Dear Editor
Unlike vegetarian converts, I’ve never had a crisis of conscience about eating meat, provided it’s sourced from animals who’ve been treated with respect and slaughtered humanely. A prime example would be livestock reared on a Hebridean holding by a caring crofter who knows his stock individually.
This is most certainly not the case for ducks, geese and other unfortunate wildfowl imprisoned in tiny cages where, through a tube inserted down their gullet, they are force-fed nutrients that artificially enlarge their livers to grotesque proportions to provide the culinary delicacy known as foie gras. We can only imagine their sheer torment, and weep for those sociable animals whose natural inclination is to preen, graze and fly freely in the great outdoors.
This practice amounts to the prolonged torturing of helpless animals solely for the gastronomic kicks of wealthy patrons who frequent upmarket eateries. Anyone who enjoys this delicacy, aware of the pain and suffering endured to put it onto their plate, is quite simply a salivating sadist indulging in the dining equivalent of badger-baiting.
Though by no means the only culprit, one of the best known beneficiaries of selling foie gras to the well-heeled diners of his international restaurant chain is celebrity TV chef Gordon Ramsey of The F Word fame.
May I suggest that for Ramsey’s next TV appearance there should be a surprise departure from the usual recipe, turning the dining tables and The F Word on the celebrity chef. The BBC make-up department should attach to Ramsey’s real foul mouth Orville the Duck’s prosthetic fowl mouth through which pulverised horsemeat (available from selected supermarkets) is force-fed until, choking on his own vomit, he pleadingly ‘quacks’ for mercy. His pleas are ignored and the process is continually repeated until he’s writhing agonisingly in his own filth. This is what the BBC would describe as a real-life reconstruction.
This drastic departure from F Word normality should shock viewers out of their culinary comfort zone and traumatise Ramsey’s and other dining establishments’ clientele into a sudden loss of appetite for foie gras. If not, they’ll rightly be regarded by all humane people as the drooling, sadistic accomplices of restaurateurs profiteering from a barbaric form of animal torture.
Faithfully, etc
Iain M Macdonald
Miavaig
