Thanks to SB1520 my last bites of Foie Gras in California while sitting in the lounge in the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco. Sitting in San Francisco, it seems unreal that the delicacy could be outlawed by the foodies here, but alas, regulation has taken its toll.
Outlawing food in general is a strange notion, but it has been done before. A big push to ban shark fin due to cruelty to the sharks, eliminated the delicacy from menus. Now, I have no doubt that the severing of shark fins is cruel, but whether or not banning food is in the prevue of government action raises some questions for me.
Regulation in the market is always a tricky subject. You would think that the forces of the market would regulate what we buy without the government having to step in. If enough people believed foie gras to be unethical, they would not buy it. If they did not buy it, stores would not sell it. If stores did not sell it, producers would stop making it. If producers stopped making it, ducks would have smaller livers. Such is the way of Capitalism.
But, clearly, there were not enough people who were willing to stop eating foie gras to begin this chain reaction of market forces. There may have been enough voters to pass a law, but that really doesn’t say anything about the general population due to low turnout rates and our overall poor voter participation levels in this country.
Back to the fatty liver…I ate the Ramen Noodles in Hokkaido style Miso broth with seared artisan Foie Gras, duck Foie Gras wontons, grilled corn, and mustard greens. This dish is prepared by Ame Restaurant (the restaurant in the St. Regis). The broth was delicious and the Foie Gras was amazing. The Foie Gras melted in my mouth and added many complex flavors.
Am I going to miss it? Probably.
References:
Ame Restaurant
SB1520
