What is the most controversial dish in French cuisine?

Grilled nightingale is the most luxurious and elaborate dish in France. However, those who enjoy this dish are also haunted by the thought of eating this innocent little creature.

France is known as a country with the most sophisticated and luxurious cuisine in the world, which is hard to compare to any other country. Regardless of cheap or rare expensive ingredients, they all become masterpieces under the talented hands of French chefs.

However, there are many controversies surrounding the famous and luxurious dishes in this country. One of them is the grilled nightingale dish that has caused a lot of controversy in the history of French cuisine.

Nightingales are small birds that can fit in the palm of a human hand. They usually live in some warm regions of Europe such as Greece, Spain or the South of France. They do not have a beautiful appearance or outstanding singing voice, but nightingales make the French culinary industry crazy because they are truly the "queen of the table" - a luxurious and noble delicacy.

This dish has been around since ancient Rome and was one of the dishes that could satisfy the high-class taste of French emperors. The nightingale is elaborately prepared to keep the fullness and fatness of the meat intact while imbuing it with the flavor of chestnuts, perfectly blending with the rich sweetness of the meat and organs.

Grilled nightingale, French cuisine, luxury food, France.However, this dish is the most controversial in the history of French cuisine.

Cruel process of raising and killing

The controversy over this luxurious grilled nightingale dish stems from the cruel way in which the birds are hunted, raised and slaughtered, making the number of these birds in Europe increasingly scarce.

During the migration season, when the birds fly back to Africa, hunters set many traps in the fields to catch as many birds as possible. However, to make the nightingale dish the most delicious and attractive, the birds must be 2 to 4 times fatter than normal. Therefore, after being trapped, they are kept in crowded cages to minimize movement and begin fattening.

Nightingales were fed raisins, millet, and figs regardless of whether they wanted them or not. Legend has it that the Roman Emperor even blinded the birds so that they would think it was nighttime and eat more.

Usually, by the time they are cooked, the nightingales have grown to 2-4 times their original size. They are soaked in armagnac or have the wine dripped down their throats to slowly kill them. The remaining feathers are carefully plucked to ensure that the best fats do not escape. Finally, the chef only needs to add a little seasoning and grill the nightingales for 6-8 minutes to complete the dish.

Nightingales are captured and fattened to serve the needs of the gods.

The nightingale will be grilled for 6-8 minutes.

The delicate, sophisticated and luxurious dish is causing much controversy.

Weird way to enjoy

French-style roast nightingale is considered the most refined and sophisticated way to enjoy fat in the world. For this delicacy, enjoying it is also a process that is carried out like a ritual. Diners do not cut the bird into small pieces and use knives and forks as usual.

Traditionally, each person must cover their head with a white cloth, then put the whole bird in their mouth with the head facing out and slowly chew all the parts from the legs to the bones, leaving only the head. The covering is partly to make the eater not feel ashamed in front of those around them, but more importantly because it is believed that this practice helps them hide from the “judgmental eyes” of God when eating the small creature.

It was believed that the white scarves covering their heads helped them avoid God's eyes when eating nightingale meat.

Poachers, in order to reap huge profits, have hunted in large numbers, causing the bird population to decline by 30%, with 30,000 birds killed each year in the southwestern Aquitaine region of France alone. In 2007, while hunting for meat is banned throughout the EU, the French government announced the heaviest fine for this act is up to 6,000 euros (about 150 million VND).

But a group of top French chefs have lobbied the French government to overturn the ban on killing and cooking nightingales to preserve their ancient culture. However, Allain Bougrain Dubourg, president of the French Bird Protection League, said these chefs were old-fashioned and out of touch with 21st century realities. And to this day, the story of the nightingale’s survival continues to be controversial.

Michel Guérard (left) and Jean Coussau are two of the French chefs calling for the ban on killing nightingales for food to be lifted.

According to Vietnamnet