HUNGARY: GOOSE LIVER IS A MUCH LOVED DELICACY IN HUNGARY AND TAKES MANY FORMS IN THE COUNTRY'S KITCHENS

Record ID: 646765

  • Title: HUNGARY: GOOSE LIVER IS A MUCH LOVED DELICACY IN HUNGARY AND TAKES MANY FORMS IN THE COUNTRY'S KITCHENS
  • Date: 9th May 2004
  • Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (RECENT) (REUTERS) 1. KITCHEN IN THE GUNDEL RESTAURANT 2. PLATE WITH GOOSE LIVER 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) CHEF KALMAN KALLA SAYING "If we want to offer something Hungarian to a guest, then the goose liver is something we can definitely say is truly Hungarian." 4. CHEF CUTTING LIVER 0.22 NEAR LAJOSMIZSE, HUNGARY (RECENT) (REUTERS) 5. GV COUNTRYSIDE NEAR LAJOSMIZSE 0.27 6. SLV GEESE FIELD 7. GEESE 0.37 CSENGELE, HUNGARY (RECENT) (REUTERS) 8. GEESE FARMER ON A TRACTOR AT CSENGELE FARM 9. VARIOUS OF GEESE BEING FORCE FED IN CAGES 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) FARMER ANDRAS CIBOLYA SAYING "It would definitely have a big effect on my family and our livelihood because many of us are involved (in this business) and all our investment could be lost" 11. GEESE IN CAGES 12. SOUNDBITE (Hungarian) FARMER, ANDRAS CIBOLYA SAYING: "There is a general despair here, people are really embittered." 13. DOG BARKING IN THE STREET OF CSENGELE 14. VARIOUS OF THE VILLAGE BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (RECENT) (REUTERS) 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) LEVENTE PENCZ REPRESENTATIVE OF FAUNA, FARM ANIMAL WELFARE GROUP SAYING "We should give the animals a life which is suitable for their natural needs and this is definitely an artificial and unnatural existence for the geese. We would be glad if this could be changed through alternative methods." KAPOSVAR, HUNGARY (RECENT) (REUTERS) 16. UNIVERSITY IN KAPOSVAR 17. UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR BOGENFURST, SITTING BY A COMPUTER WITH PHOTOS OF GOOSE LIVER 18. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) PROF BOGENFURST SAYING "In this case there is no force feeding. The geese eat by themselves as much as it makes their liver fatten to some extent, so this is a kind of voluntary self-force feeding." BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (RECENT, MAY 2004) (REUTERS) 19. GOOSE LIVER DISH PREPARED BY CHEF KALMAN KALLA 20. (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) CHEF KALLA SAYING: "I simply cannot imagine that the Hungarians would be banned from force feeding. I am sure that they would rather hide and feed the geese like that. They can't just persuade the geese to eat lots of corn by themselves." 21. GOOSE LIVER DISH ON A TABLE, MAN EATING 22. COUPLE EATING GOOSE LIVER 3.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • Country: Hungary
  • Reuters ID: LVA3LFLHV2L1QDEQSVGDU7D5XS8N
  • Story Text: Goose liver is a much loved delicacy in Hungarian cuisine in many forms. Best known as Foie gras, a fatty pate , the dish takes many other forms in the country's kitchens.

    Goose liver is a much loved delicacy in Hungarian cuisine in many
    forms. Best known as Foie gras, a fatty pate , the dish takes many other forms
    in the country's kitchens.

    Hungary is the biggest exporter of goose liver in the world, shipping
    1,800 tonnes abroad each year. Much foie gras labelled "Made in
    France" actually originates from birds raised in Hungary but processed in
    France. France is the biggest market. Japan, Belgium and several other
    countries buy the goose liver in smaller quantities.

    Budapest's Gundel restaurant specialises in goose liver. Head Chef Kamna
    Kalla calls it a truly Hungarian dish.

    "If we want to offer a guest something Hungarian then the goose
    liver is something we can definitely say is truly Hungarian," Kalla
    says.

    More than 30.000 farmers in Hungary base their livelihood on goose liver
    production. Most use traditional force feeding methods to fatten the liver
    before slaughter by pushing cooked corn down a goose's throat and then pushing
    it down with a wooden stick.

    In 1999 The EU's standard animal protection laws came into effect,
    which among other provisions, set standards for space,
    ventilation and rest periods for geese, and require producers to use
    more-humane methods than force feeding.

    A new state of the art of goose-fattening process involves preparing
    the geese for force feeding, by feeding them over a period of
    several-week for shorter times, this makes the geese hungry and widens
    their stomachs. The method also shortens the period of force feeding down to
    two weeks, from as long as six weeks required traditionally.

    Some farmers have switched to the more humane method , but that still
    may not save them as the EU prepares to ban force feeding all together.

    Poland, Denmark, Germany and Norway have banned the force feeding but
    still allow imports of the finished product. France and new member Hungary,
    have been given 10 years to abolish force-feeding.

    The new rules could be disastrous for farmers in Hungary. Geese farmer
    Cibolya says that his family livelihood and his whole investment will be
    lost.

    "It would definitely have a big effect on my family and our
    livelihood because many of us are involved and our investment could be
    lost", he said
    "There is a general despair here, people are really
    embittered." he added.

    But animal welfare groups are adamant that force feeding must be
    banned. Levente Pencz of the Fauna Association says that
    any force feeding greatly hurts the animals.

    "We should give the animals a life which is suitable for their
    natural needs, and this is definitely an artificial and unnatural
    existence for the geese. We would be glad if this could be changed through
    alternative methods", Pencz says
    While farmers receive no promise from the government for lobbying
    against the ban, some scientists in Hungary are experimenting with alternative
    methods which could at least in part preserve the tradition of fattening goose
    that may also be acceptable to the animals welfare.

    Dr Ferenc Bogenfurst at the Poultry Breeding Department of the
    University of Kaposvar, is leading the effort to
    produce a kinder, gentler form of foie gras. His team have been studying
    alternative ways of fattening geese, including probes that
    stimulate the hunger centre in geese brains, and appetite-inducing teas.

    Bogenfurst and his colleagues are now conducting genetic
    experiments aimed at breeding geese that produce market-ready foie gras
    without human intervention.

    "In this case there is no force feeding, the geese eat by
    themselves as much as it makes their liver fatten to some extent, so
    this is a kind of voluntary self-force feeding," explains
    Bogenfurst.

    But for now, he says, there's still no way of producing the foie gras
    quality product without force feeding.

    While his method greatly limits the discomfort to geese, he says, the
    birds simply wouldn't eat the amount needed to fatten them up on their own to
    reach the high level liver quality. Without force feeding, the liver would not
    be up to standards needed to produce the famous foie gras.

    But at Gundel restaurant, Chef Kalla is convinced that Hungarians will
    never give up their goose liver.

    "I simply cannot imagine that the Hungarians would be banned from
    force feeding. I am sure that they would rather hide and feed the geese like
    that. They can't just persuade the geese to eat lots of corn by
    themselves." Kalla said




  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register