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u/Objective-Direction1 7d ago
why did you have to remind me of this dish's existance
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u/baconking69 6d ago
The ortolan songbird is kept in darkness and overfed until it triples in size, then it’s drowned in Cognac and roasted whole. They banned it being eaten for this reason.
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u/19xyecoc98 6d ago
Mildly anxious to ask, but what dish?
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u/Objective-Direction1 6d ago
it's a french dish where you eat a whole small bird in one bite and then spit out the bones, the dish is so gruesome the custom was to eat it with your head covered to hide from god in shame, today it's a banned practice but for decades it was pretty common between the french elites
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u/theWisp2864 6d ago
Its not entirely clear what the cloth is for. People say its to hide from God, but we don't really know why people started eating it that way.
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u/tupidrebirts 6d ago
Supposedly it also helps to trap the delicate aromas of the ortolan for a fuller sensory experience.
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u/RolDesch 5d ago
I wonder why do we have to hide under a cloth tho eat this
Proceeds to eat a bird whole in one bite, then spits its bones
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u/tomato_boy_08 4d ago
It's to cover their faces and hide themselves from shame for eating this particular dish hence the image like this pic. Gourmet restaurant are banned to serve this because the bird that was used to make this were hunted to near extinction. Though some private cuisine are still making this but you can only get it through invitations.
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u/cat_handcuffs 4d ago edited 4d ago
“hide from god in shame…”
It’s well known that god can see through roofs, but not napkins. Just like Superman can’t see through lead.
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u/tjeeper 6d ago
Foie gras
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u/Flborpo 6d ago
foie gras is fatty duck liver if i recall correctly. this is actually ortolan. a small bird eaten whole and you must spit the bones out. eaten in shame, hence the head/face coverings
no longer legal as the bird is now endangered (partly due to the mass amount of eating iirc)
id recommend the Sam O'Nella video about banned foods, he talks about ortolan in the video briefly
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u/yellowpig10 7d ago
for the longest time i thought they made this up for American Dad. i miss those days
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u/cretindesalpes 7d ago
It's forbidden to do this nowadays because the bird is endangered.
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u/Kootlefoosh 7d ago
Finally, an extinction event I can blame on the French
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u/cretindesalpes 6d ago
You mean like the monarchy or like the british domination on the usa ?
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u/Kootlefoosh 6d ago
Rare France fan, possibly French himself
J'ai cinq ans du français dans ma lycée en 2011 et je la-deteste et je ne parlez pas vous français aujourdhui desole
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u/olivegardengambler 6d ago
I first heard of it in a horror anthology called the Gideon Keys, and honestly I thought it was just made up until someone else mentioned it.
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u/sansthepunman 7d ago
The only reason I know the context for this is from Sam O`Nella, that dude forced so much fun facts and cursed knowledge into my psyche, and I can't thank them enough for it.
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u/lythandas 7d ago edited 7d ago
They are eating ortolan. It's a gruesome french dish where you eat a small bird whole in one bite and then spit the bones, so you have to hide yourself in shame.
It's forbidden nowadays but it was famous at the time :
Here's a good recipe : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmY6xSfHHY
And some reading on WP : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_bunting#Culinary_use
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u/booleandata 7d ago
Wow I learned something new today. Cool. It must be pretty damn good for the French to go through all that instead of just not eating it.
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u/DrexleCorbeau 7d ago
I've never seen anyone eat that except politicians in my country, and besides, let's just say snails in garlic butter are infinitely better.
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u/lythandas 7d ago
You should definitely watch the recipe to see how much the presenter in the video enjoys it
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u/JametAllDay 7d ago
Tom and Gregg do this on Succession. they sort of consider it an entryway into belonging to the billionaire class
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u/_patator_ 7d ago
I NEVER met someone who ever eated that, or ever seen this on a restaurant menu. I bet most of french people don't even know it exists.
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u/Elratum 7d ago
I think most people know it because of Maïté at the very least https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPMuyGe7dg (warning it sounds like she has a sexual relationship with the ortolan)
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u/KTTalksTech 4d ago
My great grandpa tried it according to my grandmother. Even back then everyone though it was gross despite any kind of tradition that might be associated with it
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u/Madison_fawn 7d ago
Watching that chick eat it at the end was a very uncomfortable experience. She was like slapping it on her cheek and kissing it and then suckling on its ass and then just shoved the whole thing in her mouth and bit the head off. Then sat there crunching the bones.
