they are doing by passing laws they refuse to enforce is encouraging people to develop a further contempt for the law.

[Ole Okie]

Foie gras flauta. Ummm...

Flauta is plural of flautist? I think it should be flautae.

Is a foie gras flautist any different from other flautists?

Most are pipe squeaks, anyway.

[bcsco]

I think I'll pass thanks.

Have you ever had liver sausage? Blend a little Mayo and chopped onions with some liver sausage and you have what's called mock Foie Gras. MMMmmmm. We just had some New Year's Eve.

[chatham]

Your comment should be the rallying cry against the inhumane killing of unborn babies.

It should be on all the outdoor advertising signs across the country.

Well said.

the U.S.A.has now topped all the People killed as a result of WWII, around 42,000,000.

[Sicon]

Someone should start a huge mail campaign where they send some foie gras to all the idiotic reps that voted for the ban. Ideally, they should leave the foie gras on the counter for a day or two before mailing...

[RushCrush]

But you're okay with us eating, right?

I hate fruit.Don't eat it. Don't eat any of it. But just can't see myself commenting about it to others who enjoy it.

Weird.