/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>16888397

>>16304512
Pic related is how you're supposed to eat ortolans.

>>15773033
Ortolan Bunting
>"There is a dish so aromatic, so indulgent, so cruel, that it is meant to be eaten with a towel draped over the diner’s head—both to keep in the smells and, perhaps, to hide one’s face from God."

>"Meet the ortolan bunting, a tiny songbird that summers across Western Europe and winters in Africa. It is considered a vulnerable species, especially in France, because the bird is trapped to be the centerpiece of a very particular rituel gastronomique. Netted ortolans are kept in dark cages, which tricks them into gorging themselves on grain and figs. (It’s said they also may be blinded to achieve the same effect.) Once the small birds have doubled or more in size, they are drowned—and simultaneously marinated—in Armagnac brandy. They’re then plucked and roasted, which doesn’t take long, since there is little meat on their bones."

>"Diners pick up one whole, hot bird by the head—with that towel covering the act—and place it feet-first into their mouths, saving only the beak. Advocates say that the crunch of bone, the hot fat, and the bursts of flavor from the organs makes for a delicacy with no equal."