Ortolan: The forbidden fruit by Bruce Palling

What are we having for lunch? Ortolans. Oh, dear! Are they difficult? Slowly, Gigi. Slowly. The racing season is over. Good day, Aunt Alicia. Now let's go into luncheon. Yes, Aunt Alicia.

Today you will learn to eat ortolans. What are ortolans, Aunt? Exquisite little birds. Most eo le attac! the" li!e cannibals.#ou "ust learn to eat the" ro erly. $ad table "anners...have bro!en u "ore households than in%idelity. Ortolans should be cut in two with a quic! stro!e o% the !ni%e. There "ust be no grating o% the blade on the late. Now bite u each iece. The bones don't "atter. Gigi being taught how to eat ortolan in the %il", Gigi &'()*+ ,or a sel%-con%essed %oodie with e icurean tendencies, it sounded too good to be true. .n acquaintance rang u and whis ered that a Three-Star Michelin che% in /aris was coo!ing a rivate dinner %eaturing ortolan and would 0 li!e to be his guest1 Since 2334, it has been illegal in ,rance to sell these highly ri5ed s"all songbirds, though it is still er"issible to si" ly eat the". My i""ediate res onse was, i% it was good enough %or 6o"an E" erors, ,rancois Mitterrand and Gigi &the %ictionalised %il" courtesan+ it was going to be %ine with "e. Many cultures and religions have taboo %oods, ranging %ro" igs to shar! %ins, but in ,rance, the ortolan is the su re"e contradiction - so"e consider it to the soul o% ,rance, while others believe it to be %ar "ore wic!ed than the consu" tion o% %oie gras. Originally, the ortolan was "entioned in old ,rench songs as a sy"bol o% innocence and the love o% 7hrist. There is a "ystique about eating ortolan that is greater than any other culinary delicacy. The %ol!lore was only enhanced by /resident Mitterrand having the" at literally, his last su er, on New #ear's Eve, '((). .ccording to guests who were resent, the ailing socialist "unched through several with a loo! o% ecstasy on his %ace and then ate nothing "ore be%ore his death eight days later. The traditional way to consu"e ortolan is to ca ture the" with nets, %atten the" u in a dar!ened s ace, drown the" in .r"agnac, then roast and consu"e the" whole, bones and all, while your head is covered by a large na !in. Those who have seen the %attened creatures say they can a ear to loo! li!e an oval o% butter with "iniature wings and %eet attached. So"e say that the na !in was necessary to avoid the wrath o% God8 others ut it down to the leasure o% ca turing the aro"as while another view was that it was necessary because it is such a disgusting s ectacle. 9etailed accounts have survived since antiquity o% the gour"et delights o% eating songbirds o% every descri tion, with the 6o"an volu tuary :ucullus consu"ing the" while dining within his aviary. ,or i" ortant %easts in the .ncient ;orld it was not unco""on %or u to ),333 ortolan, thrushes and lar!s to be served at one sitting. 7ertainly the tradition o% consu"ing these tiny treasures see"s to have gone on uninterru ted until the Modern Era. Guillau"e Tirel, the great che% who ublished the %irst ,rench reci e collection in the %ourteenth century, "entions dishes including ortolan while :a <arenne, the Seventeenth 7entury che%, unaccountably sti ulates that ortolan can be eaten at any ti"e o% the year exce t between the %estival o% St 6e"y and :ent &October to =ust be%ore Easter+. Their raises were not con%ined to decadent ,rench gour"ets - one o% $en=a"in 9israeli's characters in

his novel The Young Duke goes into ra tures about ortolan> ?;hat a %lavour@ Aow eculiar@ ... .ll aradise o ens@ :et "e die eating ortolans to the sound o% so%t "usic@? 0n the Modern Era, Esco%%ier lists B' reci es %or ortolan, thrushes and lar!s lus CD urely %or woodcoc!, which is also now on the list o% banned birds in ,rance. The consu" tion o% ortolan is not without hysical ris! although there is only one con%ir"ed case o% a %atality - in '44D, Edward ;ortley Montagu, the English adventurer and scoundrel, died a%ter accidentally iercing his throat while swallowing an ortolan bone.

7raig 7laiborne, the in%luentialEse"inal New #or! Ti"es %ood colu"nist, ate so"e ortolan in the "id Seventies during his notorious "eal at 7he5 9enis in /aris, where he consu"ed "ore than C3 courses and gu55led so"e o% the greatest ,rench wine treasures, than!s to bidding at an .MEF auction %or the right to eat in the restaurant o% his choice anywhere on the lanet &he won the ri5e with a bid o% GC33+. My %riend To" McNa"ee, who recently wrote a su erb boo! about 7laiborne &The "an who changed the way we eat, ,ree /ress 23'2+ ex lained how H7arl Sonthei"er, the guy who i" orted 7uisinarts, a real feinschmecker, told hi" about a tiny =oint in /aris called 7he5 9enis. Not in the MichelinIthey didnJt give stars to laces with lastic %lowers on the tables. 6idiculously ex ensive. 6idiculously good. The patron was sort o%Inuts. 7raig !new who" to consult> #anou 7ollart. She !new everything, everyone. H#ou "ust co"e yoursel% and taste, mon cher 7raig@ #ou will taste 9enisJs chiffonade de homard! Ais ortolans! .nd 0 !now you and your andouillettesIthe lowest things, he serves the" aux truffes!" .%ter %lying out with his %riend and "enu collaborator che% /ierre ,raney to audition the lace, they were ecstatic and ended u having the ortolan as 7laiborne ex lained subsequently, in his New #or! Ti"es article> ?The second service included the ortolans en brochette, an ele"ent o% the dinner to be antici ated with a relish al"ost equal to that o% the caviar or the %oie gras. The s"all birds, which dine on berries through their brie% lives, are coo!ed whole, with the head on, and without cleaning exce t %or re"oving the %eathers. They are as %at as butter and an absolute =oy to bite into because o% the succulence o% the %lesh. Even the bones, exce t %or the tiny leg bones, are chewed and swallowed. There is one bird to one bite.? There was a stor" o% rotest %ro" the sober readers o% the New #or! Ti"es, but their ire was at the ex ense o% the "eal and drin!s &KSGB333+ rather than any thoughts o% cruelty to the "iniature chir ing birds. 0n the Eighties, che% .lain 9ucasse was as!ed how he =usti%ied such decadent behaviour by gour"ets. /u55led, he "erely res onded, H$ut it is the destiny o% the ortolan to be consu"ed under a na !in.L

