Restaurant's one millionth duck escapes a pressing (FRENCH CUISINE UPDATE)

The Daily Telegraph ^ | April 30, 2003 | Philip Delves Broughton

[MadIvan]

Of all the delicious depravities of French cuisine, few have been as celebrated as the pressed duck served at La Tour d'Argent in Paris, which last night made its one millionth appearance.

Fireworks exploded over the Seine and 140 celebrities and gastronomes crowded into the restaurant to see the millionth duck waddle free, while his less fortunate confrères submitted to the dancing knives of "canardier" Jean-Pierre Marchand.

You can have your duck several ways at the Tour, but the most popular is "bloody duck".

Since 1890 the restaurant's canardiers have prepared the birds in the dining room overlooking Notre Dame and presented each diner with a card bearing the number of the duck.

It has been a wildly successful gimmick, helping the restaurant to international prominence.

Its guest book includes Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, the Emperor Hirohito, American presidents and Brazilian footballers, even the now vegetarian Sir Paul McCartney.

The ducks come from the marshes around Challans, near France's central Atlantic coast.

At six weeks, they are strangled rather than decapitated in order to retain all of their blood.

They are then plucked and eaten within 24 hours, as bacteria proliferate in a dead, blood-filled duck.

Once it reaches La Tour d'Argent, the duck is lightly roasted and its breast, leg and liver removed. The carcass is then put in a press to extract its blood and juice, which diners can watch trickle into a chafing dish.

This juice is then added to a sauce consisting of the chopped liver, Cognac and butter, which is poured over slices of breast.

This is then presented with "soufflees" potatoes. The legs are grilled and served separately with a salad.

Claude Terail, the 85-year-old proprietor of the restaurant, used last night's celebration to hand over the business to his 22-year-old son, Andre.

M Terail claims to have taken only five days off since he inherited the restaurant from his father in 1947.

La Tour d'Argent's festivities also mark the end of an era in Parisian cooking. The restaurant lost its third Michelin star in 1996 and has been losing favour with food critics ever since.

They accuse it of herding rich tourists through its doors and failing to live up to its reputation.

[MadIvan]

Aren't you glad you just cancelled your trip to France? My question is - who had the idea to do this in the first place and how could they possibly have come up with it?

Give me Italian cooking over this nonsense any day.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Bump!

[T'wit]

And just what's wrong with strangled 6-week-old blood-filled duckling, eh? Eh?

[MadIvan]

Apart from it being sadistic and thoroughly disgusting, nothing, I suppose. :)

Regards, Ivan

[T'wit]

And here's the best part. I just love watching this and thinking about all the bacteria growing in strangled 6-week-old blood-filled duckling:

The carcass is then put in a press to extract its blood and juice, which diners can watch trickle into a chafing dish.

Heck, that's more fun than the fireworks.

[Argus]

I like Peking duck myself, with the crispy skin rolled in a pancake with plum sauce. Or roast duckling German style. French cooking is too rich for my blood.

[MadIvan]

Also too contrived.

Regards, Ivan

[Grampa Dave]

Attention Peta freaks!

Attention Bambi and Duck lovers.

Read how barbaric the civilized French are when it comes to baby ducks only 6 weeks old.

Yes these evil and vile Frenchies stangle these baby duckies and then use terrible savage ways to serve their mangled bodies.

STOP THIS EVIL/VILE PRACTICE! CANCEL ALL VACATIONS TO FRANCE AND BOYCOTT THEIR PRODUCTS. SAVE THE BABY DUCKS!

[T'wit]

> Apart from it being sadistic and thoroughly disgusting

THAT, Monsieur, is a canard.

[riverrunner]

I see nothing sadistic about eating duck. I also hear they like to hang their game birds by the legs until the body falls away. Then they eat it. I prefer to kill and eat my own meat instead of having someone else do it for me.

[Beth]

It's terrifying!

And they call us gastronomic heathens?!

[grammymoon]

Ivan,
The next time you are here in this country, I will cook you a wonderful Italian meal...
Bloody Duck?
Bloody sickening....

[MadIvan]

Yes, well, the next time a Frenchman sniffs at McDonalds or barbeque, just mention the ducks in reply.

Regards, Ivan

[dennisw]

All I have to say is purposely eating the blood of animals is as un-kosher as you can get. Kosher slaughter drains the blood of the dead animal. Sounds blood lusting and primitive and no way am I vegetarian.

Ya'll who want to eat blood sausage, be my guest.

[MadIvan]

The next time you are here in this country, I will cook you a wonderful Italian meal...

My thanks. ;)

Bloody sickening....

Agreed. It's horrible. I knew the French ate some pretty disgusting dishes, but this was shocking to me.

Regards, Ivan

[Shermy]

Critics say world's best restaurant is French - but in California

[humblegunner]

bearing the number of the duck.

Beware the number of the duck.

[MadIvan]

The ghosts of the pressed ducks will come back to haunt them?

Regards, Ivan

[Shermy]

[Shermy]

[T'wit]

Groucho: "Say the magic word and a strangled, bacteria-laden blood-filled 6-week-old duck will descend with $100."

