Essential Viewing: Dan Barber’s “A surprising parable of foie gras”
Posted by Kevin Broome on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009Tags for this Article: beliefs, Chefs, ethical, foie-gras, goose_farm, spain, traditional
A truly inspirational talk by chef Dan Barber recounting a trip that he took to a goose farm in the Extremadura region of Spain run by Eduardo Sousa who not only produces a humane foie gras, but the best foie gras that Barber has ever had in his life; actually he corrects himself: “the best culinary experience of my life”. In fact, it is a foie gras that created mass scandal in France by claiming its highest gastronomic honour. And best of all, it is a foie gras that is rooted in almost mythical origins.
After viewing this and after having had the pleasure of talking with a number of my fellow contributors at the recent Foodist.ca launch about organic produce and local farming and the unquestionable difference in quality that such practices bring about, I would like to think that the values and ideas that Barber offers forth are very much in line with what we at foodists.ca believe food should be; that the language surrounding this site extends beyond that of mere extended pun and that we are in fact exploring a more spiritual side of food and its production, of how nature offers us viable solutions and how, as Barber so eloquently puts it, “the best decisions are almost always the most delicious.”
Nice post. I ate at Barber’s restaurant Blue Hill in NY – it was one of the best meals I’ve had. Next up is his restaurant at Stone Barns.
that’s excellent. I so wish I could get my hands on some!
There’s been so much press about this one man in Spain producing ethical foie gras and the talk by Dan Barber has been all over the internet. But where do you find ethical foie gras? Who in the world besides this one farmer is producing it successfully? I heard that even this farmer in Spain has difficulty producing ethical foie gras during mild winters.