The ressure in ,rance %or a ban had been growing %or so"e ti"e, with laws assed in '((( to outlaw the sale o% Ortolan, though they were only ut on the statute boo! in 2334. The ban was as a result o% the growing scarcity o% the birds in ,rance rather than the "orality o% eating the" - so"e ex erts say there are a roxi"ately C3,333 tra ed and eaten annually %ro" a "igratory o ulation o% around a quarter o% a "illion. The netting usually occurs in or around :andes, in the South ;est o% ,rance They are not considered to be endangered internationally, as there are esti"ated to be around '3 "illion worldwide. $ut bac! to "y own quest. 0 was alerted that the "eal was ha ening that evening in the rivate roo" o% a %a"ous /arisian restaurant. 0 rushed to Eurostar and "ade it with "inutes to s are, only to %ind the "aMtreJd loo! co" letely u55led when 0 tried to say what the a oint"ent was without actually s elling it out in the =a""ed %oyer. Then the great che% hi"sel% ca"e to rece tion and was li!ewise %lu""oxed until 0 handed hi" six woodcoc! that 0 had brought %ro" :ondon as a resent. Then he understood and led "e to the rivate roo". The "eal then roceeded with the che%'s nu"erous s ecialities until the "ain dish arrived, which was %irst shown to us on a latter o% "ashed otato and large cloves o% garlic, with so"e o% roasted birds not signi%icantly larger than a hen's egg and others loo!ing li!e "iniature quail.

So"e lar!s in a $eirut restaurant - quite co""on in the S ring 0 was "ildly disa ointed not to see any large na !ins, but entered into the s irit o% the occasion, which occurred in total silence exce t %or the sound o% crunching bones. The taste was sweet and subtle, with an undertone o% ga"e liver, as they are not gutted be%ore roasting. Aowever, the underlying "e"ory is o% the considerable exertion required to "unch through all o% the bones - it %elt as i% one's "outh was being ta!en to the gy" %or a wor! out as it too! several "inutes to co" lete the tas!. The bruising in "y "outh lingered %ar longer than the taste. 0nterestingly, the host, a well-!nown ,rench "anu%acturer o% %a"ous !itchenware, drew the line at swallowing the bones and le%t what loo!ed li!e a ile o% tooth ic!s on the side o% his late.

0 had not ex ected to see the next dish, which was o% "y woodcoc!, as it was a gi%t to the che%. Ae was "ore delighted than 0 ex ected as they too are on the roscribed list in ,rance, though again, it is er%ectly legal to eat rather than ay %or the". Aowever %or "e they were the highlight o% the evening, with their curious ?wet hay? goatish aro"a and o% course the unique taste o% the innards on toast with a s"all a"ount o% %oie gras. The event was over by "idnight and we than!ed everyone ro%usely %or a %ascinating evening. 0t was only u on de arture that the host shee ishly disclosed that he had not been able to source any ortolan so we had in %act been eating :es Mauviettes. ;hen 0 as!ed %or a "ore s eci%ic translation, it turned out that they were Grives and :'.louettes or, in /lain English.... thrushes and lar!s....

0 can't say that 0 %elt es ecially roud to have eaten such creatures, articularly as the culinary rewards were to "y "ind at least, anything but ethereal. ,or the stronger-hearted, 0 sought out a thrush reci e and discovered a rather good one in . icius, the .ncient ;orld's greatest coo! boo!. 7uriously, the relevant section o% . icius on ortolan, thrushes and lar!s is actually "issing. Aowever, the later a endix, said to be by <inidarius, has a reci e %or stu%%ed thrushes> ?/ound e er, laser &the lant+, bay berries8 "ix with oenogaru", and %ill the thrushes %ro" the nec! and tie with string, and then "a!e a coo!ing liquor %or the" containing oil, salt, water, dill and lee!.? My %riend Magnus Nilsson, the brilliant

che% at ,avi!en in northern Sweden, tells "e that %loc!s o% '3,333 or "ore are co""on and that they %requently shoot and coo! the". 0 later discovered that these days, an ortolan costs around E233 each. 0t still re"ains an ex erience 0 would li!e to encounter, but 0 now !now that Aorace's quote nil melius turdo &nothing better than a thrush+ will re"ain true, but %or their co" any rather than their carcass. . shorter and "ore literate version o% this story a Euro e ears in the ;all Street Nournal

htt >EEonline.ws=.co"EarticleES$'333'B2B3)24B*43C()('3B)4D3*'DC32C3D*D*) 2.ht"l