"liver" news and stories

Just before New Year's Eve we learned from Nicole that several eateries in the Windy City intended to transform themselves into duckeasies to ring in the new year. That's right, they planned on serving foie gras in spite of the city's recent ban on the sale of the luxurious liver.

Yesterday I read that several Chicago restaurants and specialty markets are continuing to flout the ban. At Hot Doug's, a gourmet sausage store, the owner continues to sell foie gras and has framed his warning letter as a point of pride.

While some restaurants such as Sweets & Savories continue to openly sell foie gras, others have devised creative ways to fly under the radar as it were. Rumor has it that ordering the "special lobster" at several restaurants will help you score a plate of the banned delicacy.

And the award for the most straightforward way to skirt the ban goes to Bin 36, which also has the dubious honor of being the only eatery inspected to date. It seems the restaurant wasn't actually selling foie gras, it was giving it away. Well, not quite giving it away. The menu offered a complimentary foie gras terrine with its wild mushroom confit salad. The inspectors neglected to ask whether the salad would cost as much without the terrine. As anyone who's ever purchased any foie gras can tell you, it wouldn't.

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What ever is a food blogger to do when offered a free lobe of foie gras from Mirepoix USA? One option is to do nothing. Another is to call Peta and complain. The best option, however, is to gather recipe suggestions, find a second blogger who received one and challenge her to a virtual face-off over who can prepare the better torchon of foie gras. In this case, the showdown was between Adam, the Amateur Gourmet, and Meg, of Megnut. Take a look at Adam's account of his adventures with the fatty liver, as well as at Meg's account from her kitchen. Since we weren't there to taste either of the finished products, we only have photos and Adam's video of his friends' reactions to the tasting to help us decide whose cuisine, in this case, reigns supreme.

Also, if you think that foie gras comes in those nice little rounds you see above, think again. Click past the jump to see what it looks like as it is being prepared.

Two new studies have shown that mandarin oranges may be good for curing more than just scurvy. One study, which was centered on a town whose residents ate a very high number of mandarins, showed that they had a lower risk of liver disease, hardened arteries and insulin resistance. The second study found that drinking mandarin juice decreased the risk of developing liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Right now, scientists believe that cartenoids, a specific compound from the vitamin A in the oranges, are responsible for both the results.

The scientists who ran the study say that more research is needed, perhaps over as many as five more years, before they will have the kind of data that they need to draw more solid conclusions. As it stands now, however, there are no drawbacks to eating an extra orange or two.

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Wine blogger Dr. Vino has a fascinating, insightful account of a tour he took of a foie gras producer in France's Dordogne region last month. Now before anyone jumps down my throat, let me say that I've had the pleasure of eating foie gras only once or twice. And in all honesty I'm a bit conflicted as to whether force feeding geese in order to fatten their livers is indeed cruel or, rather, as some have told me, a process for which they greedily line up.

It remains to be seen whether I'll ever tour a foie gras operation, but one thing I do know is that the good doctor had the nerve and intellectual curiousity to tour one such farm while the rest of his family opted for a swim. Among the issues Dr. Vino raises are the relatively pleasant conditions the geese enjoy while they are outside in two large fields as opposed to the darkened gavage barns where they are force-fed four times daily. Even he seems uncertain as to just how cruel the process is. But in the end he concludes that it's probably best for all to know where their food comes from, foie gras or otherwise.

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A few cups of coffee a day may help lower the risk of alcohol related liver cirrhosis, according to the results of a study recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The New York Times recently reported on the study, which tracked the health and dietary habits of over 125,000 people from 1978 to 2001. "Compared with people who never drank coffee, those who drank one cup a day or less were about 30 percent less likely to develop alcoholic cirrhosis," the NYT article states. Likelihood of developing alcoholic cirrhosis dropped even more as the number of daily cups of coffee rose. Tea didn't produce the same effects, ruling out the possibility that caffeine is to thank. Researchers are still unsure as to what the preventative ingredient in coffee is.