[tophat9000]

The carcass is then put in a press to extract its blood and juice, which diners can watch trickle into a chafing dish.

In the U.S we have something like this.. it's called "road kill"

[T'wit]

>> I knew the French ate some pretty disgusting dishes, but this was shocking to me.

The French are mallard-justed.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Bloody Duck?

No way! Yuk!

[BOBTHENAILER]

STOP THIS EVIL/VILE PRACTICE! CANCEL ALL VACATIONS TO FRANCE AND BOYCOTT THEIR PRODUCTS. SAVE THE BABY DUCKS!

It really sucks that the French muck with Ducks just for bucks. The horror.

I'll never buy another French product, although that started a long time ago.

[LibKill]

I prefer 'Crispy Duck' as the Chinese prepare it.

This frog dish raises nausea.

[MadIvan]

The French are mallard-justed.

That joke is nearly as lethal as this dish. ;)

Regards, Ivan

[Former Proud Canadian]

Ok, I know it might be wrong to ask a serious question on this thread but, here it is.

They are then plucked and eaten within 24 hours, as bacteria proliferate in a dead, blood-filled duck.

They eat the duck within 24 hours because it becomes contaminated after that. So, it is only partially contaminated after 23 hours?

[Grampa Dave]

This article is another incentive/reason to forget the French, their country, their food and their products.

[Happygal]

Well, the Irish eat blood pudding...so it's not a thought that's alien to me. And I love duck.

[MadIvan]

Yes, but even this is a bit much, don't you think, love?

Love, Ivan

[Happygal]

I dunno, no more than picking the lobster you want boiled alive! ;-)

[MadIvan]

I'm allergic to lobster, so I'm not ordering anything boiled alive. ;)

Love, Ivan

[Happygal]

I must be the sadistic one in this partnership! *ROFL*

[T'wit]

>> They eat the duck within 24 hours because it becomes contaminated after that. So, it is only partially contaminated after 23 hours?

I don't know the right serious answer so here's the way T'wit figures it.

1) At age 5 weeks & 6 days, you have a sweet, fluffy, darling, healthy, uncontaminated baby duck.

2) Therefore, the contamination must occur when a Frenchman strangles the duckling the next day.

3) It follows that the duck will be safe for a Frenchman to eat -- maybe not anyone else -- until the strangled, blood-filled duckling has more bacteria than the Chef. Sorry, I cannot promise that the duckling will be safe to eat for any given length of time, whether 24 hours or 45 minutes. It all depends on what the Frenchman touched before he throttled the duckling.

[bayourod]

In Texas we spend a lot of time duck hunting. We mount the good ones and try to give away the bad ones. They also make good wall decorations for when the PETA type inlaws come to visit.

[prairiebreeze]

Ivan, you're scaring me with this one.

Prairie ;^D

[kcar]

"Claude Terail, the 85-year-old proprietor of the restaurant, used last night's celebration to hand over the business to his 22-year-old son, Andre."

Dad at 63? Obviously Claude loves his ducklings young.

[T'wit]

>> We mount the good ones

Does it lead to any long-term relationships, or do you just ditch them afterward?

[bayourod]

You're confusing ducks with ginneys.

[El Gato]

Fireworks exploded over the Seine

Three army garrisons, five police stations and the Presidential Guard, promptly surrendered.

[CARDINALRULES]

I've seen this on a cooking show...sickening to say the least.

I think one of the chef's in the movie Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? was killed in this manner.

---

I have a rule....I do not eat any animal that we ever had as a pet.

[ChefKeith]

M Terail claims to have taken only five days off since he inherited the restaurant from his father in 1947.

Thank to Our brave, NOW DEAD Soldiers saving their frog A$$E$ from the nazi scumballs!

[lasisra]

Here's my guess from reading the article:

They strangle the duck rather than decapitate it because they want to keep all the blood in the duck, right? Well, if they want to keep all the blood in the duck, then they can't very well cut the duck open to *gut* it, either. All the organs, including the bacteria-laden digestive tract, remain in the carcass.

Since bacteria populations can double every few hours, no wonder the duck has to be used within 24 hours. Ugh!

I prefer my animals thoroughly and *promptly* cleaned after slaughter, thanks!

[tictoc]

Bien, M. Chirac, entrez dans la voiture, s'il vous plait, on va vous conduire à un... pressing engagement."

[christie]

Pinging the chef!

[winner3000]

This is nothing compared to what they do to the poor ducks to make Foie Gras. The ducks in the story are strangled which is a cruel and relatively slow way to kill the poor animal. For Foie Gras the poor animal is cruelly force fed which is basic torture. But what can we expect from the French?

[T'wit]

Well.... no. I am unable to confuse ducks with ginneys because I don't know what a ginney is. I'll have to postpone my confusion until I find out. For now, I can say with great assurance that I've never mounted a duck. I am pretty hopeful I've never mounted a ginney either, but will have to wait for an official ruling.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Give me Italian cooking over this nonsense any day.

Bravo! LOL.