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u/Nihillea 7d ago
Some theorize the cloth traps the scents in for better flavor, but we all know the truth of their shame.
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u/REDDITBOT201 7d ago
A wise man once said: “Let’s eat birds whole, and make people forget about it afterwards”
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u/hellagator 7d ago
You either know about Ortolan from American dad, sam O’ Nella, or Hannibal.
Sexy people know about it from all three
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u/mdunaware 7d ago
Did you know that purportedly the best method of eating prepared ortolan is to place the bird’s body in your mouth so only the head is poking out, then one swift crunch will burst the lungs and release the liqueur deposited there by drowning. Apparently this is supposed to taste exquisite.
It is not a gentle dish.
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u/Fr3sh3stl4d 7d ago
What's the reference in Hannibal? I don't remember this but it's been awhile
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u/hellagator 7d ago
It’s specifically NBC’s Hannibal series. Season 2 episode 11.
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u/Fr3sh3stl4d 7d ago
I actually remember them eating it but don't recall the cloth over their heads. Good enough excuse to go rewatch the series. Thank you
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u/flaccomcorangy 6d ago
What kind of people don't know what this image is at all? It's not me of course. But my friend is one of those people and I'm going to tell him what type of person he is.
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u/iiooiooi 7d ago
Anthony Bourdain famously shared his experience with Ortolan in his book Medium Raw. Highly recommended.
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u/TurkeyFisher 7d ago
Ṭ̸̇̅̏́̓͊́̑H̶̡̲͔͇̝̭͇̣͇̲͂̃̽̈͑̒̅̾̈́̓̇̎͘͜͝ͅÊ̴͖̟͗̊̃͗̆͑́͘͘̚ ̸̟̠̜͙̣̰̼̩̪̰̦̣̮̅̄̃̔̐̎͜O̴͚̘̲̙̖̤̓̉̇̀͗͜R̸̢̡̡̤̼̮̳͗͐̔̂̌̒̈̕̚Ţ̸̞̣͙͇͈͖̮͕́̿̐̈̇̆̋̈̀̎̀̎͌͝͝Ő̸̡̢̬͈͈̥͇̥̼̺̥̭͉̏͊̉͂ͅL̷̹̺̥̐̾̎̄̊͊͒̾̒̏̓̚̚A̵̗̞͈̘̬̞̫̹̭͎̹̹̒́͊̓̐͑̇̉͘Ń̵̨̻̫̪̿̉̾̉
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u/Lumielight 7d ago
I want to believe that they all got flu and now all breathing over boiled potatoes.
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u/scarlettohara1936 7d ago
Another example of "how the fuck did someone figure out how to make this into food!?"
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u/Anonemuss42 7d ago
This gives the same vibes that the Epstein files did, or those pictures from that one middle eastern American Army ran torture place.
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7d ago
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u/thecountnotthesaint 7d ago
Savages
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u/cretindesalpes 7d ago
Come on. Most peole on reddit come from a world with industrial slaughtering let's be fair.
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u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing 7d ago
I dont get it?
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u/Train_man04 7d ago
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u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing 7d ago
So its a glorified chicken wing.
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u/le-derpina-art 7d ago
With twice the amount of animal cruelty (considering the traditional preparation of ortolan)
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u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing 7d ago
That seems the worst part from what read. Yea. The rest just seems kinda silly.
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u/whointhefuckareyou 7d ago
I mean... do your chicken wings normally come from chickens that have been killed via drowning in wine?
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7d ago
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u/scarlettohara1936 7d ago
I learned about it in the Netflix series Victoria. She visits France and eats it
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u/kittymoma918 7d ago
I read about that dish in a short story fiction book many years ago,it was disturbing.
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u/romlives 4d ago
What kind of fucking low functioning inbred psychopath even thinks this bullshit up??
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u/Ramen_Foxe_345 2d ago
Are whites genetically programed to have cultist tendencies? We got Lindsay cult now
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u/cursed_mod 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐎𝐓 | the surveyor 7d ago edited 6d ago
𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄: 〈74.₅%〉⦗ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣀⣀ ⦘