Ask Restaurants to Switch to Vegan Faux Gras
To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force-fed two to three times a day until their livers grow up to 10 times their normal size.
In 2014, Newsweek published a report that included a disturbing video showing “workers at a foie gras factory in southern France separating out day-old female ducklings from a mixed group and tossing them down a chute into an industrial mincer.”
Only male ducks are used to make foie gras because they gain weight faster than their female counterparts. Millions of female ducks are thrown alive into industrial grinders every year.
A female duckling disappearing down a chute after being discarded.
Foie gras production is turning more and more people away from the “gourmet” cruelty of force-feeding ducks and geese with steel pipes to manufacture diseased livers for human consumption. Restaurants all over the country have stopped serving foie gras thanks to activist pressure. If you notice a restaurant that is still serving foie gras, please ask them to switch to this vegan alternative by French chef Alexis Gauthier.
The French chef Alexis Gauthier says he has emulated the buttery taste of the original in his ‘faux gras’ recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 shallot, peeled and diced
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tsp. chopped rosemary
- 2 tsp. chopped thyme
- 2 tsp. chopped sage
- 24 button mushrooms, roughly sliced
- 2 tbsp. cognac
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 2 cups cooked lentils
- 1¼ cups toasted walnuts
- 2 tbsp. beetroot puree
- Black pepper, to taste
Method
- In a heavy pan, sauté the shallot in two tablespoonfuls of the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic, chopped herbs, and mushrooms. Add the cognac and turn up the heat.
- Add the soy sauce, reduce the heat, and cook over low heat for six minutes. Remove the pan from heat and let cool.
- In a food processor, process the mushroom mixture, the remaining olive oil, the lentils, walnuts, beetroot puree and black pepper until almost smooth. Add an optional extra splash of cognac to give it that je ne sais quoi.
- Place in a small glass jar and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Serve alongside toasted slices of sourdough or other bread.
UPC sanctuary duck Jamaica approves of Vegan Faux Gras!