Foie Gras, Truite au Bleu (blue trout)
Source: 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die (pgs. 89 – 90, 141 – 142)
Look how cute those goslings are. Adorable right? These are wild geese, but some domestic species are raised on farms. People still do eat goose and it’s something of a specialty item, but the real money in raising geese is for their livers. Specifically, the fatty livers that result from forcibly overfeeding the birds, which is called foie gras. Geese naturally store extra fat in their livers right before migration, but I’m not comfortable with the force-feeding done commercially. Besides, foie gras is expensive, hard to find, and, again, is liver. Do you recall what the liver does? (It cleans toxins from the blood, which is why most people don’t need cleansing tea/juice/supplements. Your liver has you covered.)
Trout aren’t as cute as fluffy goslings, but the process of preparing truite au bleu is even more horrifying. To get the distinctive blue color and make the whole fish curl into circles, the fish need to be quick-cleaned immediately before cooking, then placed in the boiling water while technically still alive. The curling up comes from automatic nerve impulses, and the blue color from a reaction between still-living skin cells and the boiling acidic water. No matter how much it improves the fish’s flavor, it isn’t worth it. Super-fresh fish is a remarkable ingredient in itself. There’s no reason not to dispatch it quickly and humanely. It will still be good. For a blue color, try food coloring.
Feasting Through